History Will Always Find You: Books for Indigenous Peoples Month

That line, History will always find you, comes from the poem, “Break My Heart”, by former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, and it’s included in the collection An American Sunrise. If you’re new to poetry — or coming back to it — Harjo’s wonderful work is a great place to start, along with collections by Layli Long Soldier and Natalie Diaz. And if poetry isn’t exactly what you’re looking for this Indigenous Peoples Month, we have indelible novels from acclaimed writers like Tommy Orange, Louise Erdrich and Angeline Boulley, along with outstanding debuts, more read-with-the-doors-locked horror from Stephen Graham Jones, and not-to-be missed nonfiction from David Treuer and Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Poet Warrior, an exuberant, thoughtful memoir, a bookend companion to her magnificent Crazy Brave, sings of a life moving toward wisdom. In a powerful mix of poetry and prose, infused with a grace of memory, a gift of dream and vision, Joy Harjo walks us through a landscape of individual and collective suffering, the ways of justice and injustice, and the legacies of power and conflict, while at once listening carefully to what can be learned through empathy, connection, belonging, gratefulness, and humor.

Joy Harjo is a force of nature in poetic form and here in An America Sunrise, she masterfully blends her own personal truths and the truths of the displaced Mvskoke population. This is poetry that makes a difference. 

Listen in as Joy talks about her family’s stories, making music, Emily Dickinson’s poetry, how reading work out loud helps with the editing process, and more on our Poured Over podcast

Night of the Living Rez is a gorgeous collection of twelve linked stories that tell the story of characters at their own personal crossroads, dealing with addiction, poverty and intergenerational trauma. Talty’s fiction debut, Fire Exit, centers on one man’s experience living across the river from Maine’s Penobscot Reservation. As a citizen of the Penobscot Nation himself, Talty’s work is a brilliant, gritty and layered examination of the past and present in Native communities. 

Listen in as Morgan talks about story structure and inspiration, representation and colonialism (in all its forms), the importance of humor, and more on our Poured Over podcast.

An exceptional work and unforgettable debut, There There is the story of what it means to be Native American in present-day America with rippling reverberations from the past. This is a story packed with such power that it’s become a force of nature. 

A multigenerational saga of Native American heritage and culture, Wandering Stars is Tommy Orange’s long-awaited follow-up to There There, tracking back in time and telling a story across centuries. Beginning with the Sand Creek Massacre, this book is a damning indictment of America’s treatment of its Native population. 

Stephen Graham Jones ties a grisly bow on the storied horror series that began with My Heart is a Chainsaw and continued in Don’t Fear the Reaper. In The Angel of Indian Lake, Jade returns to her hometown at last, but the generational horrors won’t get rid of themselves…. Check out Jones’ exclusive B&N Reads guest post where he writes about the inspiration for The Angel of Indian Lake and the real-world events that informed his process, here.

In his latest novel, Jones takes us back to 1989, Lamesa, Texas, where a killer is on the loose — and we get to experience the story from his perspective. If you’ve been hitting rewind on your favorite summertime slashers, this is your next gloriously gory read.

Listen in as Stephen Jones joins us to talk about creating his fierce and funny characters, the importance of setting, Native American authors in horror, his favorite scary movies and frightening books and more on our Poured Over podcast.

The inimitable and award-winning voice of Louise Erdrich is back in The Mighty Red. Erdrich returns to the world of The Beet Queen in this profound story of the natural world, place and community.

Taking on a tumultuous year with the help of a lovable, quirky cast of characters, The Sentence is an unexpected ghost story that is both a timely novel with laugh-out-loud moments as well as a beautiful commentary on identity. Erdrich cements herself as one of America’s greatest living authors.

Inspired by her grandfather’s life, Pulitzer Prize winner The Night Watchman immerses us in the tumultuous world of a Chippewa reservation in the mid-fifties as compelling characters fight for their home and humanity.

Listen in as Louise joins talks about ghost stories, perfect short novels, the power of names and more on our Poured Over podcast.

Robin Wall Kimmerer’s latest, The Serviceberry, takes on expansive issues with care and compassion. Kimmerer provides perspective on what’s truly important, and how we can rediscover ourselves and our place in the natural world. Listen in on Robin and Jenna talk all about human’s reciprocal relationship with nature and how we can be in better partnership with the planet on our Poured Over podcast coming later this month.

Braiding Sweetgrass is a book to focus the eyes, open the heart and stretch the imagination about our appropriate relationships within the natural world. Hundreds of thousands of readers have turned to Kimmerer’s words over the decades since the book’s first publication, finding these tender, poetic, and respectful words, rooted in soil and tradition, intended to teach and celebrate. This is a storyteller’s book; we do well to listen and take the guidance to heart.

Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this captivating tale set ten years after the events of Firekeeper’s Daughter. Warrior Girl Unearthed is an exploration of identity, family, and reclamation in Native communities coupled with a riveting mystery readers won’t be able to put down.

Debut author Angeline Boulley has crafted an immersive and heart-stopping thriller told through the eyes of 18-year-old Daunis, a biracial, unenrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe. With crystal meth abuse on the rise in her community, Daunis uses her knowledge of science and native medicine to go undercover as a confidential informant with the FBI, but what she uncovers makes her question everything she’s ever known. Boulley’s authentic depictions of the complexities of Native communities and the trauma and strength of Native women, specifically, make this book a complete standout for YA and adult readers alike.