Acclaimed Author Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe Coming to Seattle University

Award-winning Northwest Native American author Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe will be discussing Coast Salish and Native culture and history during an upcoming visit to campus.LaPointe will kick off SU’s Lushootseed Lecture Series, sponsored by the Indigenous Peoples Institute (IPI) and Lemieux Library, Friday, January 24, 4 – 5 p.m., at the Byte Café in the library. The Lushootseed Lecture Series invites tribal members, Indigenous people and other scholars to speak about the Lushootseed language and issues impacting Native Americans and Native American history and culture.

“This is a three-part series that will highlight the cultural life of two Coast Salish women and the art of traditional storytelling through the eyes of a Coast Salish man,” explains IPI Senior Director Jill LaPointe. “Among many Coast Salish communities the winter season is intrinsically connected to their spirituality. Historically, the winter is when history, culture and spiritual practices are passed from one generation to the next.”

Attendees of this first talk will gain greater insight into the significant impact that Vi taqʷšəblu Hilbert had on the revival of the Lushootseed language and culture throughout to the Salish Seas and beyond.

Author LaPointe, who is Jill’s daughter, will read passages from her memoir, Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk, winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award and the Washington State Book Award for nonfiction, as well as her latest collection of essays, Thunder Song. A member of the Upper Skagit and Nooksack Indian Tribe, LaPointe draws inspiration for her writing from her coastal heritage as well as her life in Seattle.

Future guests of the Lushootseed Lecture Series include Janet Yoder, author of Where the Language lives: Vi Hilbert and the Gift of Lushootseed on February 19, and Roger Fernandes, Native American artist, storyteller and educator on March 19.

Register for the free event.