Reservation High

Judith Surber

Judith Surber is a writer and a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe who lives on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in far northern California.Judith has worked for the Hoopa Tribe her whole adult life in various capacities, including a political appointment as the Executive Secretary for the Tribal Council, a grant writer and serves on several tribal boards. Currently she is the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) manager for K’ima:w Medical Center.

In November of 2023, Judith had a guest opinion published in the New York Times, regarding the Fentanyl epidemic and the heartache that it has caused not only in her own family but within her tribal community. The article with pictures was entered into Photoville in New York City and was exhibited in June of 2024, and was featured by the Pulitzer Prize committee. She was a speaker at an International Drug Symposium in Mexico City, as well as CounterMeasures, a podcast sponsored by Narcan.

Judith has written two novels, Reservation High and The Broken Ones.Both are based in Hoopa and explores Native lives, family dynamics, substance abuse and cultural challenges, i.e. historical trauma and complicated grief. She is currently working on her third novel, which is a historical fiction based in the late 1800’s.

Judith is a mother of four (three boys, one girl) and grandmother of eight grandchildren, who are her greatest joy. She advocates for those with substance use disorder and works constantly on bringing resources to her small, rural community.