Native American Heritage Month 2024
General Fiction
Beautiful Beautiful
by Brandon Reid
Twelve-year-old Derik Mormin travels with his father and a family friend to Bella Bella for his grandfather’s funeral. Along the way, he uncovers the traumatic history of his ancestors, considers his relationship to masculinity and explores the contrast between rural and urban lifestyles in hopes of reconciling the seemingly unreconcilable, the beauty of each the Indigenous and “Western” way of life—hence beautiful beautiful.
The Mighty Red
by Louise Erdrich
In this stunning novel, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich tells a story of love, natural forces and the tragic impact of big business.
Historical Fiction
Wandering Stars
by Tommy Orange
Traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through to the shattering aftermath of Orvil Red Feather’s shooting in There There.
Horror/Thriller
I Was a Teenage Slasher
A good kid in a small Texas town in 1989 finds himself cursed to kill for revenge in true slasher film-style.
Indian Burial Ground
by Nick Medina
When the facts surrounding her boyfriend Roddy’s apparent suicide don’t add up, Noemi, suspecting something sinister is stalking their tribal lands, relies on help from her uncle, who has returned to the reservation, bringing with him secrets, horror and what might be the key to determining Roddy’s true cause of death.
The Angel of Indian Lake
by Stephen Graham Jones
It’s been four years in prison since Jade Daniels last saw her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, the day she took the fall, protecting her friend Letha and her family from incrimination. Since then, her reputation, and the town, have changed dramatically. There’s a lot of unfinished business in Proofrock, from serial killer cultists to the rich trying to buy Western authenticity. But there’s one aspect of Proofrock no one wants to confront…until Jade comes back to town. The curse of the Lake Witch is waiting, and now is the time for the final stand.
Moon of the Turning Leaves
by Waubgeshig Rice
Years after a mysterious cataclysm caused a permanent blackout that toppled infrastructure and thrust the world into anarchy, Evan Whitesky’s community is running out of resources in remote northern Ontario. Evan and his fifteen-year-old daughter, Nangohns, lead a small scouting party to their traditional home on the north shore of Lake Huron, to discover what kind of life–and what dangers–still exist in the lands to the south.
Exposure
by Ramona Emerson
In Gallup, New Mexico, where violent crime is five times the national average, a serial killer is operating unchecked, his targets indigent Native people whose murders are easily disguised as death by exposure on the frigid winter streets. As the Gallup detectives struggle to put the pieces together, they consider calling in a controversial specialist to help. Rita Todacheene, Albuquerque PD forensic photographer, is at a crisis point in her career. Her colleagues are watching her with suspicion after the recent revelation that she can see the ghosts of murder victims.
Poetry/Short Stories
Anishinaabe Songs for a New Millennium
by Marcie R. Rendon
In Anishinaabe Songs for a New Millennium, Marcie R. Rendon summons her ancestors’ songs, and her poem-songs evoke the world still unfolding around us, reflecting our place in time for future generations. Bringing memory to life, the senses to attention, she breaks the boundaries that time would impose, carrying the Anishinaabe way of life forward in the world.
Mother
by M.S. Redcherries
A stunning, multimorphic work of poetry and prose about Indigenous identity.
On the National Language
by ed. B. A. Van Sise
Through art photography and prose, this book addresses the fragility, beauty, and cultural value of preserving endangered languages, particularly Indigenous languages, at a time when Indigenous and diversity issues are at the forefront of our national conversations.
The Sky Was Once a Dark Blanket
by Kinsale Drake
The Sky Was Once a Dark Blanket traverses the Southwest landscape, exploring intricate relationships between Native peoples and the natural world, land, pop culture, twentieth-century music, and multi-generational representations. Oscillating between musical influences, including the repercussions of ethnomusicology, and the present/past/future, the collection rewrites and rerights what it means to be Indigenous, queer, and even formerly-emo in the twenty-first century.
The Half White Album
by Cynthia J. Sylvester
This powerful debut collection explores lives lived between worlds. Sylvester masterfully weaves together fiction, poetry, and nonfiction to give readers a poignant though fractured view of her characters’ lives, their loves, and their struggles. Told from the perspective of an urban Native, the work details a journey led by the nomadic band, the Covers. It is an experience meant to heal generational trauma and bring back into the light people who may otherwise be forgotten.
Romance
The Truth According to Ember
by Danica Nava
A Chickasaw woman who can’t catch a break serves up a little white lie that snowballs into much more in this witty and irresistible rom-com by debut author Danica Nava.
Biography
Becoming Little Shell
by Chris La Tray
A storyteller of Chippewa heritage tells the story of his journey to discover his indigenous roots, how he embraced his full identity and joins the struggle of the Little Shells’ tribe towards federal recognition.
From the Reservation to Washington
by Debra Goodrich
The first person of color to serve as vice president, Charles Curtis was once a household name but has become a footnote in American history.
Ira Hayes
by Tom Holm
This gripping, forgotten story of a Native American World War II legend who famously helped raise the flag at Iwo Jima explores the conflicting views of this haunted war hero, breaking apart the complexities of his short life in honor of all Native veterans who have been to war in the service of the U.S.
Conservation
The Serviceberry
by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass explains how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.
Cookbook
Corn Dance
by Loretta Barret Oden
Amply illustrated and adapted to bring the taste of Native tradition into the home kitchen, Corn Dance invites readers to join Loretta Oden on her inspiring journey into the Indigenous heritage, and the exhilarating culinary future, of North America.
Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky
by Lois Ellen Frank
Grounded in a primer on Native American cuisine and with a necessary discussion of food sovereignty and sustainability, Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky shares more than 100 nutritious, plant based recipes organized by each of the foundational ingredients.
The Modern Navajo Kitchen
by Alana Yazzie
The Modern Navajo Kitchen spotlights Navajo cuisine and culture with over 50 recipes.
Environmental
Medicine Wheel for the Planet
by Jennifer Grenz
A personal journey of bringing together Western science and Indigenous ecology to transform our understanding of the human role in healing our planet.
Essays
Thunder Song
by Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe
Drawing on a rich family archive as well as the anthropological work of her late great-grandmother, Sasha taqwšeblu LaPointe explores themes ranging from indigenous identity and stereotypes to cultural displacement and environmental degradation to understand what our experiences teach us about the power of community, commitment, and conscientious honesty. Unapologetically punk, the essays in Thunder Song segue between the spiritual and the physical, as they examine the role of art — in particular music — and community in helping a new generation of indigenous people claim the strength of their heritage while defining their own path in the contemporary world.
My Life: Growing Up Native in America
by ed. IllumiNative
A moving collection of 20 powerful essays, poems and more that capture and celebrate the modern Native American experience, featuring entries by Angeline Boulley, Madison Hammond, Kara Roselle Smith and many more.
Gardening
Perennial Ceremony
by Teresa Peterson
Travel through a garden’s seasons toward healing, reclamation, and wholeness–for us, and for our beloved relative, the Earth. In this rich collection of prose, poetry, and recipes, Teresa Peterson shares how she found refuge from the struggle to reconcile her Christianity and Dakota spirituality, discovering solace and ceremony in communing with the earth. Perennial Ceremony brings us into this relationship, as Peterson guides us through the Dakota seasons to impart lessons from her life as a gardener, gatherer, and lover of the land.
History
By the Fire We Carry
by Rebecca Nagle
Reporter and member of the Cherokee Nation Rebecca Nagle recounts the generations-long fight for tribal land and sovereignty in eastern Oklahoma. By chronicling both the contemporary legal battle and historic acts of Indigenous resistance, By the Fire We Carry stands as a landmark work of American history. The story it tells exposes both the wrongs that our nation has committed and the Native-led battle for justice that has shaped our country.
Last Stand of the Raven Clan
by Gerald Easter
A dynamic history of the Battle of Sitka that recognizes the vital importance of the Tlingit people, their fight against Imperial Russia, and how it changed the fate of the North America.
Native Nations
by Kathleen Duval
An award-winning historian tells the story of the Native nations, from the rise of ancient cities to the present, reframing North American history with Indigenous power and sovereignty at its center and showing how the influence of Native peoples remained a constant and will continue far into the future.
General Nonfiction
The Indian Card
by Carrie Lowry Schettpelz
A former Obama administration policy advisor presents a deeply personal exploration of Tribal enrollment and what it means to be Native American in the United States.
The Plot Against Native America
by Bill Vaughn
The first narrative history revealing the entire story of the development, operation, and harmful legacy of the Native American boarding schools
True Crime
The Paranormal Ranger
by Stanley Milford Jr.
Former Navajo Ranger Stanley Milford Jr.’s chilling and clear-eyed memoir of his investigations into bizarre cases of the paranormal and unexplained over the course of his illustrious career serving the Navajo Nation.