In "Bitterroot," a Native transracial adoptee explores identity, race, and belonging

By Rose Aguilar & Laura Wenus • Apr 23, 2019 

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On this edition of Your Call, we’ll speak with oral historian Susan Devan Harness about her book Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption.

The memoir explores her search for answers to difficult questions about race, identity and family as an American Indian woman adopted by a white couple. She also chronicles her reconnection with her biological family and conversations with other transracial adoptees.

Guest:

Susan Devan Harness, writer, lecturer and oral historian, and author of Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption

Web Resources:

High Country News: Adoption didn’t solve the ‘Indian Problem’

The Denver Post: Forcibly adopted American Indians torn between cultures

Hippocampus Magazine: Review: Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption (American Indian Lives) by Susan Devan Harness