Author Laurie Arnold to speak at WVC at Omak Nov. 8

Dr. Laurie Arnold, author and Colville Tribal member, will give a presentation and book signing in room 301 at the Wenatchee Valley College at Omak campus on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Arnold’s new book, Bartering with the Bones of Their Dead: Colville Tribes and Termination (University of Washington Press) was released in September. The book tells the story of a tribe’s twenty-year struggle about whether or not to give up their status as a sovereign nation. Most tribes and bands fought the termination policy enacted by the Eisenhower Administration; the Colville Confederated Tribes of North Central Washington offer a rare example of a tribe that pursued termination. Arnold offers a glimpse into this difficult era as both an historian and insider who grew up listening to the memories of her elders.

Arnold grew up in Keller, Wash. She is an enrolled member of the Lakes Band of the Colville Confederated Tribes. She attended Oregon State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in history. After working a few years in Seattle, Portland and Chicago, she returned to school, earning her PhD in history from Arizona State University in 2005.

Arnold worked at the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies at the Newberry Library in Chicago before taking a position at the University of Notre Dame as director of Native American Initiatives.

A book signing will also be held at the Corner Shelf Bookstore in Omak from 4 to 6 p.m.

This presentation is part of National Native American Heritage Month and is sponsored by the Red Road Association.