This coming Tuesday, June 21st, is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, and the entirety of June is Indigenous History Month. According to the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion: “June is National Indigenous History Month. It is a time for all Canadians to reflect on the unique histories, sacrifices, cultures, contributions, and strengths of our First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples – because only by understanding our past can we hope to create a brighter future.”
We all know that the history of Indigenous Peoples (including First Nations, Inuit and Métis People) stretches back further than modern history can reach. Their history is the history of our land, and their cultures and traditions should be central to our communal societies – not only because this is their land, but because, quite frankly, theirs are pretty much better than ours across the board, from what I can tell. I doubt we’d have the social or environmental issues we have today if their social structures had remained intact. But I digress.
Unfortunately the history of Indigenous Peoples in North America has been overshadowed by the history of white invaders who stole land, committed genocide (cultural and literal) and created a social structure that is inherently racist against the very people who we owe our homes to. If you want to learn more about how the incumbent colonizers treated (and continue to treat) First Peoples in Canada, you need to read 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, which will walk you through, point by point, the Act that was put in place to manage relations between colonizers and Indigenous People. It’s not a very long book – I read it twice in a day – but it is and excellent summary of the various impacts the Act has had on Indigenous rights, freedoms, lifestyles and opportunities. It’s horrific and shameful, even more so because little has been done to create true reconciliation or reparations for the harm that has been done (though, of course, nothing ever can make history right).
The recent discoveries of multiple mass graves attached to residential schools and the 150,000 children who were removed from their families (of which an estimated 5,000 children died) while attending residential schools – let alone the ruined lives and deaths that followed due to trauma, lost family and community connections and culture – have underlined the horrific legacy of how the government and the church treated Indigenous Peoples. September 30th has now been declared Orange Shirt Day (read about why here) and is a time to remember, honour and recognize the victims of the residential school system and, in a larger sense, the destruction if Indigenous cultures and ways of life.
The history here isn’t over, either. There are still Indigenous Communities in Canada fighting for clean water, to keep harmful pipelines off their land and for acknowledgement of harm from the government and other responsible parties (The Pope only recently acknowledged the Church’s involvement in the residential school system). I expect we will also continue to find out more about the devastating impact of residential schools as more sites are excavated and more stories are shared. Because of all of this history and the impact it is still having on Indigenous Communities, it’s vital that everyone living in North America put effort into learning about not only the terrible impact of colonization (though this is of vital importance), but about the cultures and traditions of Indigenous Peoples. We need to learn what we should have respected when we first came here, and we need to cede cultural space to the voices, stories and experiences of Indigenous People. This is, I believe, a first step towards beginning to re-create our communities in ways that no longer gloss over the history of our continent, but acknowledge it and work on making Indigenous knowledge and experiences central to our schools, media and awareness.
In the interest of this, I’d like to share a list of books by and about (usually both) Indigenous People. Mostly in Canada, but throughout North America. (One point: I’m focusing on Indigenous authors in North America because this is where I live. But there are similar histories in most parts of the world, so I encourage everyone to learn about the First Peoples wherever you’re from, as well as those in North America. There is so much important history that needs to be learned, shared and recognized.) I’ve read some of these books in part or in whole, others I’ve seen throughout my schooling and yet others I’ve more recently come across or had recommended to me. There are plenty of genres and styles represented in this list, from non-fiction narratives to historical accounts to fiction to children’s literature, so whatever your reading interests, there should be something on this list for you! I’d love it if you’d share any other books you’ve read by Indigenous authors in the comments, and I’d love to hear what you thought of any you’ve read!
One final note: I’ve tried to write an overview of what I believe to be important points underpinning both Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day, but I’m not an expert. I encourage anyone who has more information than I do to share any links or info you want in the comments, correct any mistakes I’ve made or add any context I’m missing. This is a very complex topic, and information is being added to discussions all the time. I’m here to learn, so please feel free to share any information you have!
Memoir/Biography:
Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic – Jennifer Niven
Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir – Deborah A. Miranda (Contributor)
Black Indian – Shonda Buchanan
Black Water – David Alexander Robertson
Call Me Indian: From the Trauma to Residential School to Becoming the NHL’s First Treaty Indigenous Player – Fred Sasakamoose
Crazy Brave – Joy Harjo
Fifty Miles from Tomorrow – William L. Iġġiaġruk Hensley
From the Ashes – Jesse Thistle
Halfbreed – Maria Campbell
Heart Berries – Terese Marie Mailhot
A History of My Brief Body – Billy-Ray Belcourt
“Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power – Jody Wilson-Raybould
In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience – Helen Knott
Life in the City of Dirty Water – Clayton Thomas-Muller
Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age – Darrel J. McLeod
Mankiller: A Chief and Her People – Wilma Mankiller, Michael Wallis
A Mind Spread Out on the Ground – Alicia Elliott
Nishga – Jordan Abel
nîtisânak – Jas M. Morgan
On the Edge of Nowhere – James Huntington
Prison Writings: My Life Is My Sun Dance – Leonard Peltier and Harvey Arden (ed.)
The Reason You Walk – Wab Kinew
Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native’s Life Along the River – Sidney Huntington
Starvation Mode and My Body Is A Book of Rules – Elissa Washuta
The Tao of Raven: An Alaska Native Memoir (Blonde Indian: An Alaska Native Memoir) – Ernestine Hayes
They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School – Bev Sellars
This Wound Is a World – Billy-Ray Belcourt
Unreconciled – Jesse White
Up Ghost River: A Chief’s Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History – Edmund Metatawabin and Alexandra Shimo
Urban Native: Breaking Through Society’s Stereotypes – Lisa Charleyboy
Traditional Knowledge:
Braiding Sweetgrass – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Good Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir – Thomas Pecore Weso
Legends and Folktales:
Kateri’s Monster Tales: Based on Haudenosaunee Folktales – Cathy Smith
Non-Fiction:
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act and Indigenous Relations – Bob Joseph
All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward – Tanya Talaga
As Long as Grass Grows – Dina Gilio-Whitaker
Children of the Broken Treaty: Canada’s Lost Promise and One Girl’s Dream – Charlie Angus
Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Aboriginal Life – James Daschuk
The Comeback – John Ralston Saul
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto – Vine Deloria Jr.
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present – David Treuer
Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls – Jessica McDiarmid
The Inconvenient Indian, The Truth About Stories and A Short History of Indians in Canada – Thomas King
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States – Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis and Inuit Issues in Canada – Chelsea Vowel
The Invisible North: The Search for Answers on a Troubled Reserve – Alexandra Shimo
it was never going to be okay – jaye simpson
My Conversations with Canadians – Lee Maracle
The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s People, the Métis Nation – Jean Teillet
Red River Girl: The Life and Death of Tina Fontaine – Joanna Jolly
The Right to Be Cold – Sheila Watt-Cloutier
Seven Fallen Feathers – Tanya Talaga
Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call – Arthur Manuel
Why Indigenous Literatures Matter – Daniel Heath Justice
Fiction:
And Then She Fell – Alicia Elliott
Bad Cree – Jessica Johns
Birdie – Tracey Lindberg
The Break and The Strangers – Katherena Vermette
Ceremony and Almanac of the Dead – Leslie Marmon Silko
Crooked Hallelujah – Kelli Jo Ford
Dance Me Outside – W.P. Kinsella (read but not reviewed – 9/10 stars)
Fire Song – Adam Garnet Jones
Five Little Indians – Michelle Good
House Made of Dawn – N. Scott Momaday
Indian Horse, Keeper’n Me, One Native Life and everything by Richard Wagamese
Indians on Vacation – Thomas King
Jonny Appleseed – Joshua Whitehead
The Journal of Jesse Smoke: A Cherokee Boy, Trail of Tears, 1838 and Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two – Joseph Bruchac
The Kiss of the Fur Queen (read but not reviewed) – Tomson Highway
The Lesser Blessed – Richard Van Camp
Moon of the Crusted Snow – Waubgeshig Rice
Motorcycles & Sweetgrass – Drew Hayden Taylor
Night of the Living Rez – Morgan Talty
The Night Watchman, The Round House, The Sentence and everything by Louise Erdrich
The Only Good Indians and My Heart Is a Chainsaw – Stephen Graham Jones
Owls Don’t Have to Mean Death – Chip Livingston
Power – Linda Hogan
Probably Ruby – Lisa Bird-Wilson
Pushing the Bear – Diane Glancy
Riding the Trail of Tears – Blake M. Hausman
The Road Back to Sweetgrass – Linda LeGarde Grover
Sacred Smokes – Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel – Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk
The Seed Keeper – Diane Wilson
The Sharpest Sight – Louis Owens
Shell Shaker – LeAnne Howe
Son of a Trickster and Monkey Beach – Eden Robinson
Split Tooth – Tanya Tagaq
Sundown – John Joseph Mathews
There There and Wandering Stars – Tommy Orange
Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival – Velma Wallis
Where the Dead Sit Talking and The Removed – Brandon Hobson
Winter Counts – David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Winter in the Blood – James Welch
Short Stories:
The Beadworkers – Beth Piatote
Cheyenne Madonna – Eddie Chuculate
From the Hilltop – Toni Jensen
Sabrina & Corina – Kali Fajardo-Anstine
The Stone Collection – Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm
This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories – Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Anthologies:
Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices – Lisa Charleyboy (ed.), Mary Leatherdale (ed.)
The Gift Is in the Making: Anishinaabeg Stories – Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
How We Go Home: Voices from Indigenous North America – Sara Sinclair (ed.)
Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction – Joshua Whitehead (ed.)
Love Beyond Body Space and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology – Hope Nicholson (ed.)
Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water – Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair (ed.), Warren Cariou (ed.)
Never Whistle at Night – Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr. (eds.)
#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women – Lisa Charleyboy (ed.), Mary Beth Leatherdale (ed.)
Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada’s Past – Various Authors
Shapes of Native Non-Fiction – Elissa Washuta and Theresa Warburton (eds.)
Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction – Grace L. Dillon (ed.)
Plays:
The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing – Tomson Highway
Graphic Novels:
This Place: 150 Years Retold – Various Authors
Young Adult Fiction:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie
Firekeeper’s Daughter – Angeline Boulley
The Marrow Thieves and Empire of Wild – Cherie Dimaline
Trail of Lightning – Rebecca Roanhorse
Warrior Girl Unearthed – Angeline Boulley
Wenjack – Joseph Boyden
Middle Grade:
Treaty Words: For As Long As the Rivers Flow – Aimée Craft and Luke Swinson (Illustrator)
Children’s Books:
Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story – Kevin Noble Maillard
On the Trapline – David Alexander Robertson
We Are Water Protectors – Carole Lindstrom
And a final recommendation: Storykeepers Podcast.This is a monthly podcast hosted by Waubgeshig Rice and Jennifer David where they discuss the Indigenous-written book that has been selected for that month. They have a guest host each month (a First Nations, Inuit or Métis author or artist) and they discuss the book in terms of the writing, story, context and issues raised. They have highlighted some wonderful books so far, and have several of the books included on my list upcoming.