Book Clubs - David Heska Wanbli Weiden

David is delighted to meet with book clubs via Zoom–please contact him directly. And scroll down to the bottom of this page for organizations that assist the Lakota people and ways to help.

Topics and questions for discussion: Here are some discussion questions that you can use to begin a conversation about WINTER COUNTS. WINTER COUNTS discussion questions_compressed

Author interview: Here’s an interview with David about WINTER COUNTS and his background. Weiden author interview_compressed

Playlist: Here’s a list of songs (thanks Largehearted Boy) that the characters in WINTER COUNTS love!

WINTER COUNTS cocktail: The mixologist Chantal Tseng created a great cocktail based on WINTER COUNTS–including a no-alcohol version.

“The inspiration for this drink stems from one particular character, Lack Strongbow, the native food justice warrior celebrity chef dude. Bourbon is the base due to its mash bill of corn. Lack cooks a lot with corn, sage, honey, and mentions a secret ingredient in his bison terrine, ‘wojapi,’ which is a native berry. Here I am subbing in pomegranate and also including persimmon. Both of these last two ingredients are widely available due to the season. Incidentally, the cocktail can also be prepared hot by heating up the cider and reducing some of the other ingredients.”

“Lack Strongbow, food justice warrior”

Boil 1/4 cup water. Add 3 sage leaves and let simmer for about 3 minutes. Then remove the leaves and discard and add equal parts hot sage infused water to equal parts honey. Stir until fully integrated, then let cool.

Chill a large rocks glass or Highball.

Add to your shaker:

2 slices of ripe persimmon (Fuyu ideal)

a small handful of pomegranate seeds

muddle the fruit

Add to your shaker:

1.75 oz. Bourbon of your choice

.5 oz. Sage-Honey syrup

.5 oz. fresh lemon juice*

1 oz. unfiltered apple cider

Fill with cracked ice and shake for about 10 seconds. Double-strain** into your chilled glass over 1 large piece of ice. Garnish with a fresh slice of persimmon and fresh sage and rosemary leaves. Freshly grate some nutmeg and singe the rosemary so it smokes while you sip.

**Double-straining refers to straining into a fine mesh strainer so the ice shards, pulp & mint pieces don’t end up in your drink or in your teeth. While certainly an optional method, it also mildly slows the dilution rate of your drink as it sits.

For the N/A version: (because our main character, Virgil Wounded Horse is a recovering alcoholic and doesn’t drink spirits):

“Virgil’s Cup”

Chill a punch cup.

Add to your shaker:

2 slices of ripe persimmon (Fuyu ideal)

a small handful of pomegranate seeds

muddle the fruit

Add to your shaker:

2 oz. unfiltered apple cider

.5 oz. fresh lemon juice

.5 oz. Sage-Honey syrup (1:1)

Fill with cracked ice and shake for about 10 seconds. Double-strain into your chilled glass. Garnish with a fresh slice of persimmon and fresh sage and rosemary leaves. Freshly grate some nutmeg and singe the rosemary so it smokes while you sip.”

Resources

If you are interested in learning more about legal issues that affect Natives, please check out the organizations listed below (and they can certainly use financial assistance, if you are able to help.) David is currently working on an effort to have the Major Crimes Act amended or overturned, so that Native nations will again have the authority to prosecute crimes that occur on their own territory.

–Native American Rights Fund

–Lakota People’s Law Project

Another great nonprofit is the Denver Indian Family Resource Center. This organization seeks to protect Native families by ensuring that the Indian Child Welfare Act is properly implemented. David served on the Board of Directors for DIFRC for years and still supports it.

Helping the Lakota people:

If you are interested in donating to an organization that assists the Lakota people, One Spirit helps elders and families in need on the Pine Ridge reservation. The Tree of Life is an organization that assists families on the Rosebud reservation. The Sicangu Community Development Corporation is working to help the Sicangu people with education, food sovereignty, housing, and health. Most urgently, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is soliciting assistance for their COVID-19 Disaster Relief Fund. There’s a dire need for medical masks and other supplies; all donations go directly to medical assistance for the Sicangu people.