Best Books, Biography & Memoir, Education, History, Nonfiction, United States

The Best Native American History Books

“What are the best books to learn more about Native American History?” We looked at 288 of the top books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

We looked at 13 “Best Native American History” book lists and found 288 different titles listed, 25 of which appeared multiple times. Below we ranked the top books by how many times they appeared. The remaining 25+ titles, as well as the lists we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!



Top 25 Best Native American History Books



25 .) American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World by David Stannard

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Hanksville

For four hundred years–from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the U.S. Army’s massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s–the indigenous inhabitants of North and South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people. Indeed, as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book, the European and white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world.

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24 .) American Indians: Stereotypes & Realities by Devon A Mihesuah

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Hanksville

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23 .) An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Lists It Appears On:

  • IAIS Museum
  • New Books Network

Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire.

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22 .) Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • IAIS Museum

“Black Elk Speaks, the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863–1950) and his people during momentous twilight years of the nineteenth century, offers readers much more than a precious glimpse of a vanished time. Black Elk’s searing visions of the unity of humanity and Earth, conveyed by John G. Neihardt, have made this book a classic that crosses multiple genres. Whether appreciated as the poignant tale of a Lakota life, as a history of a Native nation, or as an enduring spiritual testament, Black Elk Speaks is unforgettable.

Black Elk met the distinguished poet, writer, and critic John G. Neihardt in 1930 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and asked Neihardt to share his story with the world. Neihardt understood and conveyed Black Elk’s experiences in this powerful and inspirational message for all humankind.”

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21 .) Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Native Languages

“Immediately recognized as a revelatory and enormously controversial book since its first publication in 1971, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is universally recognized as one of those rare books that forever changes the way its subject is perceived. Now repackaged with a new introduction from bestselling author Hampton Sides to coincide with a major HBO dramatic film of the book, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown’s classic, eloquent, meticulously documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth century. A national bestseller in hardcover for more than a year after its initial publication, it has sold over four million copies in multiple editions and has been translated into seventeen languages.”

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20 .) Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Infoplease

Thirty years since its original publication, Ceremony remains one of the most profound and moving works of Native American literature, a novel that is itself a ceremony of healing. Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people. Only by immersing himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him. Masterfully written, filled with the somber majesty of Pueblo myth, Ceremony is a work of enduring power.

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19 .) Do All Indians Live in Tipis? Questions and Answers from the National Museum of the American Indian

Lists It Appears On:

  • Indian Country Today
  • Smithsonian

If you’ve ever wondered about where Native Americans came from, whether they really used smoke signals, or if they wore socks, this book has the answers. From clothing, food, origins, ceremonies, and language to love, marriage, art, music, and casinos, DO ALL INDIANS LIVE IN TIPIS? debunks widespread stereotypes and answers all of the most common questions about Native Americans. Accessible and enlightening, this is the perfect introduction to Native American history and contemporary culture.

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18 .) Education for extinction: American Indians and the boarding school experience by David Wallace Adams

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Hanksville

“The last “”Indian War”” was fought against Native American children in the dormitories and classrooms of government boarding schools. Only by removing Indian children from their homes for extended periods of time, policymakers reasoned, could white “”civilization”” take root while childhood memories of “”savagism”” gradually faded to the point of extinction. In the words of one official: “”Kill the Indian and save the man.””

Education for Extinction offers the first comprehensive account of this dispiriting effort. Much more than a study of federal Indian policy, this book vividly details the day-to-day experiences of Indian youth living in a “”total institution”” designed to reconstruct them both psychologically and culturally. The assault on identity came in many forms: the shearing off of braids, the assignment of new names, uniformed drill routines, humiliating punishments, relentless attacks on native religious beliefs, patriotic indoctrinations, suppression of tribal languages, Victorian gender rituals, football contests, and industrial training.

Especially poignant is Adams’s description of the ways in which students resisted or accommodated themselves to forced assimilation. Many converted to varying degrees, but others plotted escapes, committed arson, and devised ingenious strategies of passive resistance. Adams also argues that many of those who seemingly cooperated with the system were more than passive players in this drama, that the response of accommodation was not synonymous with cultural surrender. This is especially apparent in his analysis of students who returned to the reservation. He reveals the various ways in which graduates struggled to make sense of their lives and selectively drew upon their school experience in negotiating personal and tribal survival in a world increasingly dominated by white men.”

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17 .) Every Day is a Good Day by Wilma Mankiller

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Signature

A rare and often intimate glimpse at the resilience and perserverance of Native women who face each day positively and see the richnes in their lives.

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16 .) Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Indian Country Today

“””I had a profoundly well-educated Princetonian ask me, ‘Where is your tomahawk?’ I had a beautiful woman approach me in the college gymnasium and exclaim, ‘You have the most beautiful red skin.’ I took a friend to see Dances with Wolves and was told, ‘Your people have a beautiful culture.’ . . . I made many lifelong friends at college, and they supported but also challenged me with questions like, ‘Why should Indians have reservations?'””

What have you always wanted to know about Indians? Do you think you should already know the answers—or suspect that your questions may be offensive? In matter-of-fact responses to over 120 questions, both thoughtful and outrageous, modern and historical, Ojibwe scholar and cultural preservationist Anton Treuer gives a frank, funny, and sometimes personal tour of what’s up with Indians, anyway.”

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15 .) Flight by Sherman Alexie

Lists It Appears On:

  • IAIS Museum
  • Infoplease

The best-selling author of multiple award-winning books returns with his first novel in ten years, a powerful, fast and timely story of a troubled foster teenager — a boy who is not a “legal” Indian because he was never claimed by his father — who learns the true meaning of terror. About to commit a devastating act, the young man finds himself shot back through time on a shocking sojourn through moments of violence in American history. He resurfaces in the form of an FBI agent during the civil rights era, inhabits the body of an Indian child during the battle at Little Big Horn, and then rides with an Indian tracker in the 19th Century before materializing as an airline pilot jetting through the skies today. When finally, blessedly, our young warrior comes to rest again in his own contemporary body, he is mightily transformed by all he’s seen. This is Sherman Alexie at his most brilliant — making us laugh while breaking our hearts. Simultaneously wrenching and deeply humorous, wholly contemporary yet steeped in American history, Flight is irrepressible, fearless, and again, groundbreaking Alexie.

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14 .) LIES MY TEACHER TOLD ME: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen

Lists It Appears On:

  • Hanksville
  • Manataka

“This updated and revised edition of the American Book Award-winner and national bestseller revitalizes the truth of America’s history, explores how myths continue to be perpetrated, and includes a new chapter on 9/11 and the Iraq War.

Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.”

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13 .) Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Infoplease

“Set on and around a North Dakota Ojibwe reservation, Love Medicine—the first novel by bestselling, National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich—is the epic story about the intertwined fates of two families: the Kashpaws and the Lamartines.

With astonishing virtuosity, each chapter draws on a range of voices to limn its tales. Black humor mingles with magic, injustice bleeds into betrayal, and through it all, bonds of love and family marry the elements into a tightly woven whole that pulses with the drama of life.”

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12 .) Native American Son by Kate Buford

Lists It Appears On:

  • New Books Network
  • Signature

“The first comprehensive biography of the legendary figure who defined excellence in American sports: Jim Thorpe, arguably the greatest all-around athlete the United States has ever seen.

With clarity and a fine eye for detail, Kate Buford traces the pivotal moments of Thorpe’s incomparable career: growing up in the tumultuous Indian Territory of Oklahoma; leading the Carlisle Indian Industrial School football team, coached by the renowned “Pop” Warner, to victories against the country’s finest college teams; winning gold medals in the 1912 Olympics pentathlon and decathlon; defining the burgeoning sport of professional football and helping to create what would become the National Football League; and playing long, often successful—and previously unexamined—years in professional baseball.

But, at the same time, Buford vividly depicts the difficulties Thorpe faced as a Native American—and a Native American celebrity at that—early in the twentieth century. We also see the infamous loss of his Olympic medals, stripped from him because he had previously played professional baseball, an event that would haunt Thorpe for the rest of his life. We see his struggles with alcoholism and personal misfortune, losing his first child and moving from one failed marriage to the next, coming to distrust many of the hands extended to him. Finally, we learn the details of his vigorous advocacy for Native American rights while he chased a Hollywood career, and the truth behind the supposed reinstatement of his Olympic record in 1982. “

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11 .) Native Roots by Jack Weatherford

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Smithsonian

Conventional American history holds that the white settlers of the New World re-created the societies they had known in England, France, and Spain. But as anthropologist Jack Weatherford, author of INDIAN GIVERS, brilliantly shows, the Europeans actually grafted their civilization onto the deep and nourishing roots of Native American customs and beliefs. Our place names, our farming and hunting techniques, our crafts, the very blood that flows in our veins–all derive from American Indians ways that we consistently fail to see.

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10 .) On the Rez by Ian Frazier

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Signature

“On the Rez is a sharp, unflinching account of the modern-day American Indian experience, especially that of the Oglala Sioux, who now live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the plains and badlands of the American West. Crazy Horse, perhaps the greatest Indian war leader of the 1800s, and Black Elk, the holy man whose teachings achieved worldwide renown, were Oglala; in these typically perceptive pages, Frazier seeks out their descendants on Pine Ridge―a/k/a “”the rez””―which is one of the poorest places in America today.

Along with his longtime friend Le War Lance (whom he first wrote about in his 1989 bestseller, Great Plains) and other Oglala companions, Frazier fully explores the rez as they visit friends and relatives, go to pow-wows and rodeos and package stores, and tinker with a variety of falling-apart cars. He takes us inside the world of the Sioux as few writers ever have, writing with much wit, compassion, and imagination. In the career of SuAnne Big Crow, for example, the most admired Oglala basketball player of all time, who died in a car accident in 1992, Frazier finds a contemporary reemergence of the death-defying, public-spirited Sioux hero who fights with grace and glory to save her followers.”

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9 .) Powwow by Linda Boyden

Lists It Appears On:

  • Colorin Colorado
  • Native Languages

“Frustrated as a schoolteacher not being able to find good instructional materials on American Indians, Linda Boyden has bypassed the tired stereotype of Indians on horseback or hunting game and placed them in today’s setting of a powwow.

Powwow’s Coming provides children with a foundation for understanding and celebrating the enduring culture and heritage of American Indians. Boyden’s exquisite cut-paper collage and engaging poem visually place readers within the scenes of a contemporary Native American community while offering a thoughtful look at powwows and their meanings to the Native participants.”

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8 .) Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Infoplease

“What many may not know is that after this tragic deal in Mississippi, Johnson ended up in a small town on the Spokane Indian reservation in Washington state-at least that’s how author Sherman Alexie tells it.

In his new book Reservation Blues, Alxie spins the fictional tale of Johnson’s adventure at a new crossroads, this one in a small town called Wellpinit, Wash. It is here that he comes to seek out Big Mom, a local medicine woman, and, in so doing, leaves his famous guitar in the hands of misfit storyteller Thomas Builds-the-Fire.

Builds-the-Fire, brought back from Alexie’s last book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, takes up Johnson’s magical guitar and, along with Victor Joseph, Junior Polatkin and two Flathead Indian sisters named Chess and Checkers, goes on to build a reservation blues band that takes the Northwest by storm…

As the band plays club after club, Alexie uses music as a crosscultural bridge, without compromising the cultural integrity of his characters. The band members seem to take on the gamut of problems faced by Indians on the reservation today, battling everything from alcoholism to violence, political corruption to sexual abuse.”

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7 .) Solar Storms by Linda Hogan

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Infoplease

“At seventeen, Angela returns to the place where she was raised—a stunning island town that lies at the border of Canada and Minnesota—where she finds that an eager developer is planning a hydroelectric dam that will leave sacred land flooded and abandoned. Joining up with three other concerned residents, Angela fights the project, reconnecting with her ancestral roots as she does so.

Harrowing, lyrical, and boldly incisive, Solar Storms is a powerful examination of the clashes between cultures and traumatic repercussions that have shaped American history.”

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6 .) THIS DAY IN NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORY: Events in the History of North America’s Native Peoples by Phil Konstantin

Lists It Appears On:

  • Indian Country Today
  • Manataka

This Day in North American Indian History is a one-of-a-kind, fun-to-read book covering over 5,000 years of North American Indian history, culture, and lore. Wide-ranging and in-depth, it lists over 5,000 important events involving the native peoples of North America in a unique day-by-day format.From the construction of Mayan temples in A.D. 715 to modern political activism and governmental legislation affecting native peoples-and everything in between-virtually every significant historical event in Indian history is listed. It also includes biographical sketches of prominent and lesser-known North American Indian leaders, chiefs, explorers, and their white counterparts, descriptions of migrations, the histories of tribes and ancient languages, and a list of the meanings of tribal names. Well-organized and comprehensive, the thousands of entries in This Day in North American Indian History weave an exciting and panoramic mosaic of North American Indian history.

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5 .) Through Indian Eyes by Slapin, B., & Scale, D.

Lists It Appears On:

  • Colorin Colorado
  • Hanksville
  • Smithsonian

Essays, poetry, bibliography, and critical reviews of children’s books by and about Indian peoples. A dependable and honest guide for parents and instructors interested in teaching kids about the diversity of Native America.

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4 .) Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson

Lists It Appears On:

  • Colorin Colorado
  • IAIS Museum
  • Indian Country Today

This is a revised and expanded edition of a popular 1991 booklet that changed the way “the discovery of America” is taught in classroom and community settings. The new edition has over 100 pp. of new material, including a role-play trial of Columbus, materials on Thanksgiving Day, resources, historical documents, poetry, and more. It will help readers replace murky legends with a better sense of who we are and why we are here — and celebrates over 500 years of the courageous struggles and lasting wisdom of native peoples.

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3 .) Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World by Jack Weatherford

Lists It Appears On:

  • First Nations
  • Indian Country Today
  • Smithsonian

After 500 years, the world’s huge debt to the wisdom of the Indians of the Americas has finally been explored in all its vivid drama by anthropologist Jack Weatherford. He traces the crucial contributions made by the Indians to our federal system of government, our democratic institutions, modern medicine, agriculture, architecture, and ecology, and in this astonishing, ground-breaking book takes a giant step toward recovering a true American history.

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2 .) 500 Nations: An Illustrated History of North American Indians by Alvin M., Jr. Josephy

Lists It Appears On:

  • Manataka
  • Native Languages
  • Smithsonian

The story of Native American leaders, customs, political systems, and ways of life, this is American history from the Native American perspective: friendship, betrayal, war, and ultimately, the loss of homeland. A companion volume to the CBS series produced by Kevin Costner, Jack Leustig, and James Wilson scheduled to air in 1995.

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1 .) 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

Lists It Appears On:

  • IAIS Museum
  • Indian Country Today
  • Smithsonian

Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. The astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan had running water and immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city. Mexican cultures created corn in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering. Indeed, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.

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The 200+ Additional Best Native American History Books



 

#BooksAuthorLists
(Titles Appear On 1 List Each)
26
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
Indian Country Today
27A Boy Called SlowJoseph Bruchac
The Best Childrens Books
28
A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children
Colorin Colorado
29A Generation RemovedMARGARET D. JACOBS
New Books Network
30A Native American EncyclopediaNative Languages
31A Whale Hunt: How a Native-American Village Did What No One Thought It CouldRobert SullivanFirst Nations
32After Columbus: The Horse’s Return to AmericaSmithsonian
33
After Columbus: The Smithsonian Chronicle of the North American Indians
Smithsonian
34All the Real Indians Died Off: And 20 Other Myths About Native AmericansRoxanne Dunbar-OrtizIAIS Museum
35America’s Fascinating Indian HeritageSmithsonian
36American Girl Kaya, 1764
The Best Childrens Books
37American Indian Facts of LifeSmithsonian
38American Indian holocaust and survival: A population history since 1492. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.Thornton, R.Hanksville
39American Indian Politics and the American Political SystemDavid E WilkinsFirst Nations
40American Indian reference books for children and young adults. EnglewoodKuipers, B. J.Hanksville
41American Indian Sovereignty and the U.SDavid E WilkinsFirst Nations
42American Indian Tribal GovernmentsSharon O’BrienFirst Nations
43American Indians and the American ImaginaryPAULINE TURNER STRONG
New Books Network
44American Indians and U.SJohn ed MeyerFirst Nations
45American Indians, Time, and the LawCharles WilkinsonFirst Nations
46
American Indians: Answers to Today’s Questions
Smithsonian
47An American GenocideBENJAMIN MADLEY
New Books Network
48Anpao: An American Indian OdysseyJamake Highwater
The Best Childrens Books
49Anti-Indianism in Modern AmericaElizabeth Cook-LynnFirst Nations
50Atlas of the North American IndianNative Languages
51Aunt Sarah, Woman of the Dawnland: The 108 Winters of an Abenaki Healing WomanTrudy Ann ParkerIAIS Museum
52Authentic Indians: Episodes of Encounter from the Late-Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast A John Hope Franklin Center BookPaige RaibmonFirst Nations
53Beet QueenLouise ErdrichFirst Nations
54Bingo PalaceLouise ErdrichFirst Nations
55Black HawkNative Languages
56Black Indians: A Hidden HeritageSmithsonian
57Blood BrothersDEANNE STILLMAN
New Books Network
58Blood StruggleCharles WilkinsonFirst Nations
59Bloodland: A Family Story of Oil, Greed and Murder on the Osage ReservationDennis McAuliffFirst Nations
60Changing Military Patterns of the Great Plains IndiansFrank Raymond SecoyForeign Policy
61Charcoal’s WorldNative Languages
62Cheyenne AgainNative Languages
63Cheyenne-Arapaho Education, 1871-1981Henrietta MannFirst Nations
64
Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of Alaska
Smithsonian
65Chiricahua and JanosLANCE R. BLYTH
New Books Network
66Clovis TechnologyBRUCE A. BRADLEY, MICHAEL B. COLLINS, AND ANDREW HEMMINGS
New Books Network
67Clyde WarriorPAUL MCKENZIE-JONES
New Books Network
68Code TalkerJoseph BruchacIAIS Museum
69Columbus: His Enterprise; Exploding the MythSmithsonian
70Command & Contest Ground: A Human and Environmental History of the Northwestern PlainsTheodore BinnemaForeign Policy
71Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions Teach Us About Their Communities and CulturesLucianne LavinIAIS Museum
72Conquest of ParadiseKirkpatrick SaleFirst Nations
73Conquest: Sexual Violence And American Indian GenocideAndrea SmithFirst Nations
74Contemporary Native American Political IssuesTroy JohnsonFirst Nations
75Contest Plains: IndiansElliot WestForeign Policy
76Countering prejudice against American Indian and Alaska Natives through antibias curriculum and instruction. Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small SchoolsAlmeida, D. A.Hanksville
77Counting Coup – about a girls basketball team in MontanaLarry ColtenFirst Nations
78Counting Coup and Cutting Horses: Intertribal Warfare on the Northern PlainsAnthony R. McGinnisForeign Policy
79Crazy Horse and CusterStephen AmbroseSignature
80Creek Paths and Federal RoadsANGELA PULLEY HUDSON
New Books Network
81Crooked Paths to AllotmentJOSEPH GENETIN-PILAWA
New Books Network
82Cultural conflicts: An important factor in academic failures of American Indian students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and DevelopmentSanders, S.Hanksville
83Culturally responsive pedagogy in action: An American Indian magnet school. In E. R. HollinsPewewardy, C. D.Hanksville
84Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian ManifestoVine DeloriaFirst Nations
85Dancing at Halftime: Sports and the Controversy over American Indian MascotsCarol SpindelFirst Nations
86Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous PeoplesLinda Tuhiwai SmithFirst Nations
87Decolonizing MuseumsAMY LONETREE
New Books Network
88Documents of United State IndiansFrancis Paul PruchaFirst Nations
89Domestic SubjectsBETH H. PIATOTE
New Books Network
90Dysconscious racism: IdeologyKing, J. E.Hanksville
91Eating Soup without a SpoonJEFFREY H. COHEN
New Books Network
92Ebonics: The true language of blackfolks. St. LouisWilliams, R. L.Hanksville
93Economic Development in American Indian ReservationsRoxanne Dunbar OrtizFirst Nations
94Education and The American Indian: The Road to Self-Determination Since 1928Margaret Cornnell SzaszFirst Nations
95Encyclopedia of American Indian CostumeNative Languages
96Encyclopedia of North American IndiansNative Languages
97Evergreen teaches to reach Indians. The Olympian. 28 April 1997: C3. OlympiaVavrus, M.Hanksville
98Exiled in the Land of the Free: Democracy, Indian Nations & the U.SOren LyonsFirst Nations
99FACING EAST FROM INDIAN COUNTRY: A Native History of Early AmericaDaniel K. RichterManataka
100Faithful BodiesHEATHER MIYANO KOPELSON
New Books Network
101Federal Fathers and MothersCATHLEEN CAHILL
New Books Network
102Fire on the PlateauCharles WilkinsonFirst Nations
103Fire RaceJonathan London & Sylvia LongIAIS Museum
104
First Nations – Firsthand: A History of 500 Years of Encounter, War, & Peace Inspired by the Eyewitnesses
Smithsonian
105Florida Seminoles and the marketing of the last frontier. In Elisabeth S. BirdMechling, J.Hanksville
106
Forgotten Founders: How the American Indian Helped Shape Democracy
Indian Country Today
107From the River’s EdgeElizabeth Cook-LynnInfoplease
108Getting teachers and parents to work together. In J. ReyhnerLittle Bear, D.Hanksville
109Global AmericansMARIA MONTOYA, ET AL., EDS.
New Books Network
110God is RedJr. DeloriaFirst Nations
111Grandmother Spider Brings the SunGeri Keams & James BernadinIAIS Museum
112Grey OwlNative Languages
113
Happily May I Walk: American Indians & Alaska Natives Today
Smithsonian
114Hitler’s Ostkrieg and the Indian WarsEDWARD WESTERMANN
New Books Network
115Holding Stone Hands: On the Trail of the Cheyenne ExodusAlan BoyeFirst Nations
116House Made of DawnN. Scott MomadayInfoplease
117How Chipmunk Got his StripesJoseph BruchacIAIS Museum
118How the World MovesSignature
119In Search of April Raintree about Metis foster children in CanadaBeatrice culleton MosionierFirst Nations
120In Search of First ContactANNETTE KOLODNY
New Books Network
121In the Courts of the Conqueror: The 10 Worst Indian Law Cases Ever DecidedWalter Echo-HawkFirst Nations
122
In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians
Smithsonian
123In the Light of Justice: The Rise of Human Rights in Native America and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous PeoplesWalter Echo-HawkFirst Nations
124
Indian Country: A History of Native People in America
Smithsonian
125Indian Gaming: Tribal Sovereignty and American PoliticsDale MasonFirst Nations
126Indian History of an American InstitutionCOLIN CALLOWAY
New Books Network
127Indian LawyerJames WelchFirst Nations
128Indian MetropolisNative Languages
129Indians of the Americas: Human Rights and Self-DeterminationSharon O’BrienFirst Nations
130Indigenizing the Academy: Transforming Scholarship and Empowering CommunitiesDevon A MihesuahFirst Nations
131Indigenous American WomenDevon A MihesuahFirst Nations
132Indigenous LondonCOLL THRUSH
New Books Network
133Informed PowerALEJANDRA DUBCOVSKY
New Books Network
134Insatiable AppetitesKELLY WATSON
New Books Network
135Introduction: Constructing the IndianBird, E. S.Hanksville
136Jim Thorpe: Original All-AmericanJoseph BruchacIAIS Museum
137Jim Thorpe: The Legend RememberedRosemary UpdykeColorin Colorado
138Jingle DancerCynthia Leitich SmithColorin Colorado
139Keepers of LifeMichael J. Caduto and Joseph BruchacIAIS Museum
140Keepers of the American dream: A study of development and multicultural education. WashingtonSleeter, C. 12.Hanksville
141Keepers of the AnimalsMichael J. Caduto and Joseph BruchacIAIS Museum
142Keepers of the ChildrenNative Languages
143Keepers of the EarthMichael J. Caduto and Joseph BruchacIAIS Museum
144Keepers of the NightMichael J. Caduto and Joseph BruchacIAIS Museum
145Killing CusterNative Languages
146Killing The White Man’s Indian; The Reinvention of Native Americans at the End of the 20th CenturyFergus M BordewichFirst Nations
147Kindred by ChoiceH. GLENN PENNY
New Books Network
148Lakota WomanNative Languages
149Life and Death of Anna Mae AcquashNative Languages
150Lumbee Indians in the Jim Crow SouthMALINDA LOWERY
New Books Network
151Making the White Man’s WestJASON PIERCE
New Books Network
152Mark My WordsMISHUANA GOEMAN
New Books Network
153Massacre at Sand CreekNative Languages
154Master Butcher Singing ClubLouise ErdrichFirst Nations
155Mean SpiritLinda HoganFirst Nations
156More Than Moccasins:
The Best Childrens Books
157Morning GirlMichael DorrisFirst Nations
158Multicultural concerns and classroom management. In C. Grant and M. GomezFuller, M. L.Hanksville
159Murder StateBRENDAN C. LINDSAY
New Books Network
160Native American DNAKIM TALLBEAR
New Books Network
161Native American FreemasonryJOY PORTER
New Books Network
162Native American History for DummiesSmithsonian
163Native American mascots and imagery: The struggle of unlearning Indian stereotypes. Journal of Navajo EducationPewewardy, C. D.Hanksville
164Native American Whalemen and the WorldNANCY SHOEMAKER
New Books Network
165Native Americans on Network TVMICHAEL RAY FITZGERALD
New Books Network
166Native ApostlesEDWARD E. ANDREWS
New Books Network
167Native Universe: Voices of Indian AmericaClifford TrafzerFirst Nations
168Native Waters – Contemporary Indian Water Settlements and the Second Treaty EraDaniel McCoolFirst Nations
169Natives and Academics: Researching and Writing about American IndiansDevon A MihesuahFirst Nations
170New Indians, Old WarsElizabeth Cook-LynnFirst Nations
171Next Steps: Research and Practice to Advance Indian EducationKaren Gayton and John Tippeconnic SwisherFirst Nations
172Notebooks of Elizabeth Cook-LynnElizabeth Cook-LynnFirst Nations
173Notes from a Miner’s CanaryJACE WEAVER
New Books Network
174
Now That the Buffalo’s Gone: A Study of Today’s American Indians
Smithsonian
175Of Earth and EldersNative Languages
176On RecordsANDREW NEWMAN
New Books Network
177One Vast Winter Count: The Native American West before Lewis and ClarkColin G. CallowayForeign Policy
178Painted DrumLouise ErdrichFirst Nations
179PeacemakersMICHAEL L. OBERG
New Books Network
180Perceptions of American Indian high school students in public schools. Equity & Excellence in EducationPewewardy, C. D., & Willower, D. J.Hanksville
181Playing IndianPhilip DeloriaFirst Nations
182Power and Place: American Indian Education in AmericaVine and Dan Wildcat DeloriaFirst Nations
183Power LinesANDREW NEEDHAM
New Books Network
184Prison WritingsNative Languages
185Pueblo BoyMarcia KeeganColorin Colorado
186RamonaHelen Hunt JacksonInfoplease
187Rank & Warfare Among the Plains IndiansBernard MishkinForeign Policy
188Reclaiming Diné History: The Legacies of Navajo Chief Manuelito and JuanitaJennifer Nez DenetdaleFirst Nations
189Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific FactVine Jr DeloriaFirst Nations
190Red Power RisingBRADLEY SHREVE
New Books Network
191Reduced to images: American Indians in nineteenth-century advertising. In Elisabeth S. BirdSteele, J.Hanksville
192Reimagining Indian CountryNICOLAS ROSENTHAL
New Books Network
193Reinventing the Enemy’s LanguageJoy & Bird HarjoFirst Nations
194Remember This! Dakota Decolonization and the Eli Taylor NarrativesWaziyatawin Angela Wilson and Carolyn Schommer WahpetunwinFirst Nations
195Remembering the Modoc WarBOYD COTHRAN
New Books Network
196Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains? Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2000.Devon A MihesuahFirst Nations
197
Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey Through Reservation Life
Indian Country Today
198Roots of Resistance: Land Tenure in New Mexico, 1680-1980Sharon O’BrienFirst Nations
199Savages Oil company in Ecuadorial Amazon in Huaorani TerritoryJoe KaneFirst Nations
200Selling the Indian: Commercializing and Appropriating American Indian CulturesCarter Jones and Diana Royer eds MeyerFirst Nations
201Seneca PossessedMATTHEW DENNIS
New Books Network
202Settler Common SenseMARK RIFKIN
New Books Network
203Skin DeepLIZ CONOR
New Books Network
204Slavery in Indian CountryCHRISTINA SNYDER
New Books Network
205Spaces Between UsSCOTT MORGENSEN
New Books Network
206Spirit of the New England Tribes: Indian History and FolkloreWilliam S. SimmonsIAIS Museum
207Spirituality in First Nations storytelling: A Sahnish-Hidatsa approach to narrative. Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping. A Journal for the Helping ProfessionsYellow Bird, M.Hanksville
208
Stolen Continents: The “New World” Through Indian Eyes
Smithsonian
209Strange EmpireNative Languages
210SweetgrassJan Hudson
The Best Childrens Books
211Ten Little IndiansSherman AlexieFirst Nations
212That the Blood Stay PureARICA L. COLEMAN
New Books Network
213The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time IndianSherman AlexieIAIS Museum
214The Allen SiteDOUGLAS BAMFORTH
New Books Network
215The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian Studies and Traditional KnowledgeD FixicoFirst Nations
216The Art of Americanization at the Carlisle Indian SchoolHAYES PETER MAURO
New Books Network
217The Birchbark HouseLouise Erdich
The Best Childrens Books
218The Broken Cord: A Family’s Ongoing Struggle with Fetal Alcohol SyndromeMichael and Louise Erdrich DorrisFirst Nations
219The Buffalo and the Indians:
The Best Childrens Books
220The Color of the LandDAVID CHANG
New Books Network
221The Comanche EmpirePekka HämäläinenForeign Policy
222The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Native American HistoryWalter FlemingFirst Nations
223
The Conquest of America: How the Indian Nations Lost Their Continent
Smithsonian
224The Crown of Columbus, London: Harper Perennial, 1999.Louise & Dorris ErdrichFirst Nations
225The Dust Rose Like Smoke: The Subjugation of the Zulu and the SiouxJames O. GumpForeign Policy
226The Eagle BirdCharles WilkinsonFirst Nations
227The First AmericansSmithsonian
228The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow:
The Best Childrens Books
229The Grass DancerSusan PowerFirst Nations
230The Indian Great AwakeningLINFORD FISHER
New Books Network
231The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No HorseLouise ErdrichFirst Nations
232The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American WestPatricia Nelson LimerickFirst Nations
233The Legend of the Bluebonnet
The Best Childrens Books
234The Legend of the Indian PaintbrushTomie dePaola
The Best Childrens Books
235The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in HeavenSherman AlexieFirst Nations
236The Man to Send Rain Clouds: Contemporary Stories by American IndiansKenneth RosenFirst Nations
237The MayflowerREBECCA FRASER
New Books Network
238
The Native American Almanac: A Portrait of Native America Today
Smithsonian
239The Native American Sweat LodgeNative Languages
240The Native Americans: An Illustrated HistorySmithsonian
241The Only One Living to TellGREGORY MCNAMEE
New Books Network
242The Painted DrumLouise ErdrichInfoplease
243The People Shall ContinueSmithsonian
244The Place of StoneDOUGLAS HUNTER
New Books Network
245The Real All AmericansSally JenkinsFirst Nations
246The Red AtlanticJACE WEAVER
New Books Network
247The Renaissance of American Indian Higher Education: Capturing the DreamMaenetter and Wayne Stein BenhamFirst Nations
248The Return of the Native: American Indian Political ResurgenceStephen CornellFirst Nations
249The Rough-Face GirlRafe Martin
The Best Childrens Books
250The Seeds We PlantedNOELANI GOODYEAR-KAPUA
New Books Network
251
The Smithsonian Book of North American Indians Before the Coming of the Europeans
Smithsonian
252The Spirit of Indian WomenJudith FitzgeraldFirst Nations
253The Toughest Indian in the WorldSherman AlexieFirst Nations
254The Transit of EmpireJODI BYRD
New Books Network
255The Unredeemed CaptiveJohn Putnam DemosFirst Nations
256The Vinland SagasNative Languages
257The White Man’s Indian: Images of the American Indian from Columbus to the PresentRobert F BerkhoferFirst Nations
258The White PossessiveAILEEN MORETON-ROBINSON
New Books Network
259The Winning of the West: The Expansion of the Western Sioux in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth CenturiesRichard WhiteForeign Policy
260This Benevolent ExperimentANDREW WOOLFORD
New Books Network
261This Indian CountryFREDERICK E. HOXIE
New Books Network
262Through an Indian’s Looking-GlassDREW LOPENZINA
New Books Network
263Thunder Rolling in the MountainsScott O’Dell
The Best Childrens Books
264Timelines of Native American HistorySmithsonian
265TracksLouise ErdrichFirst Nations
266Tribal Wars of the Southern PlainsStan HoigForeign Policy
267Tribes, Treaties, and Constitutional TribulationsVine and David Wilkins DeloriaFirst Nations
268Unlearning the Language of Conquest: Scholars Expose Anti-Indianism in AmericaFour Arrows Don Trent Jacobs edFirst Nations
269Vanished in HiawathaCARLA JOINSON
New Books Network
270War Under HeavenNative Languages
271We Are Still Here: A Photographic History of the American Indian MovementLaura and Dick Bancroft Wittstock WatermanFirst Nations
272We, the People: Of Earth and Elders, VolSearle ChapmanFirst Nations
273Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocassets, 1653
The Best Childrens Books
274West of the RevolutionCLAUDIO SAUNT
New Books Network
275Whale RiderWiti IhimaeraFirst Nations
276What Can Tribes Do? Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center, 1997.Stephen CornellFirst Nations
277Where White Men Fear To TreadNative Languages
278White Man’s WaterERICA PRUSSING
New Books Network
279Why I Can’t Red Wallace Stegner and other Essays: A Tribal VoiceElizabeth Cook-LynnFirst Nations
280Why You Can’t Teach United States History without American IndiansSusan Sleep-Smith et al.IAIS Museum
281Winds of RenewalSmithsonian
282Winter in the BloodJames WelchInfoplease
283Wisdom Keepers: Meetings with Native American Spiritual EldersSteve & Arden WallFirst Nations
284Witness: A Húŋkpapha Historian’s Strong-Heart Song of the LakotasJosephine and editor Emily Levine WaggonerFirst Nations
285Wolf That I AmNative Languages
286Woodchuck Visits Algonquian CousinsKaren Coody CooperIAIS Museum
287Wounded KneeHEATHER COX RICHARDSON
New Books Network
288Yellow Raft in Blue WaterMichael DorrisFirst Nations


13 Best Books To Learn About Native American History Sources/Lists



SourceArticle
Colorin Colorado Tips for Choosing Culturally Appropriate Books & Resources About Native Americans
First Nations NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH READING RECOMMENDATIONS
Foreign Policy 10 best books about how the Plains Indians adapted their mode of warfare
Hanksville Fluff and Feathers: Treatment of American Indians in the Literature and the Classroom
IAIS Museum Teaching Resources
Indian Country Today Native American Heritage Month: Recommended Reading
Infoplease Top Ten American Indian Novels
Manataka AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORY
Native Languages Native Languages of the Americas: Books on American Indian History and Culture
New Books Network NEW BOOKS IN NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES
Signature How the World Moves: 5 Books on Native American History
Smithsonian North American Indians: Books to Start With
The Best Childrens Books Native American Cultures