American Indian History

Historians still agree about the date of Columbus’s voyage. But did this European adventurer discover America? We now know that certain explorers from other parts of the globe set foot on American shores long before 1492–and that others may have done so. And “discovery” takes on a...

“An important part of American history told with a clear-eyed and forceful brilliance.” —National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson “We Refuse to Forget reminds readers, on damn near every page, that we are collectively experiencing a brilliance we've seldom seen or imagined…We...

Discover how—and why—Black, Indigenous, and people of color in America experience societal, economic, and infrastructural inequality throughout history covering everything from Columbus’s arrival in 1492 to the War on Drugs to the Black Lives Matter movement. From reparations to the prison...

Inspired by the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger comes a chapter book series about women who stood up, spoke up and rose up against the odds--including Maria Tallchief! In this chapter book biography by award-winning author Christine Day, readers...

In the tradition of Ian Frazier's Great Plains, and as vivid as the work of Cormac McCarthy, an intoxicating, singularly illuminating history of the Texas borderlands from their settlement through seven generations of Roger D. Hodge's ranching family. What brought the author's family to Texas?...

Finalist for the 2022 Will Rogers Medallion Award “Terrific.” –Timothy Egan, The New York Times “A riveting investigation of both American myth-making and the real history that lies beneath.” –Claudio Saunt, author of Unworthy Republic From the New York Times bestselling author of...

It’s 1806. A young republic just three decades old - the United States of America - is about to make a great push westward, across the Mississippi, into a wild, beautiful, and dangerous land. A territory of towering mountains and violent waters, of icy glaciers and searing deserts. The great northwest. It is a time and a place where fortunes will be made, destinies will be revealed, and legends will rise.

Indian Creek Massacre and Captivity of Hall Girls was written by Charles Martin Scanlan in 1915. The Indian Creek Massacre arose in 1832 at LaSalle County, Illinois, after a dispute about a settler-constructed dam that blocked fish from reaching a Native American village downstream. It’s a unique historical snapshot of early America centered around Sylvia and Rachel Hall, sisters who were the only survivors of the massacre and were abducted, as well as the story of Chief Shabona who was a member of the Ottowa and Potawatomi.

When superstar athlete Jim Thorpe and football legend Pop Warner met in 1904 at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, they forged one of the winningest teams in American football history. Called "the team that invented football," they took on the best opponents of their day...

The true story of John Meyers and Charles Bender, who in 1911 became the first two Native pro baseball players to face off in a World Series. This audiobook teaches important lessons about resilience, doing what you love in the face of injustice, and the fight for Native American representation...

Charles Alexander Eastman (1858-1939) was raised among the Sioux and decided to become a doctor in order to be of the greatest service to his people. He also became a distinguished writer and an interpreter of Native American life and customs. The Soul of the Indian is a rare eye-witness account of native religion with its ceremonial and symbolic worship, oral scriptures and view of the spirit world.

Oh, snow day, snow day, what a very fun no-school day! Jo Jo Makoons is back in the third book in this favorite chapter book series, and she’s planning the very best version of the winter Olympics that her Ojibwe community has ever seen… Jo Jo Makoons has noticed that the family members she...

Ilarion Merculieff weaves the remarkable strands of his life and culture into a fascinating account that begins with his traditional Unangan (Aleut) upbringing on a remote island in the Bering Sea, through his immersion in both the Russian Orthodox Church and his tribe’s holistic spiritual...

Since the Battle of the Little Bighorn, George Armstrong Custer and the 7th Cavalry have become associated with a relatively insignificant battle during America’s Indian Wars, but one that has become one of the country’s most mythologized events and continues to fascinate Americans more than 140 years later. That’s because the Battle of the Little Bighorn, fought in June 1876, was one of the US military’s biggest debacles. Eventually, Custer and the 7th Cavalry’s “Last Stand” would become a symbol for American heroism in the face of overwhelming odds.

Insightful, telling, ironic, and moving, 14 Native-American legends reflect a nomadic non-property-owning culture, with a reverence for all things natural.

On the morning of November 29, 1864, Colonel John Chivington led 700 militiamen in a surprise attack against Cheyenne leader Black Kettle's camp at Sand Creek. Chivington was a fire and brimstone Methodist minister who had publicly advocated indiscriminately killing Native American children because "nits makes lice."

Indian lore of the Cuyamaca Mountains and surrounding region in San Diego County, California, abounds in myths and legends handed down from generation to generation by tribal song and squaw-tale. Yet so swiftly has the hand of civilization wiped out the old traditions and customs, that but few Indians remain who remember them, and fewer still are those willing to divulge them. Only when one comes into intimate contact with them is one accorded the privilege and honor of hearing the tales of their ancestors.

The Apache of the American Southwest have achieved almost legendary status for their fierceness and their tenacity in fighting the US Army. Names like Nana, Cochise, and Geronimo are synonymous with bravery and daring, and the tribe had that reputation long before the Americans arrived. Indeed, among all the Native American tribes, the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans learned the hard way that the warriors of the Apache were perhaps the fiercest in North America. Based in the Southwest, the Apache fought all three in Mexico and the American Southwest.

Capture the beauty, power, and wisdom of the Native American oral tradition with this superlative collection of readings taken from the writings and speeches of people from many different tribes. The collection offers insights into Native American ways of living, learning, and dying, and helps us to feel a reconnection with the land and ourselves. The words of Chief Joseph, Sitting Bull, Ohiyesa, Black Elk, and others create a powerful listening experience.

The war gets its name from British colonists’ two primary enemies: the French settlers and the Native Americans who sided with them. The title is a bit misleading, however, as the British also had Native Americans on their side at various points of the war. The conflict goes by "The Seven Years’ War" in Europe because it took place from 1756 to 1763. Britain’s victory solidified the future of the English-speaking North America we know today. However, it also led to the massacre of countless Native peoples throughout North America.