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
