National Indigenous History Month

A selection of books for National Indigenous History Month. For eBook & eAudiobook versions of the same titles, see the link to our Libby/Overdrive collection at the end of this list, or check the Libby app.

Updated June 1, 2026
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You Were Made for This World : Celebrated Indigenous Voices Speak to Young People
Sinclair, Stephanie.
Paper Book
FOUR STARRED REVIEWS! . A joyful, proud and groundbreaking collection of letters and art for young people, You Were Made for This World brings together celebrated Indigenous voices from across Turtle Island. Every young person deserves the chance to feel like they belong,...
Highway of Tears : a true story of racism, indifference and the pursuit of justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls
McDiarmid, Jessica
Paper Book
A searing and revelatory account of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls of Highway 16, and an indictment of the society that failed them.   For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in...
The knowing
Talaga, Tanya
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER | SHORTLISTED FOR THE TORONTO BOOK AWARD | FINALIST FOR THE SHAUGHNESSY COHEN PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING | SHORTLISTED FOR THE RODERICK HAIG-BROWN REGIONAL PRIZE | WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS' OF CANADA BRASS KNUCKLES AWARD | SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIGENOUS VOICES AWARDS...
Braiding sweetgrass : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Bestseller Named a "Best Essay Collection of the Decade" by Literary Hub As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member...
Braiding sweetgrass for young adults : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall.
Paper Book
I could hand you a braid of sweetgrass as thick and shining as the braid that hung down my grandmother's back. But it is not mine to give, nor yours to take. Wiingaashk belongs to herself. I offer, in her place, a braid of stories meant to heal our relationship with the world. As a...
The night watchman
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2021 PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST, NPR, CBS SUNDAY MORNING, KIRKUS, CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich's...
Surviving Canada : Indigenous peoples celebrate 150 years of betrayal
Paper Book
Surviving Canada: Indigenous Peoples Celebrate 150 Years of Betrayal is a collection of elegant, thoughtful, and powerful reflections about Indigenous Peoples' complicated, and often frustrating, relationship with Canada, and how--even 150 years after Confederation--the fight for recognition of...
Call me Indian : from the trauma of residential school to becoming the NHL's first treaty Indigenous player
Sasakamoose, Fred
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Fred Sasakamoose played in the NHL before First Nations people had the right to vote in Canada. This page turner will have you cheering for 'Fast Freddy' as he faces off against huge challenges both on and off the ice--a great gift to every proud hockey fan,...
Indian in the cabinet : speaking truth to power
Wilson-Raybould, Jody
Paper Book
THE #1 BESTSELLER FINALIST FOR THE WRITERS' TRUST BALSILLIE PRIZE FOR PUBLIC POLICY A compelling political memoir of leadership and speaking truth to power by one of the most inspiring women of her generation Jody Wilson-Raybould was raised to be a leader. Inspired by the...
Mamaskatch : a Cree coming of age
McLeod, Darrel J.
Paper Book
Growing up in the tiny village of Smith, Alberta, Darrel J. McLeod was surrounded by his Cree family's history. In shifting and unpredictable stories, his mother, Bertha, shared narratives of their culture, their family and the cruelty that she and her sisters endured in residential school....
Indian Horse : a novel
Wagamese, Richard
Paper Book
Saul Indian Horse has hit bottom. His last binge almost killed him, and now he's a reluctant resident in a treatment centre for alcoholics, surrounded by people he's sure will never understand him. But Saul wants peace, and he grudgingly comes to see that he'll find it only through telling his...
21 things you may not know about the Indian Act
Joseph, Robert P. C.
Paper Book
Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has dictated and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples, and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes. Bob Joseph's book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process, when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous...
Unsettling Canada : a national wake up call
Manuel, Arthur
Paper Book
A Canadian bestseller and winner of the 2016 Canadian Historical Association Aboriginal History Book Prize, Unsettling Canada is a landmark text built on a unique collaboration between two First Nations leaders. Arthur Manuel (1951-2017) was one of the most forceful advocates for...
Unreconciled : family, truth, and Indigenous resistance
Wente, Jesse.
Paper Book
As the child of an American father and an Anishinaabe mother, Jesse Wente grew up in Toronto with frequent visits to the reserve where his maternal relations lived. By exploring his family's history, including his grandmother's experience in residential school, and citing his own frequent incidents...
Canadian Geographic Indigenous peoples atlas of Canada
Paper Book
Indigenous ingenuity : a celebration of traditional North American knowledge
Havrelock, Deidre
Paper Book
Celebrate Indigenous thinkers and inventions with this beautifully designed, award-winning interactive nonfiction book--perfect for fans of Braiding Sweetgrass.  Corn. Chocolate. Fishing hooks. Boats that float. Insulated double-walled construction. Recorded...
Soft as bones : a memoir
Sage, Chyana Marie.
Paper Book
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER A CBC Best Book of 2025 Finalist, Foreword INDIES 2025 Book of the Year A poetic memoir as intricately woven as a dreamcatcher about overcoming the pain of generational trauma with the power of traditional healing In candid...
Real ones
Vermette, Katherena
Paper Book
June and her sister, lyn, are NDNs - real ones. Lyn has her pottery artwork, her precocious kid, Willow, and the uncertain terrain of her midlife to keep her mind, heart and hands busy. June, a Metis Studies professor, yearns to uproot from Vancouver and move. With her loving partner, Sigh, June...
Who we are : four questions for a life and a nation
Sinclair, Murray
Paper Book
Judge, senator, and activist. Father, grandfather, and friend. This is Murray Sinclair's story-and the story of a nation-in his own words, an oral history that forgoes the trappings of the traditionally written memoir to center Indigenous ways of knowledge and storytelling. As Canada moves...

eBook and Audiobook editions of the National Indigenous History Month titles in this list, available at this link online, or check the lists in the Libby app!


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