Biographies of Indigenous Women

Updated October 8, 2025
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Sharice's big voice : a native kid becomes a congresswoman
Davids, Sharice
Ebook
The heartbeat drum : the story of Carol Powder, Cree drummer and activist
Havrelock, Deidre
Paper Book
Author Deidre Havrelock's and illustrator Aphelandra's The Heartbeat Drum is an uplifting picture book biography of a Cree activist and musician who founded an Indigenous hand drumming group, led by women and children, that spreads joy, healing, and unity ...
Toypurina : Japchivit leader, medicine woman, Tongva rebel
Stone, Cheyenne M.
Paper Book
Tired of being subjected to Spanish colonization, medicine woman Toypurina led a revolt against the San Gabriel mission in California on October 25, 1785. This bold picture book highlights an important, lesser-known leader in Indigenous history. Lushly illustrated by Tongva artist Katie Dorame.<...
Wilma Mankiller
Sorell, Traci
Paper Book
Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger, a chapter book series about women who spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Wilma Mankiller! A 2024 American Indian Youth Literature Honor Book!
The first woman Cherokee Chief : Wilma Pearl Mankiller
Buckley, Patricia Morris
Paper Book
Find out all about Wilma Pearl Mankiller, the first woman Cherokee chief whose image appears on the U.S. quarter, in this Step 3 Biography Reader. In 1985, Wilma Pearl Mankiller became the first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. She had to convince her people that the...
Maria Tallchief
Day, Christine
Paper Book
Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger, a chapter book series about women who stood up, spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Maria Tallchief! In this chapter book biography by award-winning...
Native women changing their worlds
Cutright, Patricia J.
Paper Book
Key Selling Points Provides an in-depth look at the lives of Indigenous women. Many of these women have faced unimaginable hardships--racial and gender discrimination, abuse and extreme poverty--but ultimately became leaders in their fields and communities. The...
Classified : the secret career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee aerospace engineer
Sorell, Traci
Paper Book
An American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Picture Book Mary Golda Ross designed classified airplanes and spacecraft as Lockheed Aircraft Corporation's first female engineer. Find out how her passion for math and the Cherokee values she was raised with shaped her...
Wilma's way home : the life of Wilma Mankiller
Rappaport, Doreen
Paper Book
This powerfully illustrated picture book biography tells the courageous life story of Wilma Mankiller, the first female chief of the Cherokee Nation. As a child in Oklahoma, Wilma Mankiller experienced the Cherokee practice of Gadugi, helping each other, even when...
Buffalo Bird Girl : a Hidatsa story
Nelson, S. D.
Paper Book
This fascinating picture book biography tells the childhood story of Buffalo Bird Woman, a Hidatsa Indian born around 1839. Through her true story, readers will learn what it was like to be part of this Native American community that lived along the Missouri River in the Dakotas, a society that...

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