Summary

In the opening passage, LaPointe immerses us in the setting of her parents home near what she calls Mount Tahoma, but is more commonly known as Mount Rainier, on a reservation. She describes the “hədiw” welcome sign on her parents’ front door, explaining this Lushootseed phrase means “come in.” The fact that LaPointe does not speak her people’s Indigenous language hints at how Coast Salish culture has been eroded. We also learn she is visiting her parents to have an important, uneasy conversation.

Vivid details underscore the friction between past and present for Native communities. The garage door code being Columbus’ 1492 arrival shows how white colonization still looms over Indigenous spaces. LaPointe’s description of the small, aged house passed down for generations conveys her family’s deep roots on this land. Yet she notes their ancestral home is now confined...