Amber McCrary is the founder of Abalone Mountain Press, "A place for indigenous writers to dismantle the canon." She was interviewed by the Fronteras Desk on KJAZZ, Phoenix public radio.
The interview, "Diné artist Amber McCrary's new zine collaboration imagines Indigenous futurism," traces the origins of the idea for Abalone Mountain Press to a zine for Indigenous people first imagined by Berkeley Ethnic Studies Ph.D. student Sierra Edd (Diné), titled "Portals of Indigenous Futurism." The collaboration on the Zine includes Chanti Jung, Julie Fiveash, and Edd.
"Abalone Mountain Press is a Diné woman-owned press existing on occupied Akimel O'odham and Pee-Posh land. The meaning behind Abalone Mountain comes from the Diné name(Dookʼoʼoosłííd) for the so-called San Francisco peaks in Flagstaff, Arizona. Abalone Shell Mountain is one of the four sacred mountains for Diné. The owner of Abalone Mountain press, Amber McCrary grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona therefore, this sacred mountain is near and dear to her heart and among many Diné and Hopi folks."
Check out the store for chapbooks, stickers, and zines. The press also produces a podcast series that focuses on "one Native or BIPOC writer on their creative process, life perspectives and tips on writing." Episode #6, "On growing up O'odham," features Ruben Cu:k Ba'ak discussing the "use of names through colonization, connecting back to tribal (Tohono O'odham ) roots, addiction, native masculinity and growing up on the reservation in Southern Arizona."
