Joseph Lee is an Aquinnah Wampanoag writer based in New York City. He has an MFA from Columbia University and teaches creative writing at Mercy University. His writing has been published in The Guardian, BuzzFeed News, Vox, Electric Literature, High Country News, and more. He was a Margins Fellow at the Asian American Writers' Workshop and a Senior Indigenous Affairs Fellow at Grist. He has won multiple awards from the Indigenous Journalists Association for environmental coverage, health coverage, and beat reporting and was awarded a 2024 Silvers Grant for Work in Progress. Follow him on X at @JosephVLee and on Instagram at @Joseph.V.Lee.

"Lee brings his expansive journeys and conversations to life in this consistently thoughtful, accessible narrative that blends cultural history and memoir, research and reportage. Clear-eyed about both the destructive legacy of colonialism and the complications and contradictions often forced upon those working to challenge it, he positions himself as a curious and deeply engaged fellow learner, inviting readers to explore questions of community and identity along with him." -Nicole Chung, 10 Best Memoirs, TIME "A deeply personal account of Lee's search for identity and a forthright assessment of the modern-day effects of colonialism at home and abroad." -Katy Abel, The Provincetown Independent "Lee's writing resists the tendency toward mythmaking that's common to destinations laden with outsize reputations. . . . Engaging. . . . Despite the author's deep breadth of knowledge - in addition to his lived experience as an Aquinnah Wampanoag, he's also a journalist who covers Indigenous affairs - he is refreshingly frank about his own misconceptions while coming of age and how he learned to correct them while researching and writing this book. . . . By offering these glimpses into his mind and his own internal conflicts, Lee proves to be an adroit, honest narrator, resisting any desire to wax poetic by instead reminding readers that real people live here. . . . Through a diverse array of sources, Lee offers readers a valuable understanding of the many forms that 21st-century Indigenous life can take and how they might evolve in the future. . . . It's clear how much Lee cherishes his connection to Martha's Vineyard, a place that's easy to love. And in these pages, he's crafted a must-read for anyone who seeks to know the island with depth that extends well beyond its superficial myths." -Boston Globe "Intimate and lively... Lee's reflections demand one contemplate not only the governments in Indian Country but the troubled experiment in government that is the United States of America." -Philip J. Deloria, The New York Times "A powerful, genre-crossing memoir that sparkles with clarity and perspective." -BookPage "A searching and timely exploration of indigeneity and its many interpretations." -Kirkus (starred review) "A potent exploration of what it means to be Indigenous. . . . A deft combination of affective memoir and keen journalism, this profound examination on identity and place impresses." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Publisher: Atria/One Signal Publishers

Pub date: 2026-07-21

Length: 256 pages