In this essay, Michelle Cyca asks questions about Gina Adams — and her claims of Indigenous heritage. It’s a gripping read that exposes the rise of the “Pretendians.” The message was clear: being Indigenous was tragic or shameful. Or it was mystical and noble, a warrior on a horse, somehow untouched by colonization. Middle-class and […]
identity
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Voices of Rebirth: A Reading List on Being Indigenous in America
Our lives are so much more than you could possibly imagine.
Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story
Searching for the Mountaintop in Upstate New York
A family confronts its racial past along the Appalachian Trail.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Learning to Live with Durians Again
“It is a strange sort of alienation, when you make the life-changing decision to return home, only to suspect that you no longer belong.”
Posted inNonfiction
Curator Spotlight: Vesna Jaksic Lowe on What It Means To Straddle Multiple Cultures
The writer of the Immigrant Strong newsletter wants to diversify your bookshelf.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Strangers in Our Own Homes
“We frequently ghost ourselves even when we are looking in the mirror, hoping to show up worthier, richer, fairer, and lovelier for this country.”
Posted inNonfiction
’Names Have Power’: A Reading List on Names, Identity, and the Immigrant Experience
Whether adding a hyphen or changing one’s name completely, the process of naming can be complex.
Posted inEditor's Pick
A Seat at the Table
In this interview, food writer Bettina Makalintal reflects on finding her voice, the trendification of ube, and why she’d rather not refer to Filipino cuisine — or any cuisine — as “the next big thing.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Fugitive and the Chameleon
“Mario’s father had gone by many names. Luis Archuleta. Lawrence Pusateri. The man the son knew as Ramon was just a fraction of his way into what may be one of the longest fugitive runs in U.S. history — a 50-year game of cat-and-mouse that played out across the West, from the streets of Colorado […]