Tommy Orange's acclaimed debut novel is There There.From his Q&A with Hannah Beckerman for the Guardian:
The novel explores what it means to be Native American today. What does it mean for you?--Marshal Zeringue
It’s meant a lot of different things over the years. Currently it means going back to see my dad, who lives in Oklahoma now, and slowly trying to learn the language, because while he’s fluent he didn’t raise us with it. It means making sure my son knows that he’s Native too. It’ll keep meaning more things along the way.
Why didn’t your dad teach you the language?
There’s a lot of pain related to the past, and I think he was wanting a fresh start, wanting to raise us in Oakland and have us figure it out for ourselves. I think if we had been born in the 21st century to a dad who was fluent in Cheyenne, we probably...[read on]