Susan Devan Harness is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, a cultural anthropologist, writer and speaker, and author of Bitterroot: A Salish Memoir of Transracial Adoption. Bitterroot recently received the Barbara Sudler Award from History Colorado for Best Creative Nonfiction by a Female Writer, as well as Best Indigenous Writer and Best Creative Nonfiction in the High Plains Book Awards. Bitterroot was also a finalist in the Colorado Book Awards. Ms. Harness shared her expertise on the TEDxMileHigh stage with her presentation "Adopting a Child of a Different Race? Let's Talk..." Ms. Harness' profession, as well as her experience as an American Indian transracial adoptee, gives her a unique perspective on the history of Native Americans in contemporary culture. In addition to her scholarly book "Mixing Cultural Identities Through Transracial Adoption (Edwin Mellen Press, 2009) she has written numerous articles about American Indian history and assimilation policies, and is a highly sought-after speaker., both nationally and internationally. She has an M.A. in Cultural Anthropology and an M.A. in Creative Nonfiction, both from Colorado State University. She is also an affiliate in the Department of Anthropology and Geography at CSU.