Denver, Colo., Nov. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The American Indian College Fund (College Fund) is hosting a free, online book and author event for the public featuring author Deborah Taffa on November 26 from 12-1 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. Taffa will discuss her new book, Whiskey Tender, with College Fund President, Cheryl Crazy Bull.
Taffa, a member of the Quechan (Yuma) Nation and the Laguna Pueblo of New Mexico from her father’s side and Chicana from her mother’s side, is director of the MFA in Creative Writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, a tribal college. Taffa wrote the acclaimed coming-of-age memoir Whiskey Tender, which was nominated for a 2024 National Book Award.
Her book shares her journey from the Yuma reservation in Southern California to Farmington, New Mexico after her father relocated for a job under the Indian Relocation Act. She details her struggles for acceptance while seeking to understand her connection to her Native culture, lands, and traditions, and how she came to appreciate her identity and resist assimilation and oppression.
“Part of reclaiming our sovereignty as Native people is reclaiming the power to tell our own stories from a perspective that is a truer version of American history than
the one that gets told,” Taffa says.
Whiskey Tender has received a slew of accolades from the Oprah Daily “Best New Book” to the New York Times “New Book to Read,” an Amazon Editors “Best Book of the Month,” and is a 2024 National Book Award finalist in nonfiction and a 2025 Carnegie Medal Nominee.
Visit https://engage.collegefund.org/page/73271/event/1 to register for the book discussion.
About the American Indian College Fund — The American Indian College Fund has been the nation’s largest charity supporting Native higher education for 35 years. The College Fund believes “Education is the answer” and provided $20.5 million in scholarships and other direct student support for access to a higher education that is steeped in Native culture and values to American Indian students in 2023-24. Since its founding in 1989 the College Fund has provided more than $349 million in scholarships, programs, community, and tribal college support. The College Fund also supports a variety of programs at the nation’s 34 accredited tribal colleges and universities, which are located on or near Indian reservations, ensuring students have the tools to graduate and succeed in their careers. The College Fund consistently receives top ratings from independent charity evaluators. It earned a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, a Gold Seal of Transparency from Guidestar, and the “Best in America Seal of Excellence” from the Independent Charities of America. The College Fund was also named as one of the nation’s top 100 charities to the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance. For more information about the American Indian College Fund, please visit www.collegefund.org.
Photo – Deborah Taffa (Quechan (Yuma) Nation), author of Whiskey Tender.
Journalists—The American Indian College Fund does not use the acronym AICF. On second reference, please use the College Fund.