This was an illuminating collection of essays from a young, queer, indigenous woman who was raised on a reservation near Tacoma. There are a lot of interesting stories here, and most of the essays have the character of memoir writing – they aren’t about abstract intellectual experience. Instead, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe spends the bulk of the book grappling with her own lived experience.

At first glance, it might be an easy instinct to characterize LaPointe’s childhood as “troubled.” Her youth was filled with economic precarity and racial liminality (thanks to her own position as a mixed-race woman). In addition, she had dealt with sexual assault, and she left home at fourteen years old. We hear a lot about fights that she had with her mom, as well. At the same time, her reflections are sincere and complex. She knows that her mom tried her best, she worked hard when she was on her own, and she looks back on her childhood incorporating lessons that it taught her about her own identity. This is good, meaningful work, and today she loves and is loved.

Some of the best chapters were about the complexity of identity. I’m thinking here, for instance, of her veganism. For a long time–maybe still–she characterize(s/d) herself as a vegan. Yet, at the same time, salmon has always held a special place for her, especially given its role among the Coast Salish peoples. She sometimes gives in and, for a long time, this was a point of shame among the punk community in which she defines her sense of home. At the same time, she pushes through this and continues to honor the importance of salmon to her.

Another interesting essay deals with her position among Seattle’s mostly white grunge and punk scene, and there is an illuminating scene when she performs at a gig in Chicago, where two white women criticize her for cultural appropriation, not realizing that LaPointe is indigenous. The problem here, of course, is that the punk scene had developed around a white monoculture, so expressions of indigeneity were seen not as indigenous but appropriative. In attempting to “protect” indigenous peoples from cultural appropriation, these two punks risk silencing the very indigenous voices that they are ostensibly “protecting.” This is interesting, and requires some unpacking: we might talk about white savior complexes, but I share LaPointe’s perspective that the deeper issue is a lack of curiosity as to why LaPointe sought to express her heritage. It may be appropriation should it have been commodified by predatory people or institutions looking to make money, but I do think the why is the most important consideration in whether something is “cultural appropriation.” Unfortunately, the punks that LaPointe’s band members confront had not taken a moment to think more deeply.

Altogether, LaPointe’s collection of essays is an excellent text that interrogates racial discrimination, gender and sexual violence, and generational trauma while simultaneously honoring her family’s matriarchs. I hadn’t read anything quite like this before, and I’m glad that I did.