A Starter Native American Heritage Month Reading List

In the United States, each November, minds are preoccupied with the upcoming holidays. From the Thanksgiving rush to Black Friday chaos and prepping for Christmas, it seems like every celebration happens within just a few weeks. However, there’s one cause for remembrance and celebration that spans the entire month (and really, the entire year), and that is Native American Heritage Month.

Each November, we officially recognize and celebrate the country’s Indigenous peoples, both of yesterday and today. Events take place across the country, spotlighting the vast range of Native American cultures that shape the nation. One of the best ways people can get involved this month is to break out the books and learn more about the real people behind the events. These books are just a sample of some of the amazing stories there are to discover. They include both fiction and nonfiction, and they’re perfect for reading through November and beyond.

Fiction

“The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” by Stephen Graham Jones

Stephen Graham Jones is one of the biggest names in horror at the moment. In fact, his entire catalog deserves a spot on this list. However, since some of us are still clinging to Halloween before Christmas comes a-calling, “The Buffalo Hunter Hunter” is a fitting choice. The popularity of media like AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” and “Sinners” is a testament to how the vampire story has evolved over the years. Stephen Graham Jones crafts his own unique take on the vampiric “other.”

The main character, Good Stab, is a Blackfeet man. When he becomes a vampire, he doesn’t just lose his humanity, but something much deeper. He becomes isolated from his community and the very land he walks on. One unique vampiric characteristic that Jones writes (which I won’t spoil because it’s so intriguing) even makes him more like the very settlers that have destroyed his people. Good Stab’s tale is one of colonialism and revenge, but also of identity loss and belonging.

“Never Whistle at Night” Edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

If you’re a fan of short stories, “Never Whistle at Night” is a fantastic collection of dark fiction works by Indigenous authors. Each one of these stories spins its own unique tale. The beauty of a collection like this is that there’s bound to be something for every reader. You have classic monsters that go bump in the night, spirits conjured from various tribal legends, and monsters of the more human variety. Many of the stories grapple with very real horrors along with the more fantastical. It all culminates in a collection that will keep you up at night, one way or another.

“The Door on the Sea” by Caskey Russell

For fantasy readers that want to venture beyond the typical European-inspired worlds that dominate the genre, Caskey Russell’s “The Door on the Sea” is for you. Simon & Schuster call this book “the Tlingit Indigenous response to The Lord of the Rings.” The story follows Elān, a storyteller who crosses paths with a mysterious raven that claims to know how to stop the invaders threatening Elān’s people. What follows is a high-stakes quest across the high seas with an unlikely crew of companions, both animal and human. It’s fantasy like it’s never been done before.

Nonfiction

“Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer

In “Braiding Sweetgrass,” Robin Wall Kimmerer marries two things that are too often juxtaposed: science and Indigenous ways of knowing. On the one hand, Kimmerer is a trained botanist. On the other, she is a Potawatomi woman and mother. Throughout the book, she shares intertwined narratives from her life. She describes how her initial foray into botany called into question the beliefs she grew up with. When she went on to teach others, she made it a point to combine the two schools of thought. The overall message of this book is one of reciprocity. Kimmerer implores us to recognize how our perceptions shape the world around us. She spotlights just how much our lives are owed to the very ground we tread on every day.

“Our History is the Future” by Nick Estes

Nick Estes is a historian and member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. In “Our History is the Future,” Estes uses the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) protests at Standing Rock as a starting point to explore the history of Indigenous resistance against displacement. He takes the reader to the Indian Wars and other pivotal moments in Indigenous American history to illustrate that DAPL was not an isolated event, but the culmination of years of struggle. Throughout, Estes weaves in his personal narratives with historical accounts to craft a book that will stick with you long after the last page.