Signal Peak

’Tessa’s Dance, ’ Volume I in the Medicine Valley Series, is the first of David Edward Walker’s novels, and garnered a Bronze Medal from the 2013 Independent Publisher Book Awards for Multicultural/Young Adult Fiction. ’Signal Peak’, Volume II in the series, was released in November, 2013, and initial reaction has been resoundingly positive. David grew up in the Detroit area, working as a cab driver, record store clerk, and order taker in a flavor factory. He earned a doctorate degree at University of Detroit in 1992 and is a licensed psychologist. In 2000, David moved with his family to central Washington to work with the Indian Health Service. He continues to consult with the 14 Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. A scholar, passionate speaker, and fierce critic of mental health practices in Indian Country, he contributed a chapter entitled ＂ADHD as the new ’feeblemindedness’ of American Indian children＂ for ’Critical New Perspectives on ADHD’ (Routledge) which won the 2006 NASAN Academic Book Award in the UK. His 2012 article with Albert Galves exposed the pseudoscience of ADHD for readers of ’Ethical Human Psychology & Psychiatry’ journal. David’s new chapter tracing the destructive legacy of ’race mental hygiene’ in Indian Country is currently in peer review for an upcoming book on indigenous historical trauma being prepared for Arizona State University. David is also a poet and singer-songwriter. In the 1990s, he toured under the pseudonym ’David Folks, ’ releasing two CDs, ’Roadside Park’ and ’Refusing to View’, and garnering college airplay across the U.S.. He worked with the Dreamcatchers arts project to benefit Native American causes, and shared the stage with such luminaries as Rodney Crowell, Richie Havens, and Richard Shindell. His songs ＂draw his audience into a warm space of feeling and introspection, which he supports with elegant moral ambition,＂ according to ’Music Hound Guide to Folk Music’. He released a third CD, the Baha’i-inspired disc, ’Summoning the Possible, in 2010 under the pseudonym ’David Folks Walker.’ David claims his ’mixed-blood’ Missouri Cherokee heritage through Barlow, Gibson, and Alexander families. He currently lives with his family in the International District of Seattle. You can visit his external website at www.tessasdance.com.