As They Speak: Native Voices in Today’s Literature – 

January

The Berry Pickers: A Novel by Amanda Peters (Mi’kmaq Descent). 

The novel begins in July 1962 when a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia arrives in Maine to pick blueberries for the summer. Weeks later, four-year-old Ruthie, the family’s youngest child, vanishes. She is last seen by her six-year-old brother, Joe, sitting on a favorite rock at the edge of a berry field. Joe will remain distraught by his sister’s disappearance for years to come. In Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as the only child of an affluent family. Her father is emotionally distant, her mother frustratingly overprotective. As she grows older, Norma slowly comes to realize there is something her parents aren’t telling her. Unwilling to abandon her intuition, she will spend decades trying to uncover this family secret

February

Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Guide to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining the Future by Patty Krawec (Anishinaabe, Lac Seul First Nation). 

In this remarkable sojourn through Native and settler history, Krawec weaves her own story with the broader themes of creation, replacement and disappearance to help readers see settler colonialism through the eyes of an Indigenous writer. According to Krawec, settler colonialism tried to force us into one particular way of living, but the old ways of kinship can help us imagine a different future. Braiding together historical, scientific, and cultural analysis, Indigenous ways of knowing, and the vivid threads of communal memory, Krawec crafts a stunning, forceful call to “unforget” our history. 

March

Living on the Borderlines: Stories by Melissa Michal (Seneca Descent). 

In this collection of stories, intergenerational memory and trauma slip into everyday life: a teenager struggles to understand her grandmother’s silences, a man contemplates what it means to preserve tradition in the wake of the “disappearing Indian” myth, and an older woman challenges her town’s prejudice while uniting an unlikely family. With these stories,  the author weaves together an understated and contemplative collection exploring what it means to be Indigenous. 

April

Dragonfly Dance: Poems by Denise Lajimodiere (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa). 

In this collection of poems Lajimodiere opens a door into the lives of Native girls and women. Her poems, remarkable for their candor and sense of catharsis,  often reflect tensions between Native and white cultures. Unadorned, direct, and often raw, these riveting poems sear their way into our imaginations, inviting us into a world we might never have known.

May

Wandering Stars: A Novel by Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho)

In this novel by acclaimed author Tommy Orange, he conjures the ancestors of the family readers first fell in love with in There There—warriors, drunks, outlaws, addicts—asking what it means to be the children and grandchildren of massacre. Wandering Stars is a novel about epigenetic and generational trauma that has the force and vision of a modern epic, an exceptionally powerful book from one of the most exciting writers at work today.

June

To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (Seaconke Wampanoag)

 In this intriguing fantasy novel, the remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations—until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. To her people, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit—a person in a unique relationship with a dragon. Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. She must attend a proper dragon school to receive formal training. Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing—and they might just be the ones to do it.

July

Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe, Wabaseemoong Independent Nations)

In this carefully curated selection of everyday reflections, Richard Wagamese finds lessons in both the mundane and sublime as he muses on the universe, drawing inspiration from working in the bush—sawing and cutting and stacking wood for winter as well as the smudge ceremony to bring him closer to the Creator. Embers is perhaps Richard Wagamese’s most personal volume to date. 

August

The Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley (Ojibwe, Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

In this coming-of-age novel, Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. When Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, she is thrust into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. Now, as the deceptions―and deaths―keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Ojibwe woman.

September

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley (Ojibwe, Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians)

Set in the same community as last month’s book, Firekeeper’s Daughter, this novel centers around an Ojibwe teen who discovers a plot to profit off robbed Indigenous graves. With the help of a ragtag group of friends, she takes matters into her own hands to protect her community, and bring her ancestors home where they belong, while staring down challenges including generational grudges, bureaucratic subterfuge, unnerving stories of missing women, family secrets, and painful realities about the legacy of colonialism.

October

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk (Cheyenne and Arapaho) and Theodore Van Alst (Mackinac Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians )

Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home. In this anthology of stories recounted by various Native authors, these wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge.

November

Exposure by Ramona Emerson (Diné)

 In this dual-voice cat-and-mouse thriller, told from the points of view of a killer who has created his own deadly religion and the only person who can stop him, an embattled young detective sees the ghosts of his Native victims. Rita Todacheene, Albuquerque PD forensic photographer, is at a crisis point in her career. Her colleagues are watching her with suspicion after the recent revelation that she can see the ghosts of murder victims. Maybe it’s time for her to leave police work behind entirely—if only the ghosts will let her.

December

The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawotami)

Indigenous scientist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy though focusing on the serviceberry in her new book. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? The serviceberry’s relationship with the natural world is an embodiment of reciprocity, interconnectedness, and gratitude. The tree distributes its wealth—its abundance of sweet, juicy berries—to meet the needs of its natural community. And this distribution insures its own survival. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”

January

Gichigami Hearts: Stories and Histories From the Misaabekong by Linda LeGarde (Anishinaabe)

Misaabekong, the place of the giants, refers to the lands around what is now known as Duluth, Minnesota. Set against this backdrop, the lives chronicled in this book unfold, some in myth, some in long-ago times, some in an imagined present, and some in the author’s family history, all with a deep and tenacious bond to the land

February

To Be A Water Protector by Winona LaDuke (Ojibwe)

Winona LaDuke is a leader in cultural-based sustainable development strategies, renewable energy, sustainable food systems and Indigenous rights. In this book, LaDuke honours Mother Earth and her teachings while detailing global, Indigenous-led opposition to the enslavement and exploitation of the land and water.

March

Living Resistance by Kaitlin B. Curtice (Potawatomi)

Curtice explores four “realms of resistance”–the personal, the communal, the ancestral, and the integral–and shows how these realms overlap and why all are needed for our liberation. Readers will be empowered to seek wholeness in whatever spheres of influence they inhabit.

April

Living Nations, Living Words. Anthology curated by Joy Harjo (Muskogee)

Curated and introduced by 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (Muskogee), this anthology is a companion to her signature laureate project, which gathers the work of contemporary Native poets into a national digital map of story, sound, and space. This work allows readers a chance to hold the wealth of poems in their hands.

May

Oracles: A Novel by Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel (Mohegan)

In this futuristic novel from a local Indigenous author, the wilderness is disappearing due to human incursion and urbanization. The Yantuck Indians must find a way to preserve the environment that survives on their eastern United States reservation and yet participate in a global economy. Amid this uncertainty, protagonist Ashneon Quay struggles to find a balance between the traditional and the new and to identify a path that is right for her.

June

Jonny Appleseed by Joshua Whitehead (Oji-Cree; Member of Peguis First Nation)

Off the rez and trying to find ways to live and love in the big city, Jonny Appleseed, a young Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer, becomes a cybersex worker who fetishizes himself in order to make a living. Jonny’s world is a series of breakages, appendages, and linkages – and as he goes through the motions of preparing to return home for his step-father’s funeral, he learns how to put together the pieces of his life. Jonny Appleseed is a unique, shattering vision of Indigenous life, full of grit, glitter, and dreams.

Note: As the above description suggests, this novel contains content of a sexually explicit nature and discusses emotionally heavy topics. This slice of life narrative represents a fictionalized experience of one individual who identifies as Two Spirit and should not be understood as universal for all individuals within this community. 

July

Shutter by Ramona Emerson (Diné)

In this haunting thriller, Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. This ability has isolated her from friends and driven her from life on Navajo Nation, and now it might just get her killed.

August

Cape Cod Wampanoag Cookbook: Indian Recipes, Images, and Lore by Earl Mills, Sr (Mashpee Wampanoag) and Betty Breen

Co-author Earl Mills is an indigenous gourmet chef who shares with the reader time-tested recipes handed down by his ancestors and perfected at his Cape Cod restaurant, The Flume. Homespun narratives and blessings over meals precede Cape Cod recipes ranging from Quahog Chowder to Indian Pudding. This down-home mix of comfort foods and nostalgia offers an invitation to succumb to fond memories, take control of “hearth and soul,” and rediscover the passion of good eating.

September

A Pipe For February by Charles H. Redcorn (Osage)

Red Corn sets this novel against a turbulent, yet exhilarating background for this tribal community. At the turn of the twentieth century, the Osage Indians owned Oklahoma’s most valuable oil reserves and became members of the world’s first wealthy oil population. Osage children and grandchildren continued to respect the old customs and ways, but now they also had lives of leisure. In the 1920s, they also found themselves immersed in a series of murders.  Red Corn focuses on the character of the Osage people, drawing on his own experiences and insights as a member of the Osage Nation.

October

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (Blackfeet)

In this novel, the struggle of four men from the Blackfeet Nation to balance traditional practices and surviving in Western society takes a supernatural turn. These childhood friends must fight for their lives against an entity that seeks revenge against them and their loved ones for something they did during an elk hunt ten years earlier.

Please note: Events in this book include fictitious descriptions of graphic scenes involving physical violence and death of humans and animals that some readers may find disturbing.

November

The Seed Keeper: A Novel by Diane Wilson (Dakota)

In this haunting novel spanning several generations, Rosalie Iron Wing is sent to live with a foster family, where the reserved bookish Rosalie meets the rebellious Gaby Makespeace. Decades later, Rosalie returns to her childhood home where she begins to confront the past, in a search for family, identity, and a community where she can finally belong. Weaving together the voices of four indelible women, this novel is a beautifully told story of reawakening, of remembering our original relationship to the seeds and, through them, to our ancestors.

December

Gather: Richard Van Camp on the Joy of Storytelling by Richard Van Camp (Tlicho Dene First Nation)

Master storyteller and bestselling author Richard Van Camp writes of the power of storytelling and its potential to transform both the speaker and the audience. Van Camp shares what elements make a compelling story and offers insights into basic storytelling techniques and delves further into the impact storytelling can have, helping readers understand how to create community and how to banish loneliness through their tales. Van Camp includes stories from Elders whose wisdom influenced him.

January

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa)

Based on the extraordinary life of Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C. The Night Watchman is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel that explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.

February

Black Indian: A Memoir by Shonda Buchanan

In this inspiring memoir, Buchanan explores her family’s legacy of being African Americans with American Indian roots and how they dealt with not just society’s ostracization but the consequences of this dual inheritance. As the author puts it, Black Indian doesn’t have answers, nor does it aim to represent every American’s multi-ethnic experience. Instead, it digs as far down into this one family’s history as it can go—sometimes, with a bit of discomfort.

Please note: Due to the topics discussed in this memoir, such as historical trauma as well as emotional and physical abuse, the content of this book might trigger strong emotions for some readers.

March

Sister Nations: Native American Women Writers on Community edited by Heid E. Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) and Laura Tohe (Navajo)

This anthology features stories written by female Native authors from across the continent that celebrate, record, and explore Native American women’s roles in community. With writings ranging from personal to political, from notions of love to the realities of marriage, and from finding a place in modern society to incorporating tradition into daily life, each work explores both what it means to be a woman and how those realities are complicated and informed by the Native American experience.

April

The Radiant Lives of Animals by Linda Hogan (Chickasaw)

In this illuminating collection of essays and poems, Linda Hogan draws on her own intense relationships with animals, as well as many Native nations’ ancient stories and spiritual traditions, as examples that we can all follow to heal our souls and reconnect with the spirit of the world.

May

Potlatch as Pedagogy: Learning Through Ceremony by Sara Florence Davidson and Robert Davidson (Haida)

Banned for 67 years by the Canadian government, the foundational ceremony of the Haida people known as the potlatch determined social structure, transmitted cultural knowledge, and redistributed wealth. The ceremonies were revived in the late 1960s by Elders who collectively remembered the historical ways. Educator Sara Florence Davidson, daughter of renowned artist Robert Davidson, saw how these traditions could be integrated into contemporary practices. This book also presents a model for learning that is holistic, relational, practical, and continuous.

June

A Generous Spirit: Selected Works by Beth Brant (Mohawk)

This anthology, edited by Janice Gould, collects the writings of Brant, a Mohawk lesbian poet, essayist, and activist. During her life, Brant’s work gave voice to an often unacknowledged Two-Spirit identity and continues to represent strength, growth, and the celebration of human compassion.

July

The Creator’s Game by Allan Downey (Dakelh Nation)

Dr. Allan Downey (Dakelh Nation) is an Associate Professor in the Department of History and Indigenous Studies Program at McMaster University. ). In this book, Downey focuses on the history of lacrosse in Indigenous communities and explores Indigenous-Non-Indigenous relations as well as Indigenous identity formation.

August

Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future edited by Melissa K Nelson (Anishinaabe/Metis)

For millennia, the world’s indigenous peoples have acted as guardians of the web of life for the next seven generations. Awareness of indigenous knowledge is reemerging at the eleventh hour to help avert global ecological and social collapse. Original Instructions is a collection of presentations by Indigenous leaders – including John Trudell, Winona Laduke, and Oren Lyons – whose voices remind us where hope lies.

September

No Parole Today by Laura Tohe (Navajo)

This memoir is a collection of poetry and prose from a Navajo teacher and poet who describes attending a government school for Indigenous children and the challenges it presented to her socially, culturally, and expressively.

Please note: Due to the history of residential schools in indigenous communities, the content of this book might trigger strong emotions for some readers.

October

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Citizen Potowatomi)

As a botanist, Dr. Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer demonstrates how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons, even if we have forgotten how to hear their voices, and reminds us that awakening a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknoacknowledgmentcelebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world.

November

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty (Penobscot)

Night of the Living Rez: Stories by Morgan Talty (Penobscot) is set in a Native community in Maine. This collection of stories examines what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century, as we and what it means to live, survive, andere after tragedy.

December

Earth Keeper by N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa)

N. Scott Momaday (Kiowa) was born in Oklahoma and grew up on the Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo reservations. As such, the Southwest is a part of the earth that he knows well and loves deeply. In this wise and wondrous work, Momaday shares stories and memories throughout his life, stories that have been passed down through generations, stories that reveal a profound spiritual connection to the American landscape and reverence for the natural world. He also eloquently and simply reminds us that we must all be keepers of the earth.

January

One Native Life by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)

One Native Life is a look back down the road Richard Wagamese has traveled — from childhood abuse to adult alcoholism — in reclaiming his identity. It’s about what he has learned as a human being, a man, and an Ojibway in his 52 years on Earth. Whether he’s writing about playing baseball, running away with the circus, making bannock, or attending a sacred bundle ceremony, these are stories told in a healing spirit. Through them, Wagamese shows readers how to appreciate life for the journey it is.

February

Savage Kin by Margaret Bruchac (Abenaki)

In this provocative book, written by Indigenous anthropologist Margaret M. Bruchac, turns the word savage on its head. Savage Kin explores the nature of the relationships between Indigenous informants, such as Gladys Tantaquidgeon (Mohegan), Jesse Cornplanter (Seneca), and George Hunt (Tlingit), and early twentieth-century anthropological collectors, such as Frank Speck, Arthur C. Parker, William N. Fenton, and Franz Boas.

March

The Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna Pueblo)

Paula Gunn Allen’s celebrated study of women’s roles in Native American culture, history, and traditions continues to influence writers and scholars in Native American studies, women’s studies, queer studies, religion and spirituality, and beyond. This groundbreaking collection of seventeen essays investigates and celebrates Native American traditions with special focus on the position of the American Indian woman within those customs. 

April

An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo (Mvskoke Nation)

Joy Harjo finds blessings in the abundance of her homeland and confronts the site where the Mvskoke people, including her own ancestors, were forcibly displaced. From her memory of her mother’s death, to her beginnings in the Native rights movement, to the fresh road with her beloved, Harjo’s personal life intertwines with tribal histories to create a space for renewed beginnings. A nationally best-selling volume of wise, powerful poetry from the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States.

May

There, There by Tommy Orange (Cheyenne/Arapaho)

Tommy Orange’s wondrous and shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle’s death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American–grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. This book is at once poignant and unflinching, utterly contemporary and truly unforgettable.

June

An Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King (Cherokee Descent)

In The Inconvenient Indian, Thomas King offers a deeply knowing, darkly funny, unabashedly opinionated, and utterly unconventional account of Indian–White relations in North America since initial contact. Ranging freely across the centuries and the Canada–U.S. border, King debunks fabricated stories of Indian savagery and White heroism, takes an oblique look at Indians (and cowboys) in film and popular culture, wrestles with the history of Native American resistance and his own experiences as a Native rights activist, and articulates a profound, revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands.

July

Native: Identity, Belonging and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin Curtice (Potowatami)

Native is about identity, soul-searching, and the never-ending journey of finding ourselves and finding God. As both a citizen of the Potawatomi Nation and a Christian, Kaitlin Curtice offers a unique perspective on these topics. In this book, she shows how reconnecting with her Potawatomi identity both informs and challenges her faith. Curtice draws on her personal journey, poetry, imagery, and stories of the Potawatomi people to address themes at the forefront of today’s discussions of faith and culture in a positive and constructive way. She encourages us to embrace our own origins and to share and listen to each other’s stories so we can build a more inclusive and diverse future. Each of our stories matters for the church to be truly whole. As Curtice shares what it means to experience her faith through the lens of her Indigenous heritage, she reveals that a vibrant spirituality has its origins in identity, belonging, and a sense of place.

August

Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s by Tiffany Midge (Lakota)

Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s is a powerful and compelling collection of Tiffany Midge’s musings on life, politics, and identity as a Native woman in America. Artfully blending sly  humor, social commentary, and meditations on love and loss, Midge weaves short, stand-alone musings into a memoir that stares down colonialism while chastising hipsters for abusing pumpkin spice. She explains why she does not like pussy hats, mercilessly dismantles pretendians, and confesses her own struggles with white-bread privilege. Note: uses political humor/satire.

September

Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe)

With compassion and insight, author Richard Wagamese traces through his fictional characters the decline of a culture and a cultural way. For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and his family when he’s sent to residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as a hockey player. But in the harsh realities of 1960s Canada, he battles obdurate racism and the spirit-destroying effects of cultural alienation and displacement. Indian Horse unfolds against the bleak loveliness of northern Ontario, all rock, marsh, bog and cedar. Wagamese writes with a

spare beauty, penetrating the heart of a remarkable Ojibway man. Note: References to sexual assault appear in this work.

October

Savage Conversations by LeAnne Howe (Choctaw)

May 1875: Mary Todd Lincoln is addicted to opiates and tried in a Chicago court on charges of insanity. Entered into evidence is Ms. Lincoln’s claim that every night a Savage Indian enters her bedroom and slashes her face and scalp. She is swiftly committed to Bellevue Place Sanitarium. Her hauntings may be a reminder that in 1862, President Lincoln ordered the hanging of thirty-eight Dakotas in the largest mass execution in United States history. No one has ever linked the two events—until now. Savage Conversations is a daring account of a former first lady and the ghosts that tormented her for the contradictions and crimes on which this nation is founded.

December

Apple: Skin to the Core by Eric Gansworth (Onondaga)

In Apple (Skin to the Core), Eric Gansworth tells his story, the story of his family—of Onondaga among Tuscaroras—of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to a young man fighting to be an artist who balances multiple worlds. Eric shatters that slur and reclaims it in verse and prose and imagery that truly lives up to the word heartbreaking.