November is National Native American Heritage Month, and the New Orleans Public Library has you covered with reading recommendations for all ages that honor, teach, and share Indigenous stories, voices, and histories.

CHILDREN

In Why We Dance: A Story of Hope and Healing by Deidre Havrelock & Aly McKnight, a young girl gets nervous as she prepares for the Jingle Dress Dance but overcomes her fears after her family reminds her why she dances. The story is an exuberant celebration of a proud Indigenous tradition that inspires hope, resilience, and unity.

Brave by Weshoyot Alvitre follows a Native American boy as he proudly grows out his hair, with his dad braiding it each morning. Even though he is teased for the braid at school, he remembers stories of how his father and grandpa were forced to cut their hair in this affirming, heartfelt picture book.

Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Whetstone by Andrew Maraniss & DeAndra Hodge tells the true story of the celebrated Lakota runner. The book follows Whetstone through her childhood in South Dakota, her journey to becoming a Division 1 runner in college and later a professional runner, and her work in Washington DC advocating for Indigenous people and communities.

MIDDLE GRADE

You Were Made for This World: Celebrated Indigenous Voices Speak to Young People edited by Stephanie Sinclair & Sara Sinclair brings together 40 Indigenous writers, artists, activists, athletes, scholars, and thinkers with a joint purpose: to share a sense of joy and pride in language, traditional and personal stories and teachings, and shared experiences, and to honor young people for who they are and what they dream of.

The Ribbon Skirt by Cameron Mukwa follows Anang, a two-spirit, nonbinary 10-year-old, as they set out to make a ribbon skirt, a piece of clothing typically worn by girls in the Anishinaabe tradition, for an upcoming powwow, finding support, community and confidence along the way.

TEEN

In Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley, Lucy learns the truth her father hid from after he dies: She is Ojibwe; she has—had—a sister, and more siblings, a grandmother who’d look after her and a home where she would be loved. But Lucy is being followed. The past has destroyed any chance at safety she had. Will the secrets she’s hiding swallow her whole and take away any hope for the future she always dreamed of? When the past comes for revenge, it’s fight or flight.

Created by an all-Indigenous creative team, Indiginerds: Tales from Modern Indigenous Life edited by Alina Pete is an exhilarating celebration featuring 11 stories about Indigenous people balancing traditional ways of knowing with modern pop culture.

For too long, stories and artistic expressions from Indigenous people have been written and recorded by others, not by the individuals who have experienced the events. In Ours to Tell: Reclaiming Indigenous Stories by Eldon Yellowhorn & Kathy Lowinger, 16 Indigenous creators relate traditions, accounts of historical events, and their own lived experiences.