November is Native American Heritage Month. Take some time this month to explore and celebrate by learning more about the diverse and rich cultures of Native American people groups and their history.
Here are some book suggestions to get you started!
Picture Books:
We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know About by Traci Sorell
“Highlighting the fact that contemporary Native life is ongoing, this … picture book presents truths about Native Americans that everyone should know. Whether facing forced assimilation or tribal termination or celebrating self-determination or the Indian Child Welfare Act, Native people in the United States will always declare: We are still here!”–Dust jacket flap.
Find My Dance by Ria Thundercloud
“In her debut picture book, professional Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud tells the true story of her path to dance and how it helped her take pride in her Native American heritage”– Provided by publisher
We Are Grateful = Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell
“Otsaliheliga is a Cherokee word that is used to express gratitude. Journey through the year with a Cherokee family and their tribal nation as they express thanks for celebrations big and small. A look at modern Native American life as told by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation.”
The Storyteller by Brandon Hobson
“Ziggy’s mother disappeared ten years ago, one of the many Native women who have mysteriously gone missing, and Ziggy believes a secret cave may hold the key–so with his sister, Moon, and friends Alice and Corso, he sets out to find the cave and solve the mystery of his family’s origins.”
Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young
“When Nathan goes to visit his grandma, Nali, at her mobile summer home on the Navajo reservation, he knows he’s in for a pretty uneventful summer, with no electricity or cell service. Still, he loves spending time with Nali and with his uncle Jet, though it’s clear when Jet arrives that he brings his problems with him. One night, while lost in the nearby desert, Nathan finds someone extraordinary: a Holy Being from the Navajo Creation Story-a Water Monster-in need of help. Now Nathan must summon all his courage to save his new friend. With the help of other Navajo Holy Beings, Nathan is determined to save the Water Monster, and to support Uncle Jet in healing from his own pain.”–Publisher.
Wilma Mankiller by Traci Sorell
“The descendant of Cherokee ancestors who had been forced to walk the Trail of Tears, Wilma Mankiller experienced her own forced removal from the land she grew up on as a child. As she got older and learned more about the injustices her people had faced, she dedicated her life to instilling pride in Native heritage and reclaiming Native rights. She went on to become the first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.”
Young Adult:
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline
“Winifred has lived in the apartment above the cemetery office with her father, who works in the crematorium all her life, close to her mother’s grave. With her sixteenth birthday only days away, Winifred has settled into a lazy summer schedule, lugging her obese Chihuahua around the grounds in a squeaky red wagon to visit the neglected gravesides and nursing a serious crush on her best friend, Jack. Her habit of wandering the graveyard at all hours has started a rumor that Winterson Cemetery might be haunted. It’s welcome news since the crematorium is on the verge of closure and her father’s job being outsourced. Now that the ghost tours have started, Winifred just might be able to save her father’s job and the only home she’s ever known, not to mention being able to stay close to where her mother is buried. All she has to do is get help from her con-artist cousin to keep up the rouse and somehow manage to stop her father from believing his wife has returned from the grave. But when Phil, an actual ghost of a teen girl who lived and died in the ravine next to the cemetery, starts showing up, Winifred begins to question everything she believes about life, love and death. Especially love”– Amazon.com.
Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith
“Halloween is coming up, and Hughie Wolfe is volunteering at a new rural attraction: Harvest House. He’s excited about working on a fun, spooky project…until he learns that an actor playing the vengeful spirit of an ‘Indian maiden’–a ghost inspired by a local legend–will be the star of the show. Local legend aside, unusual things have been happening late at night at the crossroads by Harvest House. Young women–particularly Indigenous women–are being followed by a creepy man; dogs are fretful and on edge; and wild animals are behaving strangely. When the big sister of Hughie’s best pal reports a disturbing encounter, Hughie and his friends decide to investigate, determined to find out if rumors of a looming supernatural threat are true”–Dust jacket flap.
This Indian Kid: A Native American Memoir by Eddie Chuculate
“Growing up impoverished and shuttled between different households, it seemed life was bound to take a certain path for Eddie Chuculate. Despite the challenges he faced, his upbringing was rich with love and bountiful lessons from his Creek and Cherokee heritage, deep-rooted traditions he embraced even as he learned to live within the culture of white, small-town America that dominated his migratory childhood.”– Provided by publisher.
Adult:
“Twelve Native Americans came to the Big Oakland Powwow for different reasons. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and has come to work the powwow and to honor his uncle’s memory. Edwin Frank has come to find his true father. Bobby Big Medicine has come to drum the Grand Entry. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil Red Feather; Orvil has taught himself Indian dance through YouTube videos, and he has come to the powwow to dance in public for the very first time. Tony Loneman is a young Native American boy whose future seems destined to be as bleak as his past, and he has come to the Powwow with darker intentions–intentions that will destroy the lives of everyone in his path.”
“As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to reveal what it means to see humans as “the younger brothers of creation.” Once we begin to listen for the languages of other beings, we can begin to understand the innumerable life-giving gifts the world provides us and learn to offer our thanks, our care, and our own gifts in return”– Provided by publisher.
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
“A Council of Dolls is the moving and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award-winning Sioux author Mona Susan Power, spanning four generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day”– Provided by publisher.
Post written by Ceilidh Jimenez