Honoring Indigenous Peoples

U.S. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is recognized and celebrated on the second Monday of October. This day is an opportunity to commemorate Native American peoples and their history, and recognizes the resilience and diversity of Indigenous Peoples in the United States. This day also offers an opportunity for us to acknowledge the past and help us learn more about the original discoverers of America.

The following book list is meant to provide stories that allow us to reflect, honor, celebrate, and ensure those voices are heard loudly.

Looking for a good book, album, movie or TV show? We’re happy to recommend them to you! Use this Personalized Recommendations form to send us some information about what you like and we’ll curate a list just for you.

 

If you have any additional questions, you can contact a librarian through FacebookInstagram or Twitter. You can also call us at 412.622.3114 or email us at info@carnegielibrary.org.

Where the Dead Sit Talking

With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a 15-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his unstable upbringing, Sequoyah has spent years mostly keeping to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface – that is, until he meets 17-year-old Rosemary, another youth staying with the Troutts. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby. This title is also available as an eAudio on Hoopla.


Night of the Living Rez

Set in a Native community in Maine, Night of the Living Rez is a riveting debut collection about what it means to be Penobscot in the twenty-first century and what it means to live, to survive, and to persevere after tragedy.




Calling for a Blanket Dance: A Novel

A moving and deeply engaging debut novel about a young Native American man finding strength in his familial identity, from a stellar new voice in fiction.


Sabrina & Corina: Stories

A haunting debut story collection on friendship, mothers and daughters, and the deep-rooted truths of our homelands, centered on Latinas of indigenous descent that shines a new light on the American West. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby




Cherokee America

A baby, a black hired hand, a bay horse, a gun, and a neighbor have all gone missing in the same corner of the Cherokee Nation West. Cherokee America Singer, known as Check, is none too pleased with these developments. As a wealthy farmer, the mother of five boys, and the matriarch of her family, she’s accustomed to wielding authority. And she’s determined to find out what’s going on. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby.  This title is also available as an eBook or eAudio on Hoopla. 


Black Sun

From the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Resistance Reborn comes the first book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy, inspired by the civilizations of the Pre-Columbian Americas and woven into a tale of celestial prophecies, political intrigue, and forbidden magic. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.  


Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants

Robin Wall Kimmerer is both a Potawatomi woman and a botanist. In Braiding Sweetgrass she describes how these identities enhance each other, indigenous knowledge used to structure studies in the field, and botany enriching the generational knowledge handed down by elders.

You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby. This title is also available as an eBook or eAudio on Hoopla.