Background

Charlene Willing McManis wrote Indian No More based on her own experiences growing up as a member of the Umpqua Tribe of Grand Ronde.

With a draft in the works, she was selected for a We Need Diverse Books Program Mentorship in 2016 with poet Margarita Engle to help her guide her craft. She also met Traci Sorell at Kweli Journal's 2016 Color of Children's Literature conference, and they became fast friends.

McManis would later ask Traci Sorell to complete her novel for her when her cancer returned. Charlene Willing McManis would not live to see her novel published, but I can't help but think she would be incredibly proud with how it turned out.

McManis said in an interview that her motivation to write this novel was to "bring this event [termination and relocation] to light for children and teachers" (Sorell, Censations).

Traci Sorell is an author of books for children and teens written in both English and Spanish. She is a member of the Cherokee Nation and is learning how to speak Cherokee. She writes books about her experiences growing up, and the history of Indigenous people in the United States.

After becoming friends with Charlene Willing McManis, Traci Sorell was asked if she would complete the book Indian No More for publication. She was at first intimidated. She chose to complete it with the help of editors and friends, and in the year after Charlene Willing McManis passed, Indian No More was published.

Traci Sorell attributes her motivation to write to not having been able to find culturally accurate representations of indigenous cultures in books as a child. She writes now to "reflect her mission to add to the canon of literature showing that Native Nations and their citizens still exist and thrive today" ("Traci Sorell Author Page").