Red Paint

The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk

By: Sasha LaPointe

Narrated by: Sasha LaPointe

Sasha 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.

©2022 Sasha LaPointe (P)2022 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Powerful, deep, true, and revealing!

Sasha’s voice is powerful, her story cuts and allows me to better live and honor the truths inside me and surrounding me. A must read, an adventure into soulful, punk, and crisp life well lived.

Truth

What stood out the most was the author speaking the truth. Truth that needs to be heard by all of white america. I fear not enough will listen but I would like to be wrong

A gift to us!

Sasha's retelling of her female ancestors' stories as well as her own will break your heart for the indigenous Coast Salish people- both past and present. Sasha's life in particular, left me bitter about how white men from our shared community are allowed to treat an indigenous woman. My strongest reactions came when her romantic partners questioned her coping mechanisms, her best attempts at reconciling hundreds of years of oppression they seemingly refused to acknowledge. Thankfully, the author had wonderful friendships with women to help her endure. A must read for anyone who thinks now is the right time to right our wrongs.

Heartbreakingly moving story.

This is not a book you read to be entertained. Her story was very moving throughout. I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for much of my life so do always enjoy references to many familiar places. In the final chapter we do learn that she has a different partner than those mentioned in her story. I hope she has found comfort, peace, and love from all around her.

Native American Health

Healing is always such a hard road to travel. Native Americans, like other minority cultures need a lot of healing from the traumatic situations that their (our) people have been through. This book was a journey of healing for the author.

Powerful and Honest

I really enjoyed this read. It was nice to hear about my little corner of the world through another Natives words. Those words held so much power and honesty in them of our people throughout the generations.

Beautifully raw journey of healing

I loved the vividly raw journey and reflection. Sasha’s vulnerability serves as a means for reflection, tenderness and acceptance of our own lives.

A deeply personal voice, powerful narrative, and captivating ownership of place.

I’ve been meaning to read Sasha’s writing for years, and now I wish I’d done so sooner. This book, while a deeply personal story of transformation, loss, grief, and healing; is also a universal story of searching and finding self through connection to land and family history.

Excellent!

Absolutely stunning. Her beautiful reading of her empowering journey was very inspiring.-a truly valuable book.

Such a vivid journey into trauma, healing, and self awareness within the Pacific Northwest. A must Audible book choice.

I went through something with this book. I had to digest some things for my own spirit. I feel better for it. You will traverse the pain with her, you will come out the other side with her, and will learn something. You will learn many things. I’m grateful for the experience. I feel like this book should be experienced through the author’s voice and way of story telling.