Literary Nonfiction. Art. BABY SPEAKS SALISH is a one-of-a-kind manual created by a mother seeking to learn and share more Okanagan Salish language with her daughter than she herself was exposed to as an infant or toddler. Created for caregivers and the language curious, this book provides simple examples on how to integrate more Salish words into adult and child interactions.

An Indigenous artist blends the aesthetics of punk rock with the traditional spiritual practices of the women in her lineage in this bold, contemporary journey to reclaim her heritage and unleash her power and voice while searching for a permanent home Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe has always longed for a sense of home. When she was a child, her family moved around frequently, often staying in barely habitable church attics and trailers, dangerous places for young Sasha. With little more to guide her than a passion for the thriving punk scene of the Pacific Northwest and a desire to live up to the responsibility of being the namesake of her beloved great-grandmother—a linguist who helped preserve her Indigenous language of Lushootseed—Sasha throws herself headlong into the world, determined to build a better future for herself and her people. Set against a backdrop of the breathtaking beauty of Coast Salish ancestral land and imbued with the universal spirit of punk, Red Paint is ultimately a story of the ways we learn to find our true selves while fighting for our right to claim a place of our own. Examining what it means to be vulnerable in love and in art, Sasha offers up an unblinking reckoning with personal traumas amplified by the collective historical traumas of colonialism and genocide that continue to haunt native peoples. Red Paint is an intersectional autobiography of lineage, resilience, and, above all, the ability to heal.

Throughout the mid-1800s, outsiders, including many Euro-Americans, arrived in what is now northwest Washington. As they interacted with Samish, Lummi, S’Klallam, Sto:lo, and other groups, some of the men sought relationships with young local women. Hoping to establish mutually beneficial ties, Coast and Interior Salish families arranged strategic cross-cultural marriages. Some pairs became lifelong partners while other unions were short. These were crucial alliances that played a critical role in regional settlement and spared Puget Sound’s upper corner from the tragic conflicts other regions experienced. Accounts of the men, who often held public positions--army officer, Territorial Supreme Court justice, school superintendent, sheriff--exist in a variety of records. Some, like the nephew of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, were from prominent eastern families. Yet across the West, the contributions of their native wives remain unacknowledged. The women’s lives were marked by hardships and heartbreaks common for the time, but the four profiled--Caroline Davis Kavanaugh, Mary Fitzhugh Lear Phillips, Clara Tennant Selhameten, and Nellie Carr Lane--exhibited exceptional endurance, strength, and adaptability. Far from helpless victims, they influenced their husbands and controlled their homes. Remembered as loving mothers and good neighbors, they ran farms, nursed and supported family, served as midwives, and operated businesses. They visited relatives and attended ancestral gatherings, often with their children. Each woman’s story is uniquely hers, but together they and other intermarried women helped found Puget Sound communities and left lasting legacies. They were peace weavers. Author Candace Wellman hopes to shatter stereotypes surrounding these relationships. Numerous collaborators across the United States and Canada--descendants, local historians, academics, and more--graciously participated in her seventeen-year effort.

On September 4, 1805, in the upper Bitterroot Valley of what is now western Montana, more than four hundred Salish people were encamped, pasturing horses, preparing for the fall bison hunt, and harvesting chokecherries as they had done for countless generations. As the Lewis and Clark Expedition ventured into the territory of a sovereign Native nation, the Salish met the strangers with hospitality and vital provisions while receiving comparatively little in return. ø For the first time, a Native American community offers an in-depth examination of the events and historical significance of its encounter with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition is a startling departure from previous accounts of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Rather than looking at Indian people within the context of the expedition, it examines the expedition within the context of tribal history. The arrival of non-Indians is therefore framed not as the beginning of the history of Montana or the West but as only a recent chapter in a far longer Native history. The result is a new understanding of the expedition and its place in the wider context of the history of Indian-white relations. ø Based on three decades of research and oral histories, this book presents tribal elders recounting the Salish encounter with Lewis and Clark. Richly illustrated, The Salish People and the Lewis and Clark Expedition not only sheds new light on the meaning of the expedition but also illuminates the people who greeted Lewis and Clark and, despite much of what followed, thrive in their homeland today.

An inspiring middle-grade chapter book that introduces young readers to the environmental challenges facing the planet through the eyes of Coast Salish characters and authors. "You have family on land as you do in the sea. . . being a caretaker of the earth begins with taking care of the water that all life depends on." Shiny is a whale child. One day his mother teaches him about the harm facing the world's oceans because of human carelessness. Shiny agrees to be turned into a boy by the ocean's water spirit so he can visit the land and alert people to these dangers. He meets Alex, a young Coast Salish girl who learns from Shiny that the living spirit of water exists in everything--glaciers, rivers, oceans, rain, plants, and all living creatures. Together the two travel the earth, confronting the realities of a planet threatened by an uncertain future. Inspired by Shiny's hope, humor, and wisdom, Alex makes the promise to become a teacher for future generations. She realizes that the timeless Indigenous value of environmental stewardship is needed now more than ever and that we must all stand up on behalf of Mother Earth. Written and illustrated by Indigenous authors Keith Egawa and Chenoa Egawa, The Whale Child introduces children ages 7 to 12 to existing environmental issues with a message of hope, education, sharing, and action. Ideal for middle-grade readers who are beginning to read chapter books on their own, this book also includes resources for students and teachers to facilitate learning about Pacific Northwest Indigenous cultures and the environment.

Presents the history of the Jocko River in western Montana, recounting some of the legends about the native American who lived along its shores and describing the watershed restoration project undertaken by the Salish and Kootenai Tribes to restore the bull trout to the river.

"Messengers of the Wind goes beyond the autobiographies of everyday women. These are women who have long been an invisible part of American culture. Their stories are haunting, frightening, encouraging, and courageous. . . . Katz is a faithful guide." --The Minnesota Daily In Messengers of the Wind, Native American women, old and young, from a variety of tribal groups, speak with eloquence and passion about their experience on the land and in urban areas; about their work as artists, activists, and healers; as grandmothers, mothers, and daughters; as modern women with a link to the past. And as each woman, renowned and obscure, tells her remarkable personal story, it is clear that each has tapped into the power that comes from within and has reached back into a history that brings with it courage and hope. " 'Giving energy to Mother Earth' -- Yes. That is our duty as women, as Natives, and as human beings. Messengers of the Wind is a way of doing just that. It is not a dance, feet patting our mother, but it is an offering, the voices of the women sent to comfort her. Thank-you, Jane Katz, for your offering. It is a special and much-needed gift." --Paula Gunn Allen Author of Voice of the Turtle "COMPELLING. . . INTIMATE." --The Cleveland Plain Dealer "A RICH COLLECTION OF PERSONAL STORIES. . .REWARDING. . . These are powerful women with important stories to tell." --Kirkus Reviews