Chris La Tray presents 'Becoming Little Shell', 4 September | Event in Seattle | AllEvents

Chris La Tray presents 'Becoming Little Shell'

Third Place Books

Highlights

Thu, 04 Sep, 2025 at 07:00 pm

1.5 hours

Third Place Books Ravenna

Free Tickets Available

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Date & Location

Thu, 04 Sep, 2025 at 07:00 pm to 08:30 pm (GMT-07:00)

Third Place Books Ravenna

6504 20th Avenue Northeast, Seattle, United States

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About the event

Chris La Tray presents 'Becoming Little Shell'
“I’m in awe of Chris La Tray’s storytelling.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer

About this Event

Third Place Books welcomes Métis storyteller, former bookseller, and Montana Poet Laureate Chris La Tray for a conversation about his book , soon out in paperback. Winner of the Reading the West Book Award and a Pacific Northwest Book Award, Becoming Little Shell is a testament to the power of storytelling, to family and legacy, and to finding home.

For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book!



Tickets:

This event is free to attend. Registration is recommended in advance.



About Becoming Little Shell. . .

A People Best Memoir of the Year

A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of the Year Selection

A Book Riot Best Book of the Year

"I'm in awe of Chris La Tray's storytelling. Becoming Little Shell creates a multilayered narrative from threads of personal, family, community, tribal, and national histories."--Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass

Growing up in Montana, Chris La Tray always identified as Indian. Despite the fact that his father fiercely denied any connection, he found Indigenous people alluring, often recalling his grandmother's consistent mention of their Chippewa heritage.

When La Tray attended his grandfather's funeral as a young man, he finally found himself surrounded by relatives who obviously were Indigenous. "Who were they?" he wondered, and "Why was I never allowed to know them?" Combining diligent research and compelling conversations with authors, activists, elders, and historians, La Tray embarks on a journey into his family's past, discovering along the way a larger story of the complicated history of Indigenous communities--as well as the devastating effects of colonialism that continue to ripple through surviving generations. And as he comes to embrace his full identity, he eventually seeks enrollment with the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, joining their 158-year-long struggle for federal recognition.

Both personal and historical, Becoming Little Shell is a testament to the power of storytelling, to family and legacy, and to finding home. Infused with candor, heart, wisdom, and an abiding love for a place and a people, Chris La Tray's remarkable journey is both revelatory and redemptive.


Chris La Tray is a Métis storyteller, a descendent of the Pembina Band of the mighty Red River of the North, and an enrolled member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians, he is also the author of One-Sentence Journal: Short Poems and Essays from the World at Large, which won the 2018 Montana Book Award and a 2019 High Plains Book Award, as well as Descended from a Travel-Worn Satchel, a collection of haiku and haibun poetry. La Tray is the Montana Poet Laureate for 2023–2025 and a former bookseller at Fact & Fiction. He writes the weekly newsletter “An Irritable Métis” and lives near Frenchtown, Montana.



About Third Place Books

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.


Also check out other Arts events in Seattle, Literary Art events in Seattle.

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Ticket Info

Tickets for Chris La Tray presents 'Becoming Little Shell' can be booked here.

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General Admission Free
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Third Place Books Ravenna, 6504 20th Avenue Northeast, Seattle, United States
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Chris La Tray presents 'Becoming Little Shell', 4 September | Event in Seattle | AllEvents
Chris La Tray presents 'Becoming Little Shell'
Thu, 04 Sep, 2025 at 07:00 pm
Free