Switzer Library (Photo Cobb County Courier/Larry Felton Johnson)

November is Native American Heritage Month, and the Cobb Public Library has created a list of books by and about North America’s native peoples.

According to the U.S. government’s official website for the celebration, the impetus for what became Native American Heritage Month began just after the beginning of the 20th Century when Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian and director of the Museum of Arts and Science in Rochester, N.Y. persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside a day for the “First Americans.”

In 1915, the annual Congress of the American Indian Association meeting in Lawrence, Kansas formally approved a plan advocating for American Indian Day.

The AIA’s president Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapahoe, issued a proclamation in 1915, which declared the second Saturday of each May as American Indian Day and “contained the first formal appeal for recognition of Indians as citizens.”

The recognition of November as a month to celebrate Native American heritage began with President George H.W. Bush declaring “National American Indian Heritage Month” in 1990. Every year thereafter a similar declaration was made, and the name became Native American Heritage Month.

The Cobb Library’s Native American Heritage Month book list

We’ve reprinted the book list prepared by the Cobb County Public Library staff below:

November is Native American Heritage Month – a time paying tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans. Celebrate with this booklist for all ages showcasing books by and about Native Americans.

Click on a title to find it in our catalog, and find many more titles at cobbcat.org.Native American Heritage Month Booklist with links

Children’s Picture Books

At the Mountain’s Base by Traci Sorell

Berry Song by Michaela Goade

Bowwow Powwow by Brenda Child

Crossing Bok Chitto by Tim Tingle

First Laugh Welcome Baby! by Rose Ann Tahe

The Good Luck Cat by Joy Harjo

I Sang You Down From the Stars by Tasha Spillett-Sumner

Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Kiss by Kiss by Richard Van Camp

Powwow Day by Traci Sorell

Remember by Joy Harjo

Still This Love Goes On by Buffy Sainte Marie

Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk

Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie

We All Play Kimêtawânaw by Julie Flett

When We Are Kind by Monique Gray Smith

When We Were Alone by David Robertson 

Children’s Nonfiction Books

Enduring Wisdom: Sayings from Native Americans by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

Four Ancestors: Stories, Songs, and Poems from Native North America by Joseph Bruchac

Go Show the World: A Celebration of Indigenous Heroes by Wab Kinew

Hiawatha and the Peacemaker by Robbie Robertson

The Hunter’s Promise by Joseph Bruchac

The People Shall Continue by Simon J. Ortiz

Rock & Roll Highway by Sebastian Robertson

Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman by Sharice Davids

We Are Grateful by Traci Sorell

Children’s and Preteen Chapter Books

The Case of the Burgled Bundle by Michael Hutchinson

Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II by Joseph Bruchac

Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young

I Am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis

Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManus

Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Legend of Zoey by Candie Moonshower

Makoons by Louise Erdrich

Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac

The Sea in Winter by Christine Day

Sisters of the Neversea by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Star That Always Stays by Anna Rose Johnson

Talking Leaves by Joseph Bruchac

Teen & Young Adult Fiction

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Fire Song by Adam Garnet Jones

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth

Harvest House by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

Strangers by David Robertson

Adult Fiction

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

The Break by Katherena Vermette

Calling for a Blanket Dance by Oscar Hokeah

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

Never Whistle at Night edited by Shane Hawk

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson

There There by Tommy Orange

Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson

Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Young Adult & Adult Nonfiction

#NotYourPrincess edited by Mary Beth Leatherdale

An American Sunrise: Poems by Joy Harjo

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Geller

Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America by Pekka Hämäläinen

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies by Julian Aguon

Poet Warrior by Joy Harjo

The Turquoise Ledge by Leslie Marmon Silko