Although Native American Heritage Month is coming to an end, so long as the land exists, we should all familiarize ourselves with the stories and histories of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. The Native Ways of Knowing Book List contains accurate and tribally specific portrayals of Native Americans. The San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE), California Indian Education (CIEFA), and Native American scholars worked together to vet this list.
Does your classroom and library include Indigenous authored books? How do you choose children’s books about Native peoples? According to statistics compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, only 1% of children’s books published in the United States in 2018 depict characters from American Indian and First Nation populations; and some of those books contain stereotypes. Traditionally, most individuals are socialized and incorrectly educated to think of Native peoples in only narrow and biased ways. All too often, children’s books unfortunately depict stories and characters with stereotypes, tokenism, and misrepresentations of Native Americans. Historically these books, images, and stories are deeply flawed and detrimentally impact American Indian students. Many children’s books present Native Americans exclusively as historical figures, ignoring the presence and resilience of the 574 federally recognized and sovereign Native Nations in the United States today.
Check out the full list of books.