Duane Niatum (McGinniss) is a Native American poet, author and playwright from the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe in the northern Olympic Peninsula of the state of Washington.
Niatum's work draws inspiration from all aspects of life ranging from nature, art, Native American history and humans rights.
[citation needed] Born in 1938 in Seattle, Washington[1] to a Klallam (Salish) mother and Italian-American father, Niatum struggled with his mixed Indigenous and Italian heritage which would trouble him for years.
[1] Niatum has said his greatest influences include his Klallam grandfather and literary mentors Theodore Roethke, Elizabeth Bishop, and John Keats.
[3] In the preface to his 2000 book The Crooked Beak of Love, Niatum described the impact of his mixed ancestry on his life and work: "My aesthetic position has always been to learn and grow from whatever sources of knowledge are available...Art continues to offer the opportunity of surviving in both worlds no matter how challenging that may become at times."