November is Native American Heritage Month. This is a good time to share books about Native Nations with students, though they should also be shared all throughout the year! I’m recommending a book for each day of November – 30 books – that would be worthy of taking a spot in your read alouds this school year.
The National Congress of American Indians says this about Native American Heritage Month:
“The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges.”
A bit about my background:
We know representation matters. Nowhere was that more apparent to me than the four years I spent teaching 7th & 8th grade ELA at the Indian Community School of Milwaukee, a 4K-8th grade intertribal private school for urban Native youth. Being welcomed into the community and blessed with the teachings shared with me, participating in ceremonies and powwows, and going with students to Menominee language class each school day, impacted my views on the need to look carefully at books with Native characters, more than any other experience. Four years later, when I was working on my MLIS and taking a Multicultural Children’s Literature course, I had a 20 page research paper assignment for which I needed to select a topic. I chose to dive deeper into these thoughts with a Critical Analysis of Native American Representation in Picture Books (I ended up writing 23 pages). That knowledge and experience comes with me into any booklist I create recommending books with Native authors/characters, while also acknowledging that I am a white outsider who can & does make mistakes and misses things in this work.
Previous posts on Native books which include more context on my background / stance and some extra resources:
September 2018:
Picture Book Recommendations First/Native Nations
October 2019:
Picture Books for #ClassroomBookADay During November & All Year Long
Before getting to my recommendations, I’d first like to share some voices of Native scholars / organizations / sites that are my go-to resources for finding Native perspectives and guidance on evaluating books with Native peoples and content. Please visit/follow them, read their work, and use their recommendations to guide your book selection. They have all informed my work, practice, & understanding of Native Nations’ cultures and representation.
What I learned from my research led to compiling this resource for critical considerations of Native Representation in any books we are recommending, sharing with, or handing to kids. I hope this helps you build your capacity for critically analyzing kidlit with Native representation.
Find title details & shop this list at Bookshop.org.
