An Evening with Chris La Tray

Award-winning author and Montana Poet Laureate Chris La Tray explores his family's hidden Indigenous heritage and the complex journey toward tribal enrollment in a memoir that weaves personal discovery with broader Indigenous history. Chris La Tray's narrative combines genealogical detective work with conversations across Native communities to uncover the lasting effects of colonialism on surviving generations.

An Evening with Chris La Tray takes place Tuesday, September 9 at 7 p.m. at Books & Books, presented by Books & Books and the Books & Books Literary Foundation. La Tray discusses his memoir Becoming Little Shell: A Landless Indian's Journey Home, which chronicles his path from childhood questions about his grandmother's mentions of Chippewa heritage to eventual enrollment with the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians. The book received multiple honors including the Reading the West Book Award, Pacific Northwest Book Award and recognition from Kirkus Reviews and Book Riot as a best book of the year. La Tray, who serves as Montana Poet Laureate for 2023-2025, draws from diligent research and conversations with authors, activists, elders and historians to tell both his personal story and the Little Shell Tribe's 158-year struggle for federal recognition. Admission is free and books will be available for purchase at the event.