This family-centered event celebrates Native American heritage and promotes the importance of literacy and lifelong learning.

NATIVE AMERICAN READ-IN: FEATURED GUESTS

Alfreda Beartrack Algeo

Alfreda Beartrack Algeo, is an enrolled citizen from the Kul Wicasa Lakota Nation in Lower Brule, South Dakota. She is an artist, author, and illustrator whose work is inspired by her Lakota heritage and family. Her debut book, The Day The Earth Rose Up (7th Generation Book Publishing and Orca Book Publisher’s, 2022) tells the story of how seven sisters became the Pleiades Constellation. 

For more information on Alfreda, please visit her website.

Christine Day

Christine Day (Upper Skagit) grew up in Seattle, nestled between the sea, the mountains, and the pages of her favorite books. Her novel, I Can Make This Promise, was a best book of the year from NPR, a Charlotte Huck Award Honor Book, and an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book. Her novel, The Sea in Winter, was a Top 10 Indie Kids’ Next List selection and an American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book. 

For more information about Christine, please visit her website.

Mandi Harris

Mandi Harris, the Emcee for the event, is an enrolled citizen of Cherokee Nation and a Ph.D. candidate in the Information School at the University of Washington, where her research uses Indigenous Systems of Knowledge to examine children’s literature and the futures of libraries. Mandi is a children’s librarian and the co-creator of Indigenous Library Education for All, a free nationwide training for Indigenous inclusion and accurate, authentic representation in libraries.

Gary Robinson

Gary Robinson (Choctaw/Cherokee descent) is an award-winning author and filmmaker. Robinson embarked on his writing career with authorship of From Warriors to Soldiers, followed by The Language of Victory, the historical novel series Lands of our Ancestors, and several educational videos. In 2013, he launched the PathFinders imprint for Native Voices Books. In 2023 and 2024, Gary researched and wrote the Thunder Child Prophecy Series. 

For more information about Gary, please visit Imaginative-Content.com.

Joe Seymour

Joe’s ancestral name, wahalatsu?, was given to him by his family in 2003. “wahalatsu? was the name of my great grandfather William Bagley.” Joe started his artistic career by carving his first paddle for the 2003 Tribal Journey to Tulalip.  Also in 2003, he carved his first bentwood box. After the Tulalip journey, he then learned how to stretch and make drums. “In my career, I’ve worked with glass, photography, Salish wool weaving, prints, wood, steel and  rawhide drums. I’ve been very fortunate to have a community of artists that I’m able to work with and that are very supportive of my career. If it were not for their caring and sharing of  ideas, I would not be the artist that I am today,” he says. “I hope that as I continue in my artistic career, I can pass on the teachings and nurturing spirit  that have been shown to me.”  Joe is now an Assistant Professor in the University of Washington’s American Indian Studies. He will offer drumming and prayer at the Read-In.

Kim Sigafus

Kim Sigafus (Ojibwa) is an award-winning author and speaker whose family is from White Earth Reservation in Minnesota. Author of 20 books, Kim writes Native American fiction and nonfiction, YA, and children’s books, and travels throughout the Midwest presenting on her culture. Kim is the CEO of Quiet Souls Events and Education, a nonprofit that promotes native culture through educational programs and special events. Kim enjoys crafting Talking Feathers, singing, and drumming. 

For more information about Kim, please visit her website.

Brad Wagnon

Brad Wagnon is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He has authored four Cherokee children’s books based on traditional stories: How the World Was Made: A Cherokee Story, The Land of the Great Turtles, and The First Fire: A Cherokee Story. Brad’s fourth book is The Cherokee Syllabary: An Illustrated Key to the Cherokee Language. He continued his Cherokee syllabary collaboration through the Baby’s First Cherokee series.

You can contact Brad at bradwagnoncco@gmail.com

Brian Young

Brian Young is a graduate of both Yale University and Columbia University. An enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, he has published two Middle Grade novels, Healer of the Water Monster and Heroes of the Water Monster, a Young Adult novel, Shards of Silence, as well as contributed short stories to Ancestor Approved, A Little Bit Super, and Legendary Frybread Drive-In.

For more information about Brian, please visit his website.

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