Native American Nonfiction
National Native American Heritage Month, observed in November, honors the histories, cultures, and contributions – historical and ongoing – of American Indians and Alaska Natives. List created by a librarian at The Seattle Public Library; annotations by staff, or as cited. (Created October 2023)
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New Native Kitchen
(Navajo). "Bitsoie, former executive chef of Mitsitam Native Foods Café at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, explores the vastness of indigenous cuisine in his exceptional debut." (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Rediscovery of America
Blackhawk (Western Shoshone) recenters the often-overlooked role of Native American communities and individuals in five centuries of American history through this sweeping study.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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A Drum in One Hand, A Sockeye in the Other
Coté (Tseshaht/Nuu-chah-nulth) examines the efforts of her community to embrace and preserve traditional food practices, and, in the process, refashion their relationship to the physical and cultural well-being provided by food.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Living Resistance
(Potawatomi Nation) "In this motivating entry, poet Curtice encourages readers to fight against racism, patriarchy, and gender discrimination to make a more "whole" world, and to make doing so a lifelong commitment. To that end, she outlines four "realms" of resistance: personal (turning inward and asking questions); communal (making changes on a social level); ancestral (investigating one's roots and others'); and integral (resistance that involves all parts of the self)." (Publishers Weekly)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Birding While Indian
In a memoir structured around a list of birds seen over 50+ years, Gannon reflects on the purpose he found in bird-watching and shares personal stories of growing up part-Lakota on the Great Plains.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Poet Warrior
The first Indigenous U.S. Poet Laureate, Harjo is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. In this hybrid memoir, she combines poetry and prose to describe her lifelong love of words and her transformation into a gifted poet.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance Comic Book
This updated graphic narrative by Hill, a member of the Kwakwaka'wakw nation, depicts 500 years of Indigenous revolt, rebellion, and resilience against colonizing forces in North and South America.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Ira Hayes
Holm (Cherokee Nation with Muskogee Creek ancestry) presents a "searching study of the psychically scarred Native American Marine Corps hero made famous for raising the American flag on Iwo Jima."
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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We Are the Middle of Forever
This collection of interviews with Indigenous Americans from a variety of communities explores climate change from Indigenous viewpoints, reflecting on past actions and possible futures.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Notable Native People
"Keene (Cherokee) celebrates 50 noteworthy Native American, Alaska Native, and Kanaka Maoli people, urging readers to look beyond persistent stereotypical messages about Indigenous cultures and explore the harmful consequences of settler colonialism." (Library Journal)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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