Native American Heritage Resources
Celebrating Cultural Moments
Video Tour of the Sora eBook and Audiobook Collection: Indigenous Authors
LOWER ELEMENTARY READS
Molly of Denali Crane Song
Ten-year-old Molly Mabray, an Alaskan Native girl, and her dad who runs the Denali Trading Post in Alaska, accompany a journalist and a scientist to learn about how sandhill cranes migrate. Molly uses a crane dance and song that she learned from her grandfather to attract the cranes. Based on the PBS series.
Birdsong by Julie Flett
When a young girl moves to her new home far away from the sea, she feels lonely and out of place. But soon she meets an elderly woman next door, who shares her love of nature and art. As the seasons change, can the girl navigate the failing health of her new friend?
At the Mountain's Base by Traci Sorell
At the mountain's base sits a cabin under an old hickory tree. And in that cabin lives a Native American family -- loving, weaving, cooking, and singing. The strength in their song sustains them through trials on the ground and in the sky, as they wait for their daughter/sister/ granddaughter/niece, a pilot, to return from war.
UPPER ELEMENTARY READS
I Can Make this Promise by Christine Day
When twelve-year-old Edie finds letters and photographs in her attic that change everything she thought she knew about her Native American mother's adoption, she realizes she has a lot to learn about her family's history and her own identity.
Thanku: Poems of Gratitude
This poetry anthology, edited by Miranda Paul, explores a wide range of ways to be grateful (from gratitude for a puppy to gratitude for family to gratitude for the sky) with poems by a diverse group of contributors, including Joseph Bruchac, Margarita Engle, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Naomi Shihab Nye, Charles Waters, and Jane Yolen.
Powwow: A Celebration Through Song and Dance by Karen Pheasant-Neganigwane
Powwow is a celebration of Indigenous song and dance. Journey through the history of powwow culture in North America, from its origins to the thriving powwow culture of today.
MIDDLE SCHOOL READS
The Case of the Windy Lake by Michael Hutchinson
Sam, Otter, Atim, and Chickadee are four cousins growing up on the Windy Lake First Nation. They are inseparable. Knick-named the "Mighty Muskrats" for their habit of laughing, fighting, and adventuring together, each new exploit ads to their reputation. From their base of operations in a fort made out of an old school bus, the Mighty Muskrats are ready to work together to solve whatever mysteries come their way.
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Adaptation of: An indigenous peoples' history of the United States / Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz.;Includes bibliographical references and index. A history of the United States for young people told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples, revealing how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the U.S. empire.
Ghost Collector by Allison Mills
Ghosts are everywhere in Shelly's life. Recently passed people, pets, and a boy who lives in the local graveyard and lends her Smiths tapes are all part of spirit world she and her grandmother are privy to. In the tradition of their Cree ancestors, Shelly and her grandmother help these lost souls transition to the next world by catching them in their hair. But when Shelly's mom dies, her relationship to ghosts--and death--changes. Instead of helping spirits move on, she starts bringing them home and hiding them in her room. But no matter how many ghosts she collects, Shelly can't ignore the one that's missing. Why hasn't her mom's ghost come home yet?
HIGH SCHOOL READS
Apple, Skin to the Core: A Memoir in Words and Pictures by Eric L. Gansworth
Eric Gansworth tells the story of his life and family through poems about their Onondaga heritage, from the horrible legacy of government boarding schools, to watching his siblings leave and return and leave again, to his fight to be an artist who balances multiple worlds.
What the Eagle Sees by Eldon Yellowhorn
What do people do when their civilization is invaded? Indigenous people have been faced with disease, war, broken promises, and forced assimilation. Despite crushing losses and insurmountable challenges, they formed new nations from the remnants of old ones, they adopted new ideas and built on them, they fought back, and they kept their cultures alive.
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.
RESOURCES FOR CLASSROOM TEACHERS
Seesaw Activity for Elementary Students
We are Water Protectors Seesaw Activity (Click to view and copy into Seesaw class)
Lesson Idea for Middle and High School Students
Thanksgiving Mourning Activity (Source: Teaching Tolerance)
Purpose: Students will explore the perspectives of two Native American authors about the meaning of the Thanksgiving holiday and then write journal entries.
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