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Whiskey Tender: A Memoir

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Description

A Zibby Mag "Most Anticipated Book" A San Francisco Chronicle "New Book to Cozy Up With" A Publishers Weekly "Memoirs & Biographies: Top 10" The Millions "Most Anticipated" An Electric Lit “Books By Women of Color to Read"“We have more Native stories now, but we have not heard one like this. Whiskey Tender is unexpected and propulsive, indeed tender, but also bold, and beautifully told, like a drink you didn’t know you were thirsty for. This book, never anything less than mesmerizing, is full of family stories and vital Native history. It pulses and it aches, and it lifts, consistently. It threads together so much truth by the time we are done, what has been woven together equals a kind of completeness from brokenness, and a hope from knowing love and loss and love again by naming it so.” — Tommy Orange, National Bestselling Author of There There Reminiscent of the works of Mary Karr and Terese Marie Mailhot, a memoir of family and survival, coming-of-age on and off the reservation, and of the frictions between mainstream American culture and Native inheritance; assimilation and reverence for tradition.Deborah Jackson Taffa was raised to believe that some sacrifices were necessary to achieve a better life. Her grandparents—citizens of the Quechan Nation and Laguna Pueblo tribe—were sent to Indian boarding schools run by white missionaries, while her parents were encouraged to take part in governmental job training off the reservation. Assimilation meant relocation, but as Taffa matured into adulthood, she began to question the promise handed down by her elders and by American society: that if she gave up her culture, her land, and her traditions, she would not only be accepted, but would be able to achieve the “American Dream.”Whiskey Tender traces how a mixed tribe native girl—born on the California Yuma reservation and raised in Navajo territory in New Mexico—comes to her own interpretation of identity, despite her parent’s desires for her to transcend the class and “Indian” status of her birth through education, and despite the Quechan tribe’s particular traditions and beliefs regarding oral and recorded histories. Taffa’s childhood memories unspool into meditations on tribal identity, the rampant criminalization of Native men, governmental assimilation policies, the Red Power movement, and the negotiation between belonging and resisting systemic oppression. Pan- Indian, as well as specific tribal histories and myths, blend with stories of a 1970s and 1980s childhood spent on and off the reservation.Taffa offers a sharp and thought-provoking historical analysis laced with humor and heart. As she reflects on her past and present—the promise of assimilation and the many betrayals her family has suffered, both personal and historical; trauma passed down through generations—she reminds us of how the cultural narratives of her ancestors have been excluded from the central mythologies and structures of the “melting pot” of America, revealing all that is sacrificed for the promise of acceptance. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper (February 27, 2024)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0063288516


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 15


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.93 x 9 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #23,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #10 in Native American Biographies #299 in Women's Biographies #880 in Memoirs (Books)


#10 in Native American Biographies:


#299 in Women's Biographies:


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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Wednesday, Sep 18

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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Whiskey Tender
This memoir written by Deborah Jackson Taffa is engrossing, enlightening and educational. The wonderful story telling of the experiences and memories of her youth are presented in such a manner as to make the reader simultaneously awed, saddened, delighted, envious, enraged, and proud. Her historical references are well placed to add insight to her recollections and teach the reader. This is a must-read book for everyone. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2024 by Amazon Customer

  • A POV that isn't often told...
Deborah Jackson Taffa gives us an inside look into her life as she tries to find where she fits in and reconcile her ancestral past with her present. Deborah struggles to find and keep her tribal identity while "assimilating" into the melting pot that is America. It was a hard look at racism, entitlement, cultural assumptions along with a need to survive and a desire to succeed. My thanks to NetGalley and Harper for the advanced ecopy of this book. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2024 by Robin Beard

  • Indigenous Perscpective- EXCELLENT!!
Besides being beautifully written, this book covers subject matter that no one else has: the dual world of Indigenous people in the US. Taffa's 'coming of age' book is a story shared by so many young people on and off the rez. Should be required reading in NM, CO, UT, AZ, etc. Honest, hilarious, heartbreaking, with historical context hardly ever taught in public schools. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2024 by Gary Gackstatter

  • You won't want to put this book down!
Such a wonderfully written memoir! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2024 by Amazon Customer

  • Interesting and Enlightening
I appreciated the honesty and sharing her thoughts and feelings of childhood in a manner that most can relate to. The historical facts stated were something I had never learned in school. All in all it was entertaining, educational and emotional.
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024 by cqrg

  • A Great Book for not only indigenous people but all people
I am part Cherokee. I was not told until I was 50. One just didn’t cherish their Native background when I was growing up white. This book reminded me of that. I teach a class called The Native American Experience. It follows this book closely. One day the Great Spirit will balance this out. The white man seems to thrive on warfare. It is only a matter of time that their aggression will destroy them. Native American Experience should teach the white man. The Great Spirit is watching and waiting. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2024 by Gregory A. Beale

  • I really want to like this book
I am not finding this book quite as enthralling as the others. Because of the reviews, I am planning to finish reading this book because I clearly think I am missing something.
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024 by Elizabeth A. Birt

  • Yes, But Who Am I ?
“Whiskey Tender” is Deborah Jackson Taffa’s search for her identity as a mixed tribe native girl. Her father is Quechan/Laguna, and her mother is a devout Hispanic Catholic. This is not a story of a girl soaking in the stories handed down by her family, she had to fight through their reluctance to speak of the things they had endured: tales of the treatment suffered in the Indian residential boarding schools and, as she said, “...the shame: the silence that follows an apocalypse.” In addition to the struggles for support within the family, her identity was beset by social confusion. Born on the Yuma, California Reservation, the family moved to Farmington, New Mexico, where her father could find the work he was trained for. Leaving the reservation was tantamount to betrayal or desertion in the eyes of her father’s people. Farmington is on the northeast border of the Navajo Nation and there was a resistance against full acceptance of Quechan blood and tradition. The Hispanic population did not see Deborah’s family as their own, either. As for the white attitude, Farmington had just been the scene of protests following the “Indian rolling” kidnapping and murdering of three native men by three high school students. This confusing attempt to grasp identity while being sent mixed signals reminded me of “If I Survive You” by Jonathan Escoffery, a novel shortlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize. A main theme of that book involves the denial of acceptance by those the protagonist is drawn to. Escoffery’s character is a young Jamaican immigrant, rejected by Jamaican islanders just as soundly as he is rejected by every other group in his new home. This is a fascinating portrait of where Native Americans look to find themselves today, told through one woman’s coming of age in an America which has tried so hard to whitewash out her heritage. I love the relationship she conveys with her father. I am touched by the distance she and her mother try so hard to bridge. A wonderful book addressing life from the family to the nation. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2024 by Michael Burke

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