5 stars. Jackson Taffa's memoir draws upon her childhood as a mixed-tribe Native girl, interspersed with historical narrative of the US laws that shaped her family's history and fate. Gripping and almost tangible, the pain, grief, and prevailing love of Jackson Taffa's family is evident in each page of her writing.

In an attempt to discover from where she came and who she is becoming, Jackson Taffa's writing emphasizes the legacy of the Trail of Tears, Indian boarding schools, and the resounding trauma that echoes in generational gaps, loss of language, drug and alcohol abuse, and her fervent desire to cling to her identity. Along the way, Jackson Taffa discovers the importance of also creating her own evolving culture and identity as a Native woman who is learning to thrive in her own right, despite the efforts of the US government over time to eradicate Native prosperity. A must-read.