"Red Paint" and "Thunder Song"

Amy Lewis

Photo by Kevin England

It’s a time of transition for me, as I have finished my bachelor's degree at The Evergreen State College and will start my Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing at Bennington College in January.  Next week, I will give my books of the year list.  Oooo, what’ll be on it? 

My last physical class at Evergreen State College was taught by Sasha taqʷšǝblu LaPointe, who has written two beautiful books, "Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk" and "Thunder Song: Essays."

I want to say upfront; I am not indigenous and therefore know that my understanding of her work is limited by my experiences.  I think these books should be required reading by anyone living in this area; they are deep explorations of what it was like to grow up here in the Punk era, to be Coast Salish, and how to heal from trauma here in the Pacific Northwest.

Lapointe is a Coast Salish author from the Nooksack and Upper Skagit Indian tribes, with a double MFA in creative nonfiction and poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts.

"Red Paint, The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk"

Photo by Amy Lewis

She also has a poetry book out, "Rose Quartz." "Red Paint" is a search for the meaning of home when home has been anyplace that could shelter you.  It is an unswerving intersectional look at what colonialisms historical — and current — traumas have been and how that collective dismissed and incalculable experience continues to echo through the world we live in. 

LaPointe’s journey to finding herself is honest, forthright and doesn’t shy away from the aftermath of growing up in chaos, the longing for a home, the need to be chosen and seen by those we love. "Red Paint" has been on my TBR (to be read) pile since it came out in 2022, and only now was I ready to read it. The reality of missing and murdered indigeous women in our state is painful as we rank second highest in the nation.  Coming to terms with our history is necessary, and listening and reading indigenous writers is a fantastic way to do that. 

Bonus, her love of Punk music and descriptions of band life are spot on. 

"Red Paint" won multiple awards, including the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award, the Washington State Book Award for Creative Nonfiction/Memoir, and was named one of National Public Radio's books of the year for 2023.  It’s a journey through places of pain armed with rose quart, cedar bark and ancestral songs.   

As a survivor of trauma myself, I loved her insistence on healing, on taking this hard journey to find herself. She says “I no longer wish to be called resilient. Call me reckless, impatient, and emotional. Even Indigenous. Call me anything other than survivor. I am so many more things than brave.” 

Yes, yes! So many times, what we survived becomes the touchpoint of our lives, the only way that we see and understand the world. Often, people around us are unable to see us in any other way. It’s easier for them.

"Thunder Song Essays" by the author of "Red Paint"

Photo by Amy Lewis

Lapointe’s second book, "Thunder Song," which came this year, is a collection of essays that continue to use her punk and Salish perspectives to bring together stories of healing and outrage at the same time.

I’ve only read a couple of the essays so far in this book, but they grab you from the get-go.  There’s no artificiality in these essays, no trying to make things look anything other than they are. Lapointe is aware of who she is and invites you in without a qualm. 

Lapointe’s essay "Reservation Riot Grrl" skewers the white punk performative advocacy she encounters, while honoring her indigenous heritage by wearing red paint, and delights in demanding a land acknowledgement from an angry white woman at a Bikini Kill event.  It’s a joyful in your face-ness that we need right now. I’m looking forward to finishing the book. 

Lapointe explains she was taught to say Haboo by her grandmother after listening to a story; to show she had paid attention. She says she was always asking for another story, “Haboo, another story, Haboo, keep talking Haboo, never leave me.”

Haboo, indeed.  Keep talking, Haboo, Sasha, please bring us more and more of your stories.

Amy Lewis focuses her column on the literary world of Thurston County, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types. Contact her – amy@thejoltnews.com – if you have a literary event, book, or reading.