In this thesis I examine the poetic constructions of cultural identity in the work of N.

Scott Momaday, while I seek to show how locality and identity invigorate the poet’s

work in its emphasis on heritage and history. In Momaday’s poetry there is an attempt

to give shelter to and register Native American history, traditions, and cultural identity,

which also indicates an attitude of artistic resistance to external political and historical

pressures on Native American culture such as colonialism. In this thesis I discuss the

way in which Momaday’s poetic use of locality functions in relation to questions of

belonging and identity, both communal and individual. In this discussion of locality and

identity, I also show how the poet uses abstractions interrelated to locality and identity

such as memory, oral tradition, and history to further explore the cultural identity and

community in the Native American context. I will argue that the link between identity,

locality, memory and history provides the poet a tool for creating a space for his artistic

resistance. Ultimately, I will show how even though previous criticism mostly focused

on Momaday’s fiction, an analysis of his poetry gives additional insight into the poet’s

constructions of cultural identity and his use of the Native American heritage.