Hello everyone!
I’m looking for your recommendations on books that explore Native American history and culture, preferably texts that delve into Indigenous peoples’ interactions with colonial powers, and examine the legacy of residential schools and their impact on communities.
I’m also interested in works of folklore or myth that provide insight into the traditions and world-views of Native nations. And if you can recommend any well-written fiction or fantasy that portrays Indigenous characters and cultures with respect and richness (no harmful stereotypes or caricatures, please!)
Thank you!
by WrapLazy7449
3 Comments
For something written in the last 15 years, Our Ice is Vanishing / Sikuvut Nunguliqtuq: A History of Inuit, Newcomers, and Climate Change. Touches on Inuit history & culture, while also engaging with questions of the Arctic at large and climate change.
You’ll probably get this rec from someone else but Moon of the Crusted Snow, a recent popular fiction novel. Modern dystopia taking place in a far flung Anishnaabe community in Canada and written by an Indigenous author. Includes elements of folklore/mythology.
On the children’s side of things, Louise Erdrich’s Birchbark House series is the indigenous answer to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books.
*The Orenda* by Joseph Boyden is a great historical fiction book, set in the 17th century Canada, mainly about two Native-American tribes, their conflict and the increasing influence of a Jesuit mission. Highly recommended
Not strictly northern, but The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King was a perspective changing book for me.