Using his exuberant unique iterations of both traditional and contemporary interpretations of Karuk historical and spiritual iconography, and his brutally direct and sparse poetry, Tripp illuminates the ubiquitous place of personal, social and epigenetic intergenerational pain and trauma in the Karuk struggle for decolonization and sovereignty. The painted and collaged imagery and the marker calligraphy of this book have a particular strident graphic quality which makes the book an extremely visceral page-turner in the codex format and a striking screen/frieze work when the accordion structure is unfolded for exhibition. Perhaps one of Tripp’s most potent and explicit depictions of his individual place in the Karuk struggle, this artwork is one of Tripp’s last major posthumously published painted painted books.

Book design by Marshall Weber, binding by Sophia Kramer.