Celebrating National Native American Heritage Month!
"This book is meant to tell the story of Indian lives, and Indian histories, in such a way as to render those histories and those lives as something much more, much greater and grander, than a catalog of pain." --David Treuer, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present
November is National Native American Heritage Month, and staff at Kramers are celebrating by reading these incredible, personal, and historical books mixing facts, histories, and personal stories all into these must-reads.
Where the Dead Sit Talking by Brandon Hobson
In this compelling coming-of-age story we follow Sequoyah, a fifteen-year-old Cherokee boy who was placed in foster care after years of physical and mental abuse by his substance-abusing mother. In foster care under the Troutt family, Sequoyah meets seventeen-year-old Rosemary who is a troubled artist also living with the family. The two bond over their shared Native American background and troubled pasts, and as feelings grow, Sequoyah must come to terms with his past so that he can move toward a better future.
Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years by Joy Harjo, Sandra Cisneros
This incredible collection includes some of the best poems from Harjo's incredible 50 year writing journey, as well as notes and insights about Harjo's inspiration between Navajo horse songs and jazz, to feelings of home and loss.
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treur
Some ideas of Native American history would have it end at the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee--but this is harmfully incorrect. Truer, growing up Ojibwe on a reservation and trained as an anthropologist, sets about to correct such a falsehood by tracing tribes' distinctive cultures to first contact and beyond mixing history with memoir in this incredible must-read.
Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year by Linda LeGarde Grover
In fifty short essays, Linda LeGarde Grover takes readers through the cycle of seasons in the western tip of Lake Superior known as Onigamiising to the Ojibwe. With details on how the Ojibwe lived with the seasons through cultivating, harvesting, and moving to different camps, and how their everyday practices and spiritual beliefs kept the Ojibwe tied to their land.
Buffalo Dreamer by Violet Duncan
A beautiful picture book on the importance of reclaiming the past based on Violet Duncan's personal family history and the harrowing residential schools that took Native children from their families and identities in Canada.