The Land Holds Their Names

This short story traces the slow unraveling of Indigenous life in California, from first European contact in the 1700s through the 1800s of U.S. statehood. Told through a lyrical, omniscient voice that alternates between the perspectives of the powerful and the witness-like Indigenous people, the narrative interweaves intimate human experiences with sweeping historical forces. This short story contrasts the bureaucratic language of law, contracts, and ledgers with the enduring memory of rivers, forests, mountains, and children who carry ancestral knowledge.