Native Ways of Knowing Book List 3-6

Updated September 15, 2025
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I am not a number
Dupuis, Jenny Kay.
Paper Book
When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened, and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns who are in charge at the school and who tell her that she...
At the mountain's base
Sorell, Traci
Paper Book
A family, separated by duty and distance, waits for a loved one to return home in this lyrical picture book celebrating the bonds of a Cherokee family and the bravery of history-making women pilots. At the mountain's base sits a cabin under an old hickory tree. And in that cabin...
The barren grounds
Robertson, David
Paper Book
Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home until they find a secret portal...
The birchbark house
Erdrich, Louise.
Paper Book
For use in schools and libraries only. Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847.
I Can Make This Promise
Day, Christine.
Paper Book
In her debut middle grade novel--inspired by her family's history--Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family's secrets--and finds her own Native American identity. All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how...
Chickadee
Erdrich, Louise
Paper Book
Twin brothers Chickadee and Makoons have spent every day side by side and have done everything together since they were born--until the day the unthinkable happens and the brothers are separated. Desperate to reunite, Chickadee and his family must travel across new...
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...
The great bear
Robertson, David
Paper Book
Back at home after their first adventure in the Barren Grounds, Eli and Morgan each struggle with personal issues: Eli is being bullied at school, and tries to hide it from Morgan, while Morgan has to make an important decision about her birth mother. They turn to the place where they know they can...
Healer of the water monster
Young, Brian
Paper Book
American Indian Youth Literature Award Winner: Best Middle Grade Book! Brian Young's powerful debut novel tells of a seemingly ordinary Navajo boy who must save the life of a Water Monster--and comes to realize he's a hero at heart. When Nathan goes to visit his grandma, Nali...
Redbone : the true story of a Native American rock band
Staebler, Christian
Paper Book
Experience the riveting, powerful story of the Native American civil rights movement and the resulting struggle for identity told through the high-flying career of West Coast rock 'n' roll pioneers Redbone. You've heard the hit song "Come and Get Your Love" in the movie...
The sea in winter
Day, Christine
Paper Book
In this evocative and heartwarming novel for readers who loved The Thing About Jellyfish, the author of I Can Make This Promise tells the story of a Native American girl struggling to find her joy again. It's been a hard year for Maisie Cannon, ever since she hurt...
Sisters of the Neversea
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Paper Book
Five starred reviews! In this beautifully reimagined story by NSK Neustadt Laureate and New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek), Native American Lily and English Wendy embark on a high-flying journey of magic, adventure, and courage to a fairy-tale...
The stone child
Robertson, David
Paper Book
After discovering a near-lifeless Eli at the base of the Great Tree, Morgan knows she doesn't have much time to save him. And it will mean asking for help - from friends old and new. Racing against the clock, and with Arik and Emily at her side, Morgan sets off to follow the trail away from the...
Treaty words : for as long as the rivers flow
Craft, Aimée
Paper Book
The first treaty that was made was between the earth and the sky. It was an agreement to work together. We build all of our treaties on that original treaty. On the banks of the river that have been Mishomis's home his whole life, he teaches his granddaughter to listen--to hear both...
Unspeakable : the Tulsa Race Massacre
Weatherford, Carole Boston
Paper Book
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards for Author and Illustrator A Caldecott Honor Book A Sibert Honor Book Longlisted for the National Book Award A Kirkus Prize Finalist A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book "A must-have"--Booklist (starred review)<...
The used-to-be best friend
Quigley, Dawn
Paper Book
American Indian Youth Literature Award: Middle Grade Honor Book! Hello/Boozhoo--meet Jo Jo Makoons! Full of pride, joy, and plenty of humor, this first book in an all-new chapter book series by Dawn Quigley celebrates a spunky young Ojibwe girl who loves who she is. Jo Jo...
We Are Still Here Native American Truths Everyone Should Know
Sorell, Traci.
Ebook
Twelve Native American kids present historical and contemporary laws, policies, struggles, and victories in Native life, each with a powerful refrain: We are still here!   An ideal nonfiction picture book for 7-10-year-old future activists and changemakers! An inspiring...
We are water protectors
Lindstrom, Carole
Paper Book
From author Carole Lindstrom and illustrator Michaela Goade comes a New York Times bestselling and Caldecott Medal winning picture book that honors Indigenous-led movements across the world. Powerfully written and gorgeously illustrated, We Are Water Protectors,...

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