"We are what we imagine. Our very existence consists in our imagination of ourselves. Our best destiny is to imagine, at least, completely, who and what, and that we are. The greatest tragedy that can befall us is to go unimagined." — N. Scott Momaday
November is Native American Heritage Month in the U.S., a time to honor the traditions, histories, and contributions of Native American communities. One powerful way to connect with and learn about these diverse cultures is through literature. In this blog post, we'll explore a curated list of 12 must-read books by Native American and Indigenous authors from the US and Canada.
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
Tommy Orange's follow-up to There There starts in 1864, when Star, a survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre, is imprisoned and forced to learn English and Christianity. The novel traces his family forward three generations to characters from There There, as it asks what it means to be the children and grandchildren of massacre and institutional violence.
Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina
Girls are disappearing from Anna Horn's reservation, and when her little sister Grace goes missing too, Anna digs into her tribe's old legends for answers while something out of those legends stalks her. Nick Medina's debut is half thriller, half mythological horror.
The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
A diary written by a Lutheran pastor in 1912 turns up inside a wall. In it, a Blackfeet man named Good Stab tells his life story over a series of confessions, going back to a massacre of 217 Blackfeet and leading to revenge. It won the Bram Stoker and Nebula awards, and NPR called it a horror masterpiece.
A Grandmother Begins the Story by Michelle Porter
Five generations of Métis women narrate this novel, and so do the land, a young bison, and two dogs. Carter, who only learned of her Métis heritage as a teenager, is trying to understand it, while Lucie wants the granddaughter she's never met to help her reach her ancestors in the afterlife. They are just two of the chorus of confused, wise, and struggling characters trying to make sense of this life and the next.
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich
In Argus, North Dakota, during the 2008 economic crash, a young man about to inherit two farms is desperate to marry Kismet Poe, a lapsed Goth, while a gentle, home-schooled giant named Hugo plans to steal her away. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louise Erdrich sets the love triangle against sugar beet farming, fracking, and climate change.
Fire Exit by Morgan Talty
From his porch, Charles Lamosway has watched his neighbor Elizabeth grow up across the river on Maine's Penobscot Reservation without telling her he's her father. Now, worried because he hasn't seen her in weeks, he must confront his past and decide whether the secret is his to share.
By the Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle
In the 1830s, the Muscogee were forced off their land and promised a new home for as long as the grass grew and the waters ran. Cherokee journalist Rebecca Nagle follows that unkept promise through generations of Indigenous resistance to a 1990s murder case and the 2020 Supreme Court ruling that reaffirmed Native rights to the land. Along the way, she lays out both the wrongs the nation committed and the Native-led fight for justice that has shaped the country.
The Indian Card by Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz
The number of people in the U.S. who identify as Native grew 85 percent in ten years, but tribal enrollment didn't. Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz draws on interviews, archival research, and her own family's enrollment story to untangle the blood quantum rules the federal government created, and asks what belonging looks like for Native people who can never be enrolled.
The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk
Historian Ned Blackhawk retells five centuries of U.S. history with Native nations at the center, from Spanish colonial exploration to the self-determination movement of the late 20th century. He argues that the country can't be understood without them, down to the first shots of the American Revolution, which were prompted by Indian affairs in the interior. Winner of the 2023 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of the bestseller Braiding Sweetgrass, builds this short book around the serviceberry tree, which shares its fruit with the birds and animals around it. She asks what an economy built on gifts and reciprocity, instead of scarcity and hoarding, could look like, and argues that "all flourishing is mutual."
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
PEN Award-winning author Mona Susan Power follows three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women, born in 1888, 1925, and 1961, each told partly through the doll she carried. The two older women are sent to Indian boarding schools, and the novel traces how that damage echoes down to the next generation, and what it takes to heal.
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie, and Maisie leave a church-run residential school in Canada as teenagers, with no families or skills, and land in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Cree writer Michelle Good follows the five friends over decades as each tries to come to terms with what happened at the school and find a way forward. Winner of Canada's Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.
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