Book Recommendations for National Native American Heritage Month

November is National American Indian Heritage Month, which makes it the perfect time to pick up books by and about Native American and Indigenous people. It's not only a chance to celebrate diverse cultures, traditions, and contributions, but also to bring awareness to the challenges they faced throughout history. We've gathered a list below featuring fiction, non-fiction, children's books, and poetry that we hope you check out.

Updated December 1, 2023
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Braiding sweetgrass
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 council of dolls : a novel
Power, Susan
Paper Book
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD NOMINEE The long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award-winning Native American author Mona Susan Power, spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day. From the...
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,...
Give me some truth : a novel with paintings
Gansworth, Eric L.
Paper Book
NPR Best Books of the Year * Boston Globe Best Books of the Year * School Library Journal Best Books of the Year * Chicago Public Library Best Books of the YearA powerful new book from Eric Gansworth, author of If I Ever Get Out of Here, that speaks the truth on race, relationships, and rock from...
Seed to plate, soil to sky : modern plant-based recipes using Native American ingredients
Frank, Lois Ellen
Paper Book
This enriching cookbook celebrates eight important plants Native Americans introduced to the rest of the world: corn, beans, squash, chile, tomato, potato, vanilla, and cacao--with more than 100 recipes. When these eight Native American plants crossed the ocean after 1492, the world's...
Warrior Girl Unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller!A Publisher's Lunch Best YA of 2023! An Amazon Best Book of the Year!Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award!A Horn Book Fanfare Title! A BookPage Best...
There there.
Orange, Tommy, 1982-
Paper Book
Here is a voice we have never heard--a voice full of poetry and rage, exploding onto the page with stunning urgency and force. Here is a story of several people, each of whom has private reasons for travelling to the Big Oakland Powwow. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and...
Fry bread : a Native American family story
Maillard, Kevin Noble
Paper Book
Winner of the 2020 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal A 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Picture Book Honor Winner "A wonderful and sweet book . . . Lovely stuff." --The New York Times Book Review Told in lively and powerful...
Postcolonial love poem
Diaz, Natalie
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2021 PULITZER PRIZE IN POETRY FINALIST FOR THE 2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR POETRY Natalie Diaz's highly anticipated follow-up to When My Brother Was an Aztec, winner of an American Book Award Postcolonial Love Poem is an...
A snake falls to Earth /
Little Badger, Darcie, 1987-
Paper Book
Newbery Honor Winner National Indie Bestseller National Book Award Longlist Minneapolis Star Tribune Best of the Year Publishers Weekly Best of the Year Kirkus Best the Year Apple Best of the...
Sisters of the lost nation
Medina, Nick
Paper Book
Anna Horn is always looking over her shoulder. For the bullies who torment her, for the entitled visitors at the reservation's casino and for the nameless, disembodied entity that stalks her every step - an ancient tribal myth come to life, one that's intent on devouring her whole. With strange and...
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 ...
The berry pickers : a novel
Peters, Amanda
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER 2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Winner Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction A four-year-old Mi'kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family,...
The seed keeper : a novel
Wilson, Diane
Paper Book
A 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Big Reads Selection Winner of the Minnesota Book Award A haunting novel spanning several generations, The Seed Keeper follows a Dakhóta family's struggle to preserve their way of life, and their sacrifices to protect what matters...
Night of the living rez
Talty, Morgan
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER Winner of the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Short Story Collection New England Book Award Winner, Fiction A Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Fiction, The Story Prize, B&N Discover Book Prize A New York...
Never Whistle at Night: an Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology : Are You Ready to Be Un-Settled?
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: "Are you ready to be un-settled?" Featuring stories by: Norris Black * Amber Blaeser-Wardzala * Phoenix Boudreau * Cherie Dimaline * Carson Faust * Kelli Jo Ford...

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