Stanford Libraries highlights Native and Indigenous authors

Stanford Libraries is highlighting a collection of books by Native and Indigenous authors this month in celebration of Native American Heritage Month. (Image credit: Andrew Brodhead)

Books bearing titles such as Tribes of California, The Way We Lived, and Poet Warrior fill nearly two full shelves in Green Library’s former east wing, Hobach Hall. The books, both fiction and nonfiction, are part of the Stanford University Libraries’ Native American Heritage Month celebration and feature titles by and about Indigenous and Native authors.

Read more about a few of the books available for checkout and stop by Green Library any time through the end of November to learn more.

The Way We Lived, Malcolm Margolin (nonfiction): In The Way We Lived, editor Margolin captures the personal histories, songs, and stories of California’s Native people. The stories share traditional knowledge including rites of passage, and shed light on the challenges that still exist following the arrival of colonization in California. Foreword by Michael Connolly Miskwish.

Reservation Blues, Sherman Alexie (fiction): Alexie’s novel, which begins on the Spokane reservation, tells the story of bluesman Robert Johnson and his flight from the devil. The story weaves a magical tale that takes the reader on a journey from reservation bars and taverns to downtown Seattle and across the country to Manhattan.

A History of my Brief Body, Billy-Ray Belcourt (nonfiction): Belcourt, the youngest winner of the Griffin Prize, shares his personal story in this collection of essays and vignettes of early life in Joussard, Alberta, and on the Driftpile First Nation. The pieces offer readers insight into Belcourt’s unpacking of colonial violence, queer identity, first loves, and joy.

Native American Voices, Susan Lobo, Traci L Morris, and Steve Talbot (nonfiction): This collection of short works offers readers a look into the field of Native American Studies. Lobo and Talbot offer various histories and perspectives from Indigenous people across the Americas including articles, oral histories, songs, poetry, maps, and original artwork.

Perma Red, Debra Cecille Magpie Earline (fiction): This hope-filled novel tells the story of Louise White Elk, a young girl navigating life on the Flathead Reservation of Montana in the 1940s. Louise dreams of belonging, yet also yearns to escape the reservation and discover freedom and a life of her own.