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November in the United States is Native American Heritage Month, also referred to as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. It celebrates the rich history and diversity of America’s native peoples and educates the public about historical and current challenges they face. Native American Heritage Month was first declared by presidential proclamation in 1990 which urged the United States to learn more about their first nations.

Join the UCF Libraries as we celebrate our favorite Native American authors and books. Click the keep reading link to see the full descriptions of the books.

Fools Crow: a novel by James Welch

In the Two Medicine Territory of Montana, the Lone Eaters, a small band of Blackfeet Indians, are living their immemorial life. The men hunt and mount the occasional horse-taking raid or war party against the enemy Crow. The women tan the hides, sew the beadwork, and raise the children. But the year is 1870, and the whites are moving into their land. Fools Crow, a young warrior and medicine man, has seen the future and knows that the newcomers will punish resistance with swift retribution. First published to broad acclaim in 1986, Fools Crow is James Welch's stunningly evocative portrait of his people's bygone way of life. Suggested by Christina Wray, Subject Librarian

In theFfootsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III Teased for his fair coloring, eleven-year-old Jimmy McClean travels with his maternal grandfather, Nyles High Eagle, to learn about his Lakota heritage while visiting places significant in the life of Crazy Horse, the nineteenth-century Lakota leader and warrior, in a tale that weaves the past with the present. Includes historical note and glossary. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog A unique autobiography unparalleled in American Indian literature, and a deeply moving account of a woman's triumphant struggle to survive in a hostile world. This is the powerful autobiography of Mary Brave Bird, who grew up in the misery of a South Dakota reservation. Rebelling against the violence and hopelessness of reservation life, she joined the tribal pride movement in an effort to bring about much-needed changes. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

LaRose by Louise Erdrich North Dakota, late summer, 1999. Landreaux Iron stalks a deer along the edge of the property bordering his own. He shoots with easy confidence -- but when the buck springs away, Landreaux realizes he's hit something else, a blur he saw as he squeezed the trigger. When he staggers closer, he realizes he has killed his neighbor's five-year-old son, Dusty Ravich. The youngest child of his friend and neighbor, Peter Ravich, Dusty was best friends with Landreaux's five-year-old son, LaRose. The two families have always been close, sharing food, clothing, and rides into town; their children played together despite going to different schools; and Landreaux's wife, Emmaline, is half sister to Dusty's mother, Nola. Horrified at what he's done, the recovered alcoholic turns to an Ojibwe tribe tradition -- the sweat lodge -- for guidance, and finds a way forward. Following an ancient means of retribution, he and Emmaline will give LaRose to the grieving Peter and Nola. "Our son will be your son now," they tell them. LaRose is quickly absorbed into his new family. Plagued by thoughts of suicide, Nola dotes on him, keeping her darkness at bay. His fierce, rebellious new "sister," Maggie, welcomes him as a co-conspirator who can ease her volatile mother's terrifying moods. Gradually he's allowed shared visits with his birth family, whose sorrow mirrors the Raviches' own. As the years pass, LaRose becomes the linchpin linking the Irons and the Raviches, and eventually their mutual pain begins to heal. But when a vengeful man with a long-standing grudge against Landreaux begins raising trouble, hurling accusations of a cover-up the day Dusty died, he threatens the tenuous peace that has kept these two fragile families whole. Suggested by Sara Duff, Acquisitions & Collections

Native America: portrait of the peoples by Duane Champagne With energy, range, and a clear detailed vision of Native cultures, issues, and history, Portrait of the Peoples captures the epic story of Native America from a unique and intimate perspective. The powerful discussion is enhanced with nearly 200 photographs and illustrations, many of them from Native sources. Edited by Duane Champagne, director of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center and of Chippewa descent, Native America thoughtfully articulates the values, struggles, triumphs, and spirit of Native communities and features hundreds of biographies of prominent historical figures and current leaders. Seventeen chapters written by experts with a diversity of viewpoints cover current and historical issues surrounding Native history and culture, protest movements, language, religion, health practices, art, literature, and media. Extensive information on Canadian Natives is also provided. Portrait of the Peoples should serve as a standard reference for anyone interested in Native cultures and issues. Suggested by Megan Haught, Research & Information Services/Teaching & Engagement

Night Dancer: mythical piper of the native American southwest by Marcia Vaughan This lyrical poem follows Kokopelli, the god of dance and music, as he travels through the moonlit desert playing his flute and inviting the desert animals to join in his dance. Coyote, Snake, Tortoise, Javelina, Jackrabbit, Tarantula, and the sleeping children of a nearby pueblo accept his invitation, and joyously follow this pied piper of the Rio Grande in his midnight dance. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Subject Librarian

Perma Red by Debra Magpie Earling Perma Red is a love-crossed saga about a young woman coming of age under perilous circumstances, and about the consequences of her often contradictory desires. In this breathtaking tale of the American West, a tragic love story unfolds against a classic clash of cultures. Suggested by Rosie Flowers, Teaching & Engagement

Seeing with a Native Eye: essays on native American religion by Åke Hultkrantz Articles providing insight into the religion of native North Americans illuminate the Indian world view and Indian patterns of perception, ceremonies, and sensitivity to nature, Suggested by Sandy Avila, Subject Librarian

That Dream Shall Have a Name: native Americans rewriting America by David L. Moore The founding idea of "America" has been based largely on the expected sweeping away of Native Americans to make room for EuroAmericans and their cultures. In this authoritative study, David L. Moore examines the works of five well-known Native American writers and their efforts, since the nation's early days, to redefine an "America" and "American identity" that includes Native Americans. That Dream Shall Have a Name focuses on the writing of Pequot Methodist minister William Apess in the 1830s; on Northern Paiute activist Sarah Winnemucca in the 1880s; on Salish/Me;tis novelist, historian, and activist D'Arcy McNickle in the 1930s; on Laguna poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko; and on Spokane poet, novelist, humorist, and filmmaker Sherman Alexie in the latter twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. He shows how Native Americans have tried from the beginning to shape an American narrative closer to its own ideals, one that does not include the death and destruction of their peoples. Suggested by Megan Haught, Research & Information Services/Teaching & Engagement

The Dance Boots by Linda LeGarde Grover In this stirring collection of linked stories, Linda LeGarde Grover portrays an Ojibwe community struggling to follow traditional ways of life in the face of a relentlessly changing world. In the title story an aunt recounts the harsh legacy of Indian boarding schools that tried to break the indigenous culture. In doing so she passes on to her niece the Ojibwe tradition of honoring elders through their stories. In “Refugees Living and Dying in the West End of Duluth,” this same niece comes of age in the 1970s against the backdrop of her forcibly dispersed family. A cycle of boarding schools, alcoholism, and violence haunts these stories even as the characters find beauty and solace in their large extended families. With its attention to the Ojibwe language, customs, and history, this unique collection of riveting stories illuminates the very nature of storytelling. The Dance Boots narrates a century’s evolution of Native Americans making choices and compromises, often dictated by a white majority, as they try to balance survival, tribal traditions, and obligations to future generations. Suggested by Rosie Flowers, Teaching & Engagement

The First North Americans: an archaeological journey by Brian Fagan Presents a history of North American settlement, from the first settlers over 15,000 years ago to the arrival of the Europeans in the fifthteenth century. Suggested by Megan Haught, Research & Information Services/Teaching & Engagement

The Heartsong of Charging Elk: a novel by James Welch Inspired by actual historical fact, James Welch's The Heartsong of Charging Elk tells the story of an Oglala Sioux who travels the extraordinary geographical and cultural distance from tribal life in the Black Hills of South Dakota to existence on the streets of Marseille. As a young boy, Charging Elk witnessed his people's massacre of Custer's Seventh Cavalry at Little Big Horn, followed by years of futile fighting and wandering until the Sioux were finally lured to the Pine Ridge reservation. But he prefers life in the Stronghold, living by his wits and skills in the old way. Ironically, it is Charging Elk's horsemanship and independent air that cause Buffalo Bill to recruit him for his Wild West Show, which travels across "the big water" to create a sensation in the capitals of Europe. Charging Elk and his Sioux companions are living a life touched by fame and marked by previously unthinkable experiences - until he falls ill in Marseille and, through a bureaucratic mix-up, is left behind in a hospital while the show travels on. Scared, disoriented, Charging Elk escapes - only to fall into a series of events, including a love affair with a prostitute and a shocking murder, that will change his life utterly beyond his imagination. Suggested by Rosie Flowers, Teaching & Engagement

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich For more than a half century, Father Damien Modeste has served his beloved Native American tribe, the Ojibwe, on the remote reservation of Little No Horse. Now, nearing the end of his life, Father Damien dreads the discovery of his physical identity, for he is a woman who has lived as a man. To further complicate his quiet existence, a troubled colleague comes to the reservation to investigate the life of the perplexing, possibly false saint Sister Leopolda. Father Damien alone knows the strange truth of Leopolda's piety, but these facts are bound up in his own secret. He is faced with the most difficult decision: Should he tell all and risk everything . . . or manufacture a protective history for Leopolda, though he believes her wonder-working is motivated solely by evil? Suggested by Martha Cloutier, Circulation

The Real Rosebud: the triumph of a Lakota woman by Marjorie Weinberg Her great-grandfather was a famed Lakota warrior, her father a buffalo hunter, and Rosebud Yellow Robe hosted a CBS radio show in New York City. From buffalo hunting to the hub of twentieth-century urban life, this book chronicles the momentous changes in the life of a prominent Plains Indian family over three generations. At the center of the story is Rosebud (1907–92), whose personal recollections, family memoirs, letters, and stories form the basis of this book. Suggested by Christina Wray, Subject Librarian

The Turquoise Ledge: a memoir by Leslie Marmon Silko Silko takes readers along on her daily walks through the arroyos and ledges of the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, weaving tales from both sides of her family's past into her observations, and using the turquoise stones that she finds on her walks to unite the strands of her stories. Suggested by Rosie Flowers, Teaching & Engagement

The Rough-face Girl by Rafe Martin In this Algonquin Indian version of the Cinderella story, the Rough-Face Girl and her two beautiful but heartless sisters compete for the affections of the Invisible Being. This variation on the Cinderella tale takes place in an Algonquin village on the shores of Lake Ontario. Suggested by Peggy Nuhn, Regional Subject Librarian

With My Own Eyes: a Lakota woman tells her people's history by Susan Bordeaux Bettelyoun and Josephine Waggoner With My Own Eyes tells the history of the nineteenth-century Lakotas. Susan Bordeaux Bettelyoun (1857-1945), the daughter of a French-American fur trader and a Brule Lakota woman, was raised near Fort Laramie and experienced firsthand the often devastating changes forced on the Lakotas. As Bettelyoun grew older, she became increasingly dissatisfied with the way Lakota history was being written by non-Natives. With My Own Eyes represents Bettelyoun's attempt to correct misconceptions about Lakota history. Her narrative was recorded during the 1930s by another Lakota historian, Josephine Waggoner. The collaboration of the two women produced a detailed, insightful account of the dispossession of their people. Suggested by Christina Wray, Subject Librarian

Women of the Native Struggle: portraits & testimony of Native American women by Ronnie Farley Reminiscent of I Dream a World this is a book of quietly beautiful photographic portraits of Native-American women, accompanied by their own reflections on what it means to be a woman and an Indian in America. 85 black-and-white photographs. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Subject Librarian

Word Dance: the language of native American culture by Carl Waldman A cross between a glossary, a dictionary, & an encyclopedia, this book covers every aspect of Native American (NA) culture. Includes entries on legendary beings, important foods, rituals & weapons, as well as peoples & language families. Subjects: art & architecture, anthropology & sociology, archaeology & geology, biology, botany, geography, linguistics, musicology, mythology & religions, & technology. Suggested by Sandy Avila, Subject Librarian

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie Family relationships are never simple. But Sherman Alexie's bond with his mother Lillian was more complex than most. She plunged her family into chaos with a drinking habit, but shed her addiction when it was on the brink of costing her everything. She survived a violent past, but created an elaborate facade to hide the truth. She selflessly cared for strangers, but was often incapable of showering her children with the affection that they so desperately craved. She wanted a better life for her son, but it was only by leaving her behind that he could hope to achieve it. It's these contradictions that made Lillian Alexie a beautiful, mercurial, abusive, intelligent, complicated, and very human woman. Grappling with the haunting ghosts of the past in the wake of loss, he responded the only way he knew how: he wrote. The result is a stunning memoir filled with raw, angry, funny, profane, tender memories of a childhood few can imagine, much less survive. Suggested by Rosie Flowers, Teaching & Engagement

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