Each week we assemble a collection – a bouquet, if you will – of books you can read for yourself, or use to build into a display in your library. As always, the books we link to have info from Amazon.com. If you click a link and then buy anything at all from Amazon, we get a small percent of their profits from your sale. Thanks!! We really appreciate the assistance!
Today we are celebrating Indigenous People’s Day! This is a day to celebrate and honor the cultures of Indigenous people across the Americas.
And, you have probably seen this site, or heard about it: Native Land. You can just type in your address and find out which tribes used to live there, and get some information about them. For CMLE HQ these tribes used to live there:
This site also provides a Teacher’s Guide: “We are pleased to present our new and revised Teacher’s Guide, released March 2019. This version includes detailed instructions on how to use Native Land, as well as exercises for use by teachers of different levels, from kids to adults. The Guide discusses the pros and cons of the map itself, the importance of learning more about colonialism, and provides resources for teachers to learn more.”
This fantastic article from Book Riot details the need for better Indigenous representation in literature, especially for kids and teens. There are lots of excellent reading recommendations in this article, too!
(At this point, it shouldn’t even need to be said why we would choose not to celebrate a genocidal lunatic as a cultural hero; but if you want to read it – in a short, very readable format – check out The Oatmeal’s discussion here. There are literally millions of amazing Italians, and Italian-Americans, we could choose to celebrate. Here is one article suggesting a few. I’d throw out da Vinci as one suggestion among millions; but I’ll leave it to others to make a final decision.)
And, of course, in Minnesota we have many great authors we can celebrate on this day – as well as all year! We’re a little biased here, but working with Minnesota libraries does give us a little extra love for Minnesota authors. (We’re not sorry.) So let’s find some great books!
- My Heart Fills With Happiness / sâkaskinêw nitêh miywêyihtamowin ohci (Cree and English Edition), by Monique Gray Smith The sun on your face. The smell of warm bannock baking in the oven. Holding the hand of someone you love. What fills your heart with happiness? This beautiful board book, with illustrations from celebrated artist Julie Flett, serves as a reminder for little ones and adults alike to reflect on and cherish the moments in life that bring us joy.
- The Dance Boots, by Linda LeGarde Grover [Minnesota Author!] “In the title story an aunt recounts the harsh legacy of Indian boarding schools that tried to break the indigenous culture. In doing so she passes on to her niece the Ojibwe tradition of honoring elders through their stories. In “Refugees Living and Dying in the West End of Duluth,” this same niece comes of age in the 1970s against the backdrop of her forcibly dispersed family. A cycle of boarding schools, alcoholism, and violence haunts these stories even as the characters find beauty and solace in their large extended families. With its attention to the Ojibwe language, customs, and history, this unique collection of riveting stories illuminates the very nature of storytelling. The Dance Boots narrates a century’s evolution of Native Americans making choices and compromises, often dictated by a white majority, as they try to balance survival, tribal traditions, and obligations to future generations.”
- An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People, by Jean Mendoza (Adapter), Debbie Reese (Adapter), Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (Author) “Going beyond the story of America as a country “discovered” by a few brave men in the “New World,” Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity. The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history.”
- Hungry Johnny, by Cheryl Kay Minnema [Minnesota author!] “”I like to eat, eat, eat,” choruses young Johnny as he watches Grandma at work in the kitchen. Wild rice, fried potatoes, fruit salad, frosted sweet rolls—what a feast! Johnny can hardly contain his excitement. In no time, he’ll be digging in with everyone else, filling his belly with all this good food. But wait. First there is the long drive to the community center. And then an even longer Ojibwe prayer. And then—well, young boys know to follow the rules: elders eat first, no matter how hungry the youngsters are. Johnny lingers with Grandma, worried that the tasty treats won’t last. Seats at the tables fill and refill; platters are emptied and then replaced. Will it ever be their turn? And will there be enough? As Johnny watches anxiously, Grandma gently teaches. By the time her friend Katherine arrives late to the gathering, Johnny knows just what to do, hunger pangs or no. He understands, just as Grandma does, that gratitude, patience, and respect are rewarded by a place at the table—and plenty to eat, eat, eat.”
- We Are Water Protectors, by Carole Lindstrom “Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption―a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.
- Hearts Unbroken, by Cynthia Leitich Smith “When Louise Wolfe’s first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off and dumps him over e-mail. It’s her senior year, anyway, and she’d rather spend her time with her family and friends and working on the school newspaper. The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, the ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper’s staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school musical director’s inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town. From the newly formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater to anonymous threats, long-held prejudices are being laid bare and hostilities are spreading against teachers, parents, and students — especially the cast members at the center of the controversy, including Lou’s little brother, who’s playing the Tin Man. As tensions mount at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey — but as she’s learned, “dating while Native” can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey’s?”
- The Beadworkers, by Beth Piatote “Told with humor, subtlety, and spareness, the mixed-genre works of Beth Piatote’s first collection find unifying themes in the strength of kinship, the pulse of longing, and the language of return.
- A woman teaches her niece to make a pair of beaded earrings while ruminating on a fractured relationship. An eleven-year-old girl narrates the unfolding of the Fish Wars in the 1960s as her family is propelled to its front lines. In 1890, as tensions escalate at Wounded Knee, two young men at college―one French and the other Lakota―each contemplate a death in the family. In the final, haunting piece, a Nez Perce–Cayuse family is torn apart as they debate the fate of ancestral remains in a moving revision of the Greek tragedy Antigone. Formally inventive and filled with vibrant characters, The Beadworkers draws on Indigenous aesthetics and forms to offer a powerful, sustaining vision of Native life.”