Seattle’s punk scene in the ‘90s left a big impression on Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe. 

Bands like Bikini Kill were angry about sexual violence and oppression like she was, and they yelled about it, made music about it. But the punk scene was also very white, like a lot of the spaces around Sasha. And as a Coast Salish punk, she wanted a space to be her – all of her.  

The KUOW Book Club read Sasha’s latest book “Thunder Song” in March. KUOW’s Katie Campbell sat down with her in front of a live audience at the Seattle Central Library to talk about being a punk, reconnecting to salmon, and following in the footsteps of her iconic great grandmother, Vi taqʷšəblu Hilbert. 

Sign up for the next talk in our Book Talks series in partnership with the Seattle Public Library at kuow.org/events. And sign up for the KUOW Book Club newsletter at kuow.org/books.

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