Last April I spoke with Lizzie Hudson, for her podcast Trauma Matters. We spoke about those issues so important to me: American Indian children who have been (and are continuing to be) placed in white homes, and the social memories and cultural structures that make it so difficult for us to lay claim to our heritage. This is a two-part podcast titled Footprints that Don’t Go Away. Part I discusses the brutal history of settler colonialism, and Part II discusses the trauma we adoptees experience(d) in our daily lives moving around this settler colonized space. Yes, it may make you uncomfortable ..read more

It’s been a while since I’ve written a post, mainly because I’ve been meeting deadlines!  Here are some events to keep in mind, if you like YA books, are interested in conversations of historical connections, or like podcasts that reveal the inside experiences of a person (me). Today (First, my YA fiction story, “Shawl Dance”, became part of the YA anthology When We Become Ours, and is being released today, October 24. Edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung, it is a collection of heartfelt writings by adoptees for adoptees. Although this link is Amazon, you can purchase the book where ..read more

What an amazing day in history! The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a piece of legislation that the Brackeen’s, a white couple from Texas who felt ‘called’ to adopt American Indian children, fought to overturn. The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA). They weren’t the only foster parents who have fallen prey to becoming pawns in the anti-ICWA lawsuit crowd. They were just the most recent. ICWA was the legal response to the Indian Adoption Project, a social experiment that sought to measure if American Indian children removed from their Indian families and tribes would thrive when placed ..read more

Like last year, autumn will be slow in coming.  It will be awhile before we can leave behind the 90+ degree days that we’ve experienced too many times this summer, and last. I look forward to autumn. There is a change in the air that other seasons don’t convey; autumn encompasses all the senses.  It is a time when the trees and shrubs throw off their cloaks of vibrant reds, oranges, burgundys, yellows, and yes, some are still green.  I breathe and inhale the earth in the early process of decay, when the well-nourished soil is sharp with an edge of mustiness, when the compost pi ..read more

I am so honored to be part of James Welch Native Lit Festival, where important conversations of what it means to be Indigenous will be held in Missoula Montana July 28, 29, and 30th.  To be  amid such notable colleagues as Louise Erdrich, Tommy Orange, Debra Earling, and so many others is definintely heady and I can’t wait to hear what they have to say. All events are free and open to the public.  For dates, attendance information,click here.  Hope to see you there!     The post Panelist – James Welch Inaugural Native American Literary Festival first appeared on S ..read more

In 2019, I was interviewed by Huffpost as part of an article that explores the question Who Should Be Allowed to Adopt American Indian Children? Great question as conservatives and religious communities attempt to remove the Indian Child Welfare Act from Legislation. Read the article; watch the mini–documentary, by journalists Jennifer Bendery,Isaac Himmelman, and Lena Jackson.   The post U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether ICWA is unconstitutional. Why should you care? first appeared on SUSAN DEVAN HARNESS Author of Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption ..read more

Recently, U.S. Supreme Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett suggested that child placement through adoption makes Roe V. Wade a moot point. And there are pleny of myths that point to this seemingly painless transaction.  But as Katherine Joyce, a writer for Salon, states, “the suggestion that adoption entails nothing more than several months of inconvenience before women can wash their hands of the entire ordeal profoundly fails to understand how relinquishment affects parents.”   It also fails to convey the trauma that is experienced by adoptees when, even as newborns, they are remove ..read more

Join me as I talk with three outstanding adoptee writers who have written memoirs about their experience:  I will be speaking with Jan Beatty, author of American Bastard: A Memoir (Red Hen Press, 2021), Megan Culhaine Galbraith, author of The Guild of the Infant Savior (Mad Creek Books–An imprint of Ohio State University Press, Columbus, 2021), and Jenny Heijun Wills, author of Older Sister, Not Necessarily Related  (McClelland & Steward–Division of Penguid Random House Canada, Ltd, 2019) about their writing, their use of form and technique as well as the complexities of the stor ..read more

I am so excited to announce I’ve been invited by Office of Multicultural Student Services at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse to keynote for the Loving Day Celebration. Loving Day ( June 12) commemorates the 1967 Supreme Court decision to remove state bans regarding interracial marriage.   As an American Indian transracial adoptee, my research and my book BITTERROOT: A SALISH MEMOIR OF TRANSRACIAL ADOPTION review my life through the lenses of history, policies and cultural ideas, illuminating the effects they have on those of us who walk the boundaries of racial and ethnic belonging ..read more

Katya Cengel, author of From Chernobyl with Love, looks younger than her forty-something years.  Maybe it’s her smile, maybe it’s her thoughtful blue eyes, maybe it’s the look of a dreamer that she gets when I ask her questions about her reactions to living in Eastern Europe.  Or maybe it’s not about youth, but about her embracement of life.  Her excitement, even through the airwaves is palpable, so how could I not be drawn into the wonderful, insightful conversation we had about her work as an author?  What I came away with is she’s as much fun to talk with as her book is ..read more