Quote by Tommy Orange: “We are the hollow, the empty space, the ghost dance.”

This evocative phrase conveys a sense of profound loss and lingering absence within the Indigenous community, stemming from historical trauma. It suggests a feeling of being incomplete or marked by the past, while 'ghost dance' hints at a spiritual, resilient, yet mournful legacy.

A central metaphor in 'There There,' this quote encapsulates the intergenerational trauma and historical genocide experienced by Native Americans. It emerged during a contemporary period of reckoning with colonial histories and advocating for Indigenous rights and representation.

American author and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma whose debut novel There There was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2019. His work brings Indigenous urban experience in America to the centre of contemporary literary fiction.