Adult Nonfiction: Indigenous Stories

Updated October 15, 2025
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Lewis and Clark Public Library Lewis and Clark Public Library
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Adult Nonfiction: Indigenous Stories

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"All the real Indians died off" : and 20 other myths about Native Americans
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Paper Book
Unpacks the twenty-one most common myths and misconceptions about Native Americans In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed...
"The chiefs now in this city" : indians and the urban frontier in early America
Calloway, Colin G.
Paper Book
During the years of the Early Republic, prominent Native leaders regularly traveled to American cities - Albany, Boston, Charleston, Philadelphia, Montreal, Quebec, New York, and New Orleans - primarily on diplomatic or trade business, but also from curiosity and adventurousness. They were...
1491 : new revelations of the Americas before Columbus
Mann, Charles C.
Paper Book
A groundbreaking study that radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of the Europeans in 1492. Traditionally, Americans learned in school that the ancestors of the people who inhabited the Western Hemisphere at the time of Columbus's landing had crossed the...
An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States
Mays, Kyle T.
Paper Book
The first intersectional history of the Black and Native American struggle for freedom in our country that also reframes our understanding of who was Indigenous in early America Beginning with pre-Revolutionary America and moving into the movement for Black lives and contemporary...
As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock
Gilio-Whitaker, Dina
Paper Book
The story of Native peoples' resistance to environmental injustice and land incursions, and a call for environmentalists to learn from the Indigenous community's rich history of activism Through the unique lens of "Indigenized environmental justice," Indigenous researcher and...
Blood moon : an American epic of war and splendor in the Cherokee Nation
Sedgwick, John
Paper Book
"Riveting...Engrossing...Mr. Sedgwick's subtitle calls the Cherokee story an 'American Epic,' and indeed it is." --H. W. Brands, The Wall Street Journal An astonishing untold story from America's past--a sweeping, powerful, and necessary work of history that reads like...
Born of lakes and plains : mixed-descent peoples and the making of the American West
Hyde, Anne Farrar
Paper Book
A New Yorker Best Book of 2022 A fresh history of the West grounded in the lives of mixed-descent Native families who first bridged and then collided with racial boundaries. Often overlooked, there is mixed blood at the heart of America. And at the heart of Native...
Braiding sweetgrass : [indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teaching 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...
A brave and cunning prince : the great chief Opechancanough and the war for America
Horn, James P. P.
Paper Book
The extraordinary story of the Powhatan chief who waged a lifelong struggle to drive European settlers from his homeland In the mid-sixteenth century, Spanish explorers in the Chesapeake Bay kidnapped an Indian child and took him back to Spain and subsequently to...
A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South
Cozzens, Peter
Paper Book
The story of the pivotal struggle between the Creek Indians and an insatiable, young United States for control over the Deep South--from the acclaimed historian and prize-winning author of The Earth is Weeping The Creek War is one of the most tragic episodes in American...
Bury my heart at Wounded Knee : an Indian history of the American West : the illustrated edition
Brown, Dee
Paper Book
Doumented account of the decimation of Native Americans in the last half of the 19th century, told from the Indian viewpoint.
Carry : a memoir of survival on stolen land
Jensen, Toni
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS' CHOICE * A powerful, poetic memoir about what it means to exist as an Indigenous woman in America, told in snapshots of the author's encounters with gun violence. Finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize * Goop Book Club Pick *...
The Earth Is All That Lasts : Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation
Gardner, Mark Lee
Paper Book
"Fast-paced and highly absorbing." --Wall Street Journal A magisterial new history of the fierce final chapter of the "Indian Wars," told through the lives of the two most legendary and consequential American Indian leaders, who led Sioux resistance and triumphed at the...
Earth keeper : reflections on the American land
Momaday, N. Scott
Paper Book
"Dazzling. . . . In glittering prose, Momaday recalls stories passed down through generations, illuminating the earth as a sacrosanct place of wonder and abundance. At once a celebration and a warning, Earth Keeper is an impassioned defense of all that our endangered...
First Nations Version : an indigenous translation of the New Testament
Paper Book
OVER 100,000 COPIES SOLD Academy of Parish Clergy Reference Book of the Year "This remarkable retelling offers plenty of rewards and will especially pique those open to a novel interpretation of the religious text." --Publishers Weekly Starred Review ...
The heart of everything that is : the untold story of Red Cloud, an American legend
Drury, Bob.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An astonishing untold story of the American West The great Sioux warrior-statesman Red Cloud was the only American Indian in history to defeat the United States Army in a war, forcing the government to sue for peace on...
The heartbeat of Wounded Knee : native America from 1890 to the present
Treuer, David
Paper Book
Beginning with the tribes' devastating loss of land and the forced assimilation of their children at government-run boarding schools, he shows how the period of greatest adversity also helped to incubate a unifying Native identity. He traces how conscription in the US military and the pull of urban...
In whose ruins : power, possession, and the landscapes of American empire
Puglionesi, Alicia
Paper Book
In this "first-rate work of historical research and storytelling" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), four sites of American history are revealed as places where truth was written over by oppressive fiction--with profound repercussions for politics past and present. Popular...
Indigenous continent : a new history of America
Hm?l??nen, Pekka
Paper Book
There is an old, deeply rooted story about America that goes like this: Columbus "discovers" a strange continent and brings back tales of untold riches. The European empires rush over, eager to stake out as much of this astonishing "New World" as possible. Though Indigenous peoples fight back,...
An indigenous peoples' history of the United States
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller Now part of the HBO docuseries "Exterminate All the Brutes," written and directed by Raoul Peck Recipient of the American Book Award The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples ...
Killers of the Flower Moon : the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI
Grann, David
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, "one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."--New York...
Little big bully
Erdrich, Heid E.
Paper Book
Little Big Bully begins with a question asked of a collective and troubled we - how did we come to this? In answer, this book offers personal myth, American and Native American contexts, and allegories driven by women's resistance to narcissists, stalkers, and harassers. These poems are immediate,...
Living resistance : an indigenous vision for seeking wholeness every day
Curtice, Kaitlin B.
Paper Book
In an era in which "resistance" has become tokenized, popular Indigenous author Kaitlin B. Curtice reclaims it as a basic human calling. Resistance is for every human who longs to see their neighbors' holistic flourishing. We each have a role to play in the world right where we are, and our everyday...
New Native Kitchen : Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian
Bitsoie, Freddie/ Fraioli, James O./ Bacon, Quentin (PHT)/ Trujillo, Gabriella (ILT)
Paper Book
Celebrate modern Indigenous cuisine with this beautiful cookbook from the renowned Native foods educator and former chef of Mitsitam Native Foods Café at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. This groundbreaking cookbook brings together modern...
On savage shores : how indigenous Americans discovered Europe
Dodds Pennock, Caroline
Paper Book
AN ECONOMIST AND SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * A landmark work of narrative history that shatters our previous Eurocentric understanding of the Age of Discovery by telling the story of the Indigenous Americans who journeyed across the Atlantic to Europe after...
Our Brave Foremothers : Celebrating 100 Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous Women Who Changed the Course of History
Kennedy, Rozella/ Avelino, Joelle (ILT)
Paper Book
Inspired by her own foremothers' legacies and the friendships formed throughout her life, Rozella Kennedy centers and celebrates the stories of 100 Black, Brown, Asian, and Indigenous women--both famous and little-known--who changed the course of US history.  
Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe
Maraniss, David
Paper Book
A riveting new biography of America's greatest all-around athlete by the bestselling author of the classic biography When Pride Still Mattered. Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. He won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon...
Poet Warrior: A Memoir
Harjo, Joy
Paper Book
Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. poet laureate, invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her "poet-warrior" road. A musical, kaleidoscopic, and wise follow-up to Crazy Brave, Poet Warrior reveals how Harjo came to write poetry of...
Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America
Wilbur, Matika
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . A photographic and narrative celebration of contemporary Native American life and cultures, alongside an in-depth examination of issues that Native people face, by celebrated photographer and storyteller Matika Wilbur of the Swinomish and Tulalip Tribes. ...
The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History
Blackhawk, Ned
Paper Book
National Bestseller Winner of the 2023 National Book Award in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Award in History * Winner of 2024 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Nonfiction * Winner of the 2024 Mark Lynton History Prize ...
Seed to Plate, Soil to Sky : Modern Plant-based Recipes Using Native American Ingredients
Frank, Lois Ellen
Paper Book
Winner of Two IACP Awards Food Issues & Matters * Health & Nutrition This enriching cookbook celebrates eight important plants Native Americans introduced to the rest of the world: corn, beans, squash, chile, tomato, potato, vanilla, and...
The seven circles : indigenous teachings for living well
Luger, Chelsey
Paper Book
In this revolutionary self-help guide, two beloved Native American wellness activists offer wisdom for achieving spiritual, physical, and emotional wellbeing rooted in Indigenous ancestral knowledge. When wellness teachers and husband-wife duo Chelsey Luger and Thosh Collins...
The Sioux Chef's indigenous kitchen
Sherman, Sean
Paper Book
2018 James Beard Award Winner: Best American Cookbook Named one of the Best Cookbooks of 2017 by NPR, The Village Voice, Smithsonian Magazine, UPROXX, New York Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, Mpls. St....
Spirit run : a 6,000-mile marathon through North America's stolen land
Paper Book
In this New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, the son of working-class Mexican immigrants flees a life of labor in fruit-packing plants to run in a Native American marathon from Canada to Guatemala in this "stunning memoir that moves to the rhythm of feet, labor, and the many...
Taw? : progressive Indigenous cuisine
Chartrand, Shane
Paper Book
tawâw [pronounced ta-WOW]: Come in, you're welcome, there's room. Acclaimed chef Shane M. Chartrand's debut cookbook explores the reawakening of Indigenous cuisine and what it means to cook, eat, and share food in our homes and communities. Born to Cree parents and raised by a...
The three-cornered war : the Union, the Confederacy, and native peoples in the fight for the West
Nelson, Megan Kate
Paper Book
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History A dramatic, riveting, and "fresh look at a region typically obscured in accounts of the Civil War. American history buffs will relish this entertaining and eye-opening portrait" (Publishers Weekly). ...
We Are the Middle of Forever: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth
Jamail, Dahr
Paper Book
We had a little real estate problem : the unheralded story of Native Americans in comedy
Nesteroff, Kliph
Paper Book
A Best Book of 2021 by NPR and Esquire From Kliph Nesteroff, "the human encyclopedia of comedy" (VICE), comes the important and underappreciated story of Native Americans and comedy. It was one of the most reliable jokes in Charlie Hill's...
We refuse to forget : a true story of Black Creeks, American identity, and power
Gayle, Caleb
Paper Book
Caleb Gayle tells the story of the Creek Nation, a Native tribe that two centuries ago both owned slaves and accepted Black people as full members. A chief named Cow Tom - a former Black slave - created a treaty with the U.S. government which recognized Creek citizenship for its Black members. This...
When the light of the world was subdued, our songs came through : a Norton anthology of Native nations poetry
Harjo, Joy
Paper Book
United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo gathers the work of more than 160 poets, representing nearly 100 indigenous nations, into one momentous volume. This landmark anthology celebrates the indigenous peoples of North America, the first poets of this country, whose literary traditions stretch back...
Find this list online: https://librarian.syndetics.com/syndeticsunbound/lp/855.1219/list/6574

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