Honoring Indigenous Identity, History & Culture Through Books

Last November we did a mini-unit on Indigenous Peoples of North America (Canada and US) and we all learned SO much. I was so impressed with the resources that we used that I featured them in my Instastories and promised to share a blog post rounding them all up. And then Advent began, and then the New Year, and best laid plans and all that. But I have not forgotten about it and finally pulled together all the amazing books we’ve read over the last few years (many by First Nations authors/illustrators themselves), chapter books/read aloud options for the older set and some adult books (fiction/nonfiction) that I've been using to further close the gaps that I had in my own education. I did take a Native Peoples of the Pacific NW course in university but other than that and a recent trip to South Dakota, all my knowledge has been self-learned. And disclaimer to fellow parents/educators: I did not shy away from discussing residential schools, forced migration, etc but know your audience! Since the curriculum we used was Canadian, there was more discussion about residential schools and the recent tragic discovery of mass graves, as well as the reparations done by the Canadian government...I decided mine were old enough to hear most of this (ages 7-12 at the time) but I did use discretion around my youngest. With my older two I used it as a jumping off point to discuss topic such as what reparations and reconciliation look like from a US perspective. Spoiler alert: I have no answers to these questions, but it is amazing to engage your older kids on these topics because they have some strong feelings about injustice! We wrapped up our unit with Peacemaker as our read-aloud which was perfect.

While this list is by no means exhaustive, I hope that this is a good start for anyone look to augment their learning on indigenous peoples’ identity, history and culture. May we move forward in a posture of humble learning.

-Natalie d’Aubermont Thompson, Living by the Page

The curriculum I used organized First Nations by region so I’ll do that here as well. And again, it was a Canadian curriculum so not as focused on US SE or SW First Nations. We personally added a Lakota/Sioux ‘deep dive’ since we had spent a week in South Dakota prior to school starting.

In the chapter book section, the ones listed are ones that we have either read aloud together or ones that my kids have read independently. The adult fiction/nonfiction are ones I have read and recommend. Again, I hope to add to this as we continue our learning!

Pacific NW and British Columbia

Zoe and the Fawn

Kamik: An Inuit Puppy Story

The Girl and the Wolf

Day with Yayah

The Polar Bear Son: An Inuit Tale

When I was Eight

Great Lakes up through Newfoundland

The First Blade of Sweetgrass

Birchbark Brigade: A Fur Trade History

Maple Moon

The Red Sash

Pocahontas: Princess of the New World

Life in a LongHouse Village

US Midwest/Plains

Awâsis and the world famous Bannock

Life in a Plains Camp

The Gift of the Sacred Dog

Mystic Horse

When We Were Alone

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

Southeast

Crossing Bok Chitto

The First Strawberries

Lakota and Sioux

Tatanka and the Lakota People: A Creation Story

Buffalo Bird Girl

Tasunka: A Lakota Horse Legend

Gift Horse: A Lakota Story

Red Cloud: A Lakota Story of War and Surrendur

Sitting Bull: Lakota Warrior and Defender of His People

The Christmas Coat

The Ledgerbook of Thomas Blue Eagle

Thematic Picture Books

Nickommoh: A Thanksgiving Celebration

We Are Grateful

When We are Kind/Nihá’ádaahwiinít’íigo

Fry Bread

Stolen Words

You Hold Me Up

Shin-chi's Canoe

We Are Water Protectors

Berry Song

Longer Read Alouds/Chapter Books

Peacemaker

Birchbark House Series

Stone River Crossing

Kunu: Winnebago Boy Escapes

Takini: Lakota Boy Alerts Sitting Bull

Fatty Legs

Children of the Longhouse

Adult Fiction/Nonfiction

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America 1890 to the Present

The Sentence

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

Barkskins

There There

Reading in 2021

So last year I outlined 30 books I wanted to read in 2020….I was working my way through when, like many of you, COVID turned our lives upside down. While I ended up reading 91 books in 2020, only 14 of them were from that original TBR list! Some of it was library queue madness, either all holds came in at the same time and I had to return them before I got to them. Other times I got distracted by new releases or other books floating around the bookstagram ether. In looking back on my 2020 TBR, I nailed the Middle Grade/YA section and On the Lighter Side, did okay on the Fiction front and found myself woefully lagging in Nonfiction. I know this was due to the fact that for months on end I was consuming nonfiction in the form of news, articles, blog posts and my brain had zero free space to take in more facts. However, I’m not letting myself use that as an excuse for 2021. Less op-eds, more books! So you’ll see some of the below as repeats from my 2020 tbr, while others are new to the list. If you follow me on IG you’ll note that I’ve already begun or finished some of these but here’s to the next 11 months of reading! Let me know what’s on your 2021 list!

NONFICTION

An Indigenous People's History of the United States: I’ve wanted to read this one since it came out in 2015 and I started it in 2020 but had to give it back before I finished. 2021 will be the year!

Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents: This one seems destined to be required reading and I’m sad that is has to be so, but looking forward to digger deeper into institutional racism by this Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Dare to Inspire: Sustain the Fire of Inspiration in Work and Life: My friend Allison Holzer is one of the co-authors and she’s been on the forefront of the positive psychology movement and for years has focused on inspiration as it relates to the personal and corporate world. I got halfway through it and then COVID hit and it’s time to tap back into our inspirational sources!

Saints and Scoundrels: The title alone has me intrigued, and thankful for abounding grace!

Switch On Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking and Health: I don’t love the sub-title but I am a big believer that we think about does affect us emotionally as well as physically. Looking forward to delving further into this topic.

The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about Identity, Race, Wealth and Power: I only recently heard about this one but it seems to combine political science, history, geography and anthropology which has to be my favorite mix.

Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer's Path: It’s been a while since I’ve read a book on creativity, specifically as it relates to writing, so I’m particularly excited for this one.

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times: Well that title just says it all, wink.

FICTION

America for Beginners: A Novel: The US through the eyes of an Indian widow and her tour guide. I’ve heard it’s poignant and humorous at the same time which often makes for a stellar combination.

I’d GIve Anything: This is book 4 in the “Love Walked In” series and I love Marisa de Los Santos so am eager for this one.

Little Bee This is from my unread shelf which actually is rather sparse since most of my books come from the library! But a friend gave me this one in 2015 and it’s time to dust it off the shelf and just read it!

Middlemarch: Bookwork Baggins is hosting a buddy read for this classic…I’ve never read it, super intimidated but oddly excited. Join us?

The Bear and the Nightingale: Fantasy honestly isn’t my genre, but I’ve been hearing rave reviews about it and it seems like the perfect hygge winter read so here we go!

The Four Winds: Kristin Hannah has become an author that I’ll just automatically read her next one. Highly anticipating this one set during the Great Depression.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue: Another one that doesn’t seem to be part of my typical genre but many trusted fellow bookworms have positively reviewed it so I’m willing to venture out of my comfort zone and give it a shot.

The Lost Letter: Inspired by actual resistance workers during WWII in Austria. I read it is a must-read if you loved Lilac Girls, which I did, so adding it the list.

The Lovely War: Just went you think you’ve read every angle of WWII, here comes the version with the Greek mythology twist. I’m intrigued.

The Water Dancer: About a 19th century slave with a mysterious power; I’ve heard it described as bold and ambitious with a touch of magical realism and now I’m eager to see for myself.

There There: Apparently this one follows 12 stories from various Native communities. Last year I made a conscious effort to read more indigenous ‘own voices’ and I’m really looking forward to this one.

This is Chance! The Shaking of an All-American City and the Voice that Held It Together: About a town in Alaska in the 1960s that is met by tragedy and the radio reporter that keeps it together.

Memoir

Between the World and Me: This is apparently based on letters that Ta-Nehisi Coates writes to his teenage son, it’s apparently very powerful and already a must-read.

Braving It! A Father, A Daughter and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild: It’s interesting to have two books about Alaska in my list but it shows the timeless pull that we have to the last great frontier.

Eat a Peach: I love food writing. I love David Chang. Cannot wait for this one.

Notes from a Young Black Chef: It takes some hubris to write a memoir at age 29 but it seems like Chef Onwuachi has already lived about 9 lives so I’m eager to learn more.

Places and Names: On War, Revolution and Returning: Author Elliot Ackerman was a fellow student at Tufts and a student in a class I taught (yes, one has the option to teach a course at Tufts Ex College as a junior or senior) on political oppression. He’s now a decorated war veteran and an amazing writer. If you haven’t read him yet, start with Waiting For Eden.

Middle Grade/YA

Just Like That: I’m at the point where I will read anything by Gary Schmidt. NOT looking forward to what I’m hearing about, the death of a beloved character from a previous novel. Seems like I may have to find out for myself. Sigh.

Save Me a Seat: Multicultural middle grade friendship. Eagerly previewing this one for my boys.

The Three Keys: The follow up to Yang’s ‘Front Desk’ which I loved. Plucky daughter of motel owners, Mia Tang, steals your heart! And now I hear a third is in the works. WOOT.

The Unadoptables: Describes as Hans Christian Andersen and Neil Gaiman. Yes please.

On the Lighter Side

Beach Read: A romance writer and a literary author battle it out on the pages, and in real life. This seems like a fun one that I’m tucking away for my next road trip.