Sasha LaPointe's Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk (2022) does what few other books have done in history: tell the story of a Native American woman. LaPointe begins her memoir by discussing her long, intense longing for her home. She traces that feeling to her iterant childhood and the communities she lived in with her family. But LaPointe eventually dins her home in the burgeoning punk scene in Washington state, where she finds that she must work to preserve her identity as a member of the Lushootseed people, which she also explores throughout the book.
Critics offered almost universally positive praise when Red Paint was published. It also won several awards, including the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award. In their review of LaPointe's memoir, Publisher's Weekly wrote, "LaPointe writes in lucid vignettes that alternate between past and present as she reflects on her ancestors...LaPointe's fresh and urgent perspective on Indigenous culture is enthralling."
