Native Guard

poetry by Tretheway

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July 20, 2026

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Native Guard is a 2006 poetry collection by Natasha Trethewey that won the Pulitzer Prize. The collection honors Trethewey's mother and the largely unrecognized Union soldiers of the Louisiana Native Guards, an early African American military unit that fought in the American Civil War. Trethewey's work often explores themes of history, race, and memory, drawing from her own family's experiences and the broader history of the American South.1

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Natasha Trethewey
In Native Guard (2006; Pulitzer Prize), Trethewey honoured both her mother’s life and the largely unsung lives of the Union soldiers who made up the Louisiana Native Guards, one of the early African American units that fought in the American Civil War. In Thrall (2012) Trethewey…
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In Native Guard (2006; Pulitzer Prize), Trethewey honoured both her mother’s life and the largely unsung lives of the Union soldiers who made up the Louisiana Native Guards, one of the early African American units that fought in the American Civil War. In Thrall (2012) Trethewey…
Read More