MCCPL: It's Native American Heritage Month!

Press release from the McCracken County Public Library:

Devin Cook

November 1, 2021

Commonly referred to as Native American Heritage Month, November is American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month! First introduced as a congressional resolution in 1990, signed by then President George H. W. Bush, it commemorates the month to acknowledge and celebrate the United States of America’s Indigenous peoples–there are 574 federally recognized nations in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

Did you know that our library is built on Euchee (Yuchi, Uchee, Tsoyaha) and Osage traditional lands? McCracken County also extends into Chickasaw traditional territory. Click here to learn more about Indigenous lands and their languages. 

This month, we want to highlight Indigenous voices you can find within our collection.

Below are listed Adult Titles. Click the title to find out more, place a hold, or check out digitally.

Braiding Sweet Grass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Crooked Hallelujah by Kelli Jo Ford

God is Red by Vine Deloria, Jr.

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot

The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee by David Treuer

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

Hunting By Stars by Cherie Dimaline

Love After The End : An Anthology Of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction by Joshua Whitehead

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Poet Warrior: A Memoir by Joy Harjo

Quiet Until the Thaw by Alexandra Fuller

Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Shell Shaker by Leanne Howe

The Truth About Stories by Thomas King

There, There by Tommy Orange

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

The Trickster Trilogy by Eden Robinson

The Woman Who Watches Over The World by Linda Hogan

Young Adult titles can be found below!

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

After the Fall by Kate Hart

Cheyenne Madonna by Eddie Chuculate

Code Talker: a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth

Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Imaginary Borders by Xiuhtezcatl Martinez

The Lesser Blessed by Richard Van Camp

My Name is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson

#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women by Mary Beth Leatherdale

Surviving the City by Tasha Spillet

Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson

Our recommended #OwnVoices Juvenile Titles.

Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

A Boy Named Beckoning by Gina Capaldi

Dear Miss Karana by Eric Elliott

Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young

How I Became A Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story by Tim Tingle

I Can Make This Promise by Chrstine Day

In The Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III

Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis

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

Mary and the Trail of Tears: A Cherokee Removal Survival Story by Andrea L. Rogers

Morning Girl by Michael Dorris

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

What The Eagle Sees by Eldon Yellowhorn

Early Titles by Indigenous authors!

Blueberry Patch / Meennunyakaa by Jennifer Leason

Bowwow Powwow by Brenda J. Child

Buffalo Bird Girl by S. D. Nelson

Encounter by Brittany Luby

First Laugh–Welcome, Baby! by Rose Ann Tahe

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble

In My Anaana’s Amautik by Nadia Sammurtok 

Little You by Richard Van Camp

Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse

My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith

Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kulluk

The Train by Jodie Callaghan

We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom 

When We Are Kind by Monique Gray Smith

Zoe and the Fawn by Catherine Jameson

For movies and documentaries, here are our recs featuring American Indian, Alaska Native, and Indigenous voices. Click to learn more, place a hold, or check out through Hoopla!

• Awake: A Dream From Standing Rock 
• Blood Quantum
• Edge of America
• Holy Man: The USA vs. Douglas White
• Mankiller: Activist, Feminist, Cherokee Chief
• Reel Injun: On The Trail of the Hollywood Indian
• Rhymes For Young Ghouls
• Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World
• We Shall Remain: America Through Native Eyes

Enjoy some tunes from Indigenous musicians:

• Hip-hop artist, Angel Haze
• Singer-songwriter, Buffy Sainte-Marie
• Country blues artist, Charley Patton
• Rock guitarist, Jimi Hendrix
• Jazz artist, Mildred Bailey
• Blues artist, Pura Fé
• Soul band, Redbone
• 1970’s and 1980’s pop, country, and jazz artist, Rita Coolidge
• R&B arist, Ronnie Spector
• Rap artist, Supaman
• Folktronic group, A Tribe Called Red

November may be a month that officially commemorates our Indigenous communities—but take time every month to do your part in honoring Native voices. Read, watch, and listen, and take time to research ways you can help the communities who are currently highly susceptible to COVID-19, climate change, and more.  

This press release was produced by the McCracken County Public Library. The views expressed here are the author’s own.