First published 2025
Julian Brave NoiseCat grew up caught between worlds. Born to a Secwepemc father and Jewish-Irish mother in Oakland's urban Native community, he was raised mostly by his white mother after his father, damaged by poverty and abuse on the reservation, abandoned the family. As a child, NoiseCat competed in powwow dancing but asked to cut his hair short to avoid mockery from white classmates. Now an adult, he travels across America to understand contemporary Indigenous life and reclaim his heritage. He documents activists fighting to change Washington's football team name, Quinault Nation members relocating due to climate change, and Navajo families devastated by COVID-19. He covers the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and joins a canoe journey commemorating the Alcatraz Occupation's 50th anniversary. This trip brings him closer to his father than ever before. Through five years of reporting, NoiseCat weaves together investigative journalism, folklore, and personal memoir to examine both his fractured relationship with his father and the broader struggles of Native communities for recognition and self-determination in modern America.
Genres: american, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, social-justice, american-history
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, reflective, thought-provoking, urgent
Tropes: found-family, intergenerational-trauma, journey-of-self-discovery
Setting: Oakland, Washington, Quinault Nation, Navajo Nation, Dakota Access Pipeline, Alcatraz, America
Period: 21st century, contemporary, five years of reporting
448 pages · Paperback · Vintage
Content warnings: abuse, racism