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CEPKA: A Memoir In Beaded Essays by Leah Altman

Born Baby Girl Black Feather, Leah Altman was removed from her tribal community through placement by the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), to be adopted and raised by a family in Portland, Oregon. At twenty-one, she journeys across the West twice to rediscover her roots—to her birth father’s Lakota family in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and to her mother’s Persian relatives in Denver, Colorado.

As an adoptee, Leah felt the hole in her heart where her cekpa was missing. Lacking this tradition so essential to Lakota culture manifested in a troubled youth of reckless decisions, substance abuse, and struggling to fit in at school after school. A child without a cekpa is left unanchored, and without hers, Leah was at a loss in life. In an intimate portrayal of self-discovery, Leah’s memoir tells a painstaking construction of her search for identity, written to ensure her own children grow up with an understanding of their roots.

In this collection of personal essays dedicated to her two daughters, Altman masterfully weaves together her own literary cekpa in a coming-of-age story about transracial adoption, tribal enrollment, motherhood, and what it truly means to be connected to one’s culture, homeland, and family. 

 

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Meet The Author

Leah Altman

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Born Baby Girl Black Feather, Leah Altman was removed from her tribal community through placement by the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), to be adopted and raised by a family in Portland, Oregon. At twenty-one, she journeys across the West twice to rediscover her roots—to her birth father’s Lakota family in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and to her mother’s Persian relatives in Denver, Colorado.

As an adoptee, Leah felt the hole in her heart where her cekpa was missing. Lacking this tradition so essential to Lakota culture manifested in a troubled youth of reckless decisions, substance abuse, and struggling to fit in at school after school. A child without a cekpa is left unanchored, and without hers, Leah was at a loss in life. In an intimate portrayal of self-discovery, Leah’s memoir tells a painstaking construction of her search for identity, written to ensure her own children grow up with an understanding of their roots.

In this collection of personal essays dedicated to her two daughters, Altman masterfully weaves together her own literary cekpa in a coming-of-age story about transracial adoption, tribal enrollment, motherhood, and what it truly means to be connected to one’s culture, homeland, and family. 

About the Author

Leah Altman (Oglala Lakota) is a Native American transracial adoptee and second-generation Persian immigrant. She has worked as a freelance journalist and editor for over fifteen years, alongside her work in fundraising and grant writing for Native and BIPOC-led nonprofit organizations serving families and the environment. Leah lives in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of the Institute of American Indian Arts and Portland State University’s Book Publishing program. Her work has been featured in publications such as Oregon Humanities, The Oregonian, Underscore, and Indian Country Today. She is an avid pool player, bead worker, fickle hiker, fair-weather kayaker, and mama bear of two young girls

Product Details:

  • ISBN-13: 9781947845602 (print)
  • ISBN-13: 9781947845619 (eBook)
  • Publisher: Ooligan Press
  • Author Name: Leah Altman
  • Release Date: November 11, 2025
  • Format: Print Book (also available in eBook)
  • Product dimensions: 8.5“ x 5.5“
  • Page Count: 304

Dimensions 5.5 × 8.5 in

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