Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe is a Court Salish woman living in Tacoma, Washington. In these essays, she writes about her family, her history, and her concerns as a queer indigenous woman.

The essays' topics are wide-ranging and deeply personal. One is about food - becoming vegetarian, but still finding connection in the salmon ceremonies of her tribe - another about her queerness and another about her relationship with her mother. Throughout all of them, who she is in her passions and love for her people comes through loud and clear. LaPointe identifies her great-grandmother as the storyteller, but she definitely is too. I'm only sorry I didn't read her memoir Red Paint first, as that may have given me more of a clear background to place the individual essays in. ( )

This is an absolute marvel of a book! ( )

Love historically does not bode well for the women I come from. For over five generations the women of my lineage have been monumentally fucked over by love. Love has been weaponized against us in varying degrees of violence and abandonment. In cases of ownership and gain, love has been used to defeat us as indigenous women...”

“All over the world. Indigenous communities are fighting for their survival, the survival of their sacred lands, their languages, and stories...They are water protectors and knowledge keepers, storytellers and healers. “

I am so glad Lapointe landed on my radar, after reading a couple of glowing reviews. This collection of essays takes a deep, clear-eyed look at what it is to a Native woman, with all the pain and joy that has been thrown in her path, along with her special relationships with her mother and grandmothers. Lapointe is a punk rocker, a poet, activist and a very fine writer. I am looking forward to reading more of her work. ( )