THUNDER SONG Essays

Sasha LaPointe, a poet and performer, delivers her edgy essays with a pleasing voice and a sure sense of the significance of her message. She reads in a word-loving style with the tempo of one who appreciates the meanings her words convey. A Coast Salish woman, she was raised on a reservation in the Pacific Northwest, knows the stresses of growing up a Native girl, and highlights the horrific number of Indigenous women who have been taken and never found. Her most pointed critiques are for the "colonizers," who refuse to recognize the importance of Native lands and people. Her essays include powerful reflections on her sexuality, which she characterizes as "two spirit," and her identity, which was influenced by her remarkable great grandmother, who fought to preserve their Native language. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2024]