Surprisingly lacking the strands of white-guilt that one may expect in a book written by a Caucasian about Native Americans, Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans is informative as much as it is refreshing. Alison Owings’ book offers up chapter after chapter of interviews with Native Americans across the country, addressing issues of substance abuse, health, repatriation, familial bonds, ceremonies—and that ever-prevalent Native humor.

Owings, who lives in Mill Valley, speaks candidly with slightly humorous self-deprecation and honest insight from her own place of misinterpretations and assumptions about Native culture. Reflecting on her own education, she makes no excuses, confronts her personally believed stereotypes and goes above and beyond, traveling far and wide to blow her own misconceptions out of the water. In the revealing interviews she conducted as research for Indian Voices, the issues of continued ignorance about Native Americans from non-native countrymen is staggering. Topping the list of offenses include using the word “squaw,” asking a Native person if he or she is “full blooded” and general blanket beliefs about Native life in today’s world.

Owings also addresses issues of colonization of Hawaii. “Did Hawai’i not have an indigenous population whose lives were radically changed by European arrival?” she asks when explaining the inclusion of Hawaiians in the collection.

Indian Voices is an excellent contribution to the growing works of white writers and activists attempting to unravel the assumptions and “othering” that contributes to interracial tension and violence. Confronting ignorance on a personal level is always the best place to start and Owings offers a fantastic educational tool as well as an entertaining read for anyone wishing to work toward a world of equality.—Dani Burlison