PU

Gods in the Ground

Addison Stump
Ship Date: Summer 2016
Pub Date: Spring 2016

SALES HOOK
After a midnight tryst by the Cheyenne River, Awan finds herself pregnant.
Nauseous and fatigued, the Sioux high school student hides in her room. But when
her hair starts falling out in clumps, she realizes something else might be wrong.
Three days later, radiation warning signs are placed on the River. She is one of the
many people poisoned by the toxic waste flowing through the Sioux water source.

Price: $15.95 US,

$17.95 CAN
ISBN-13: 978-1-932010-794
Trim: 5.5 x 8.5
Format: Print

DESCRIPTION
Awans story is one of many. The destruction and poisoning of Native American
reservations is nothing new. Uranium mining and unregulated chemical pollution
has been going on since the 1960s. This 75,000-word creative nonfiction
manuscript entitled Gods in the Ground tells Awans and others stories in the style
of Louise Erdrichs The Round House and Timothy Egans Short Nights of the
Shadow Catcher. Through firsthand interviews and photographs, supplemented by
a historical look at the Cheyenne Nations ancient appreciation for deities of the
earth, Gods in the Ground seeks to raise awareness and give voice to a
demographic that has been neglected and abused throughout our history.
KEY SELLING POINTS
Addison spent three years I spent three years on the Wampanoag and Bay
Mills Reservations, studying cultures and compiling research for a Ph.D.
During that time I taught at elementary and middle schools and became
very close with the members of those communities.
Book identifies relevant issues in Native American land rights and
environmental issues, and gives a voice to a frequently neglected and
exploited demographic.
AUDIENCE
Adults interested in Native American cultures and issues
Native American readers
Readers looking for a book concerning environmental policy and Native
rights
Fans of Louis Erdrich, Timothy Egan, Catherine C. Robbins, Frank
Pommersheim, and Al Gedicks

Pages: 403
Carton Qty:
# and type of illustrations:
Photographs
Series: n/a
BISAC Category:
POLITICAL
SCIENCE/Public
Policy/Environmental Policy
BISAC Code: POL044000
BISAC Category: SOCIAL
SCIENCE/Ethnic
Studies/Native American
Studies
BISAC Code: SOC021000
Previous Edition ISBN:
n/a

AUTHOR BIO
Addison has always been fascinated by Native American culture. After obtaining an
M.A. in Native American Studies from Dartmouth College, she spent three years on
the Wampanoag and Bay Mills Reservations, studying cultures and compiling

Tipsheet Updated 12/5/15

Page 1 of 3

research for a Ph.D. She has had several articles published in TIME and National
Geographic.
AUTHOR RESIDENCE
2400 Block SE Bybee Blvd, Portland Oregon
COMPARATIVE TITLES
The Round House, Louise Erdrich, $9.51,paperback, 368 pages, ISBN
978-0062065254, Reprint edition 9/24/2013, HarperCollins Publishers
o One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation
in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to
surface because Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to
relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her
husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's
life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she
will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude.
Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an
adult world for which he is ill prepared. While his father, a tribal
judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his
efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and
sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get
some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the
Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe.
And this is only the beginning. (Barnes and Noble summary)
Fractured Land: The Price of Inheriting Oil, Lisa Westberg Peters, $14.99,
paperback, 240 pages, ISBN 9780873519526, 10-1-2014, Minnesota
Historical Society Press
o What does an environmentalist do when she realizes she will
inherit mineral rights and royalties on fracked oil wells in North
Dakota? How does she decide between financial security and
living as a committed conservationist who wants to leave her
grandchildren a healthy world? After her fathers death, Lisa
Westberg Peters investigates the stories behind the leases her
mother now holds. She learns how her grandfather's land
purchases near Williston in the 1940s reflect four generations of
creative risk-taking in her fathers Swedish immigrant family. She
explores the ties between frac sand mining on the St. Croix River
and the halting, difficult development of North Dakotas oil, locked
in shale two miles down and pursued since the 1920s. And then
there are the surprising and immediate connections between the
development of North Dakota oil and Peterss own life in
Minneapolis. (Barnes and Noble summary)
Broken Landscape: Indians, Indian Tribes, and the Constitution, Frank
Pommersheim, $26.95, paperback, 424 pages, ISBN 9780199915736, 3-12012, Oxford University Press
o Broken Landscape is a sweeping chronicle of Indian tribal
sovereignty under the United States Constitution and the way that
legal analysis and practice have interpreted and misinterpreted
tribal sovereignty since the nation's founding. The Constitution
formalized the relationship between Indian tribes and the United
States governmenta relationship forged through a long history of
war and land usurpationwithin a federal structure not mirrored in
the traditions of tribal governance. Although the Constitution
recognized the sovereignty of Indian nations, it did not safeguard
tribes against the tides of national expansion and exploitation. As

Tipsheet Updated 12/5/15

Page 2 of 3

Broken Landscape demonstrates, the federal government has

repeatedly failed to respect the Constitution's recognition of tribal
sovereignty. Instead, it has favored excessive, unaccountable
authority in its dealings with tribes. The Supreme Court has
strayed from its Constitutional roots as well, consistently issuing
decisions over two centuries that have bolstered federal power
over the tribes. (Barnes and Noble summary)
MARKETING AND PUBLICITY HIGHLIGHTS
Solicit reviews from targeted national and regional media
o Review copies to major media (Publishers Weekly, ALA, etc.)
o Regional magazines and newspapers
East coast publications
o Book blogs: Native American, environmental policy
Coordinated social media campaign
o Book giveaways
o E-book pricing discounts with associated holidays
o Designated hashtag: #godsinthegroud
Co-promote with Native American events and gatherings
o Handout w/ book cover, synopsis

Tipsheet Updated 12/5/15

Page 3 of 3