An Indigenous Peoples' Day Primer with Caskey Russell and Rena Priest

Join Village Books and North Cascades Institute in welcoming Rena Priest and Caskey Russell to the Readings Gallery to celebrate their latest titles, Positively Uncivilized (Rena Priest) and The Door on the Sea:The Raven and Eagle #1 (Caskey Russell)!

From an Indigenous perspective, Positively Uncivilized examines the impact of human inhabitants on the planet earth. Alongside personal accounts of the deterioration of salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest and the loss of Indigenous history, the twelve essays in this collection emphasize the necessity of community to overcome the damage done by human socioeconomic and political systems designed to isolate and shame those vulnerable to those unfair systems.

Rena Priest is an enrolled member of the Lhaq'temish (Lummi) Nation and served as the sixth Washington State Poet Laureate (2021-2023). Her first collection, Patriarchy Blues, received an American Book Award. She has received two grants from the National Geographic Society and toured nationally with a variety show called Welcome to Indian Country, organized by Indigenous Performance Productions. Priest holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Bellingham, Washington. You can learn more at renapriest.com.

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The Door on the Sea is an epic quest fantasy steeped in Tlingit tradition.

When Elān trapped a salmon-stealing raven in his cupboard, he never expected it would hold the key to saving his people from invaders plaguing their shores. In exchange for freedom, raven offers a secret that can save Elān's home...

Caskey Russell is the dean of Fairhaven College at Western Washington University. Originally from Seattle Washington, he has lived in Oregon, Iowa, Wyoming, and New Zealand. He received his BA and MA from Western Washington University and his PhD at the University of Oregon. He is a father, a professor, a musician, and an enrolled member of the Tlingit Nation (Eagle / Kooyu Kwáan) of Alaska.

North Cascades Institute envisions healthy Northwest ecosystems where all communities and species thrive. Our mission is to inspire environmental stewardship through transformative learning experiences in nature. Since 1986, we have helped connect people, nature and community through the hands-on study of the natural and cultural history of the Pacific Northwest.

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