From the Heart of Our Nations: An Indigenous Futures Anthology of Short Fiction, edited by Kashona Notah with a foreword by Rebecca Nagle.
FIRST AMERICA INDIGENOUS FUTURES BOOK RELEASE: FROM THE HEART OF OUR NATIONS
Friday, July 31, 2026
6:00–8:30 PM | Doors 5:30 PM
101 Archer
101 E. Archer Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Join First America, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, Red Media, and the Lindy Waters III Foundation for an evening celebrating Indigenous futurisms, storytelling, and the release of From the Heart of Our Nations: An Indigenous Futures Anthology of Short Fiction.
Earlier this year, First America hosted two creative writing workshops—one in Tulsa and one virtual—bringing together emerging Indigenous writers representing Native Nations from across the United States. Led by Tulsa Artist Fellow Kashona Notah (Iñupiaq), participants were invited to imagine Indigenous communities 250 years into the future. Their visionary stories now come together in this new anthology, published by OK Stamp Press.
Acclaimed author Deborah Jackson Taffa (Kwatsaan/Yuma and Laguna Pueblo) will open the evening with a keynote conversation exploring Indigenous futurisms and the contemporary resurgence of Native literature. Following the conversation, contributors to the anthology will read selections from their work in celebration of this remarkable collection.
Copies of From the Heart of Our Nations will be available for purchase through Magic City Books, alongside titles by Deborah Jackson Taffa (Kwatsaan/Yuma and Laguna Pueblo) and Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee Nation), First America creator and Tulsa Artist Fellow, with a book signing following the program. Catering will be provided by NATV.
ABOUT THE BOOK
From the Heart of Our Nations: An Indigenous Futures Anthology of Short Fiction showcases 14 original stories that imagine Native futures 250 years from now. Together, these works celebrate Indigenous imagination, resilience, and survivance through fiction that envisions expansive futures rooted in Native knowledge and community.
ABOUT FIRST AMERICA
July 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This summer, as media streams are full of an outdated and inaccurate version of the American story, First America is the counter narrative. First America reveals how the founders’ treatment of Indigenous peoples— and Native resistance— fundamentally shaped U.S. democracy.
The First America podcast is written and hosted by Rebecca Nagle, the award-winning journalist behind This Land. The project was developed in collaboration with leading Native scholars and writers, including Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone, Yale), Maggie Blackhawk (Ojibwe, NYU), Nick Estes (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, University of Minnesota), and Phil Deloria (Dakota descent, Harvard).
FEATURED SPEAKER
Deborah Jackson Taffa (Kwatsaan/Yuma and Laguna Pueblo) is the acclaimed author of Whiskey Tender, a finalist for the 2024 National Book Award for Nonfiction and one of the year's most celebrated memoirs. Director of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at the Institute of American Indian Arts, Taffa has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, MacDowell, and the Howard Foundation.
MODERATORS
Rebecca Nagle is an award-winning journalist, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and writer and host of the podcasts First America and This Land. Her bestselling book By the Fire We Carry received numerous national honors and reflects her ongoing work documenting Native sovereignty, federal Indian law, and Indigenous representation. Nagle is a 2026–2028 Tulsa Artist Fellowship awardee.
Kashona Notah is an Iñupiaq writer, educator, and 2024–2026 Tulsa Artist Fellowship awardee. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Ploughshares, The Southern Review, Nimrod International Journal, and numerous other publications. As facilitator of the First America Indigenous Futures workshops, Notah guided participants in imagining bold Indigenous futures that now appear in this inaugural anthology.
PROGRAM PARTNERS
First America, Red Media, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Lindy Waters III Foundation, Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, 101 Archer, OK Stamp Press, Magic City Books, The Institute of American Indian Arts, NATV
VISITOR EXPERIENCE
Tulsa Artist Fellowship is committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible experience for every visitor. All exhibitions and programs are free, open to the public, and thoughtfully documented and archived for continued community access.