Indigenous People's Literature

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“Fleur” is a magical realist short story by Chippewa American author Louise Erdrich. It was first published in Esquire in 1986 and won an O. Henry Award, a prize for excellence in short story writing. Erdrich expanded on the story and characters in her novel Tracks, published in 1988. This guide, which discusses sexual abuse, uses the version of “Fleur” published in the 2009 collection The Red Convertible: Selected and New Stories 1978-2008. The narrator... Read Fleur Summary

Pubished in 2007, Flight: A Novel is Sherman Alexie's—one of the best-known and most lauded Native American writers—work of historical fiction and fantasy. Alexie—a Washington State native, like his protagonist—is a noteable poet, novelist, and screenwriter. He both wrote and produced the 1998 film, Smoke Signals, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won both the Audience Award and the Filmmaker’s Trophy.Plot Summary15-year old Zits wakes up in yet another foster home. As usual... Read Flight Summary

James Welch’s Fools Crow (1987) is an historical novel that retells the Anglo conquering of the American West and, specifically, the events leading up to the Marias Massacre in Montana, in 1870, from the perspective of the Blackfeet (Pikuni) people. The novel chronicles the experiences of the Pikuni as they struggle to maintain their traditions in the face of smallpox, violent persecution, and shrinking numbers of buffalo as more white Americans–the Napikwans–move onto their lands... Read Fools Crow Summary

... Read For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth... Summary

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Future Home of the Living God is a 2017 speculative fiction novel by American author Louise Erdrich. Told by Cedar Hawk Songmaker, a pregnant Native American woman in her mid-twenties living in Minneapolis, the story consists of her reflections as she waits to give birth. In the novel’s pre-apocalyptic America, human evolution has reversed, meaning that the species has begun to biologically regress into an infertile state. Meanwhile, the United States government has undermined citizens’... Read Future Home of the Living God Summary

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Thomas King’s novel Green Grass, Running Water (1993) is set in a contemporary First Nations Blackfoot community in Alberta, Canada. The book gained critical acclaim due to its unique structure and King’s combination of oral and written history within a compelling narrative. The novel follows several plotlines, ranging from realist to mythical, and revolves around the broad theme of Indigenous identity in the 20th century. The novel is notable for its use of magical realism... Read Green Grass, Running Water Summary

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Heart Berries is a memoir written in connected, lyrical vignettes by Terese Marie Mailhot. It was published in 2018. The book tells the story of Mailhot’s life as a First Nations woman who moves from Canada to the American Southwest, struggles with bipolar disorder, and comes to terms with her past traumas and tumultuous, sometimes violent marriage. Plot SummaryThe beginning of the book chronicles Mailhot’s love affair with a White man named Casey, who leaves... Read Heart Berries Summary

Hearts Unbroken is a young adult contemporary novel by New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith. Main character Louise Wolfe, a Native Muscogee (Creek) teen girl, breaks up with her boyfriend over his insensitive comments. Louise turns her focus to senior year, the school newspaper, and spending time with family, but she notices more and more instances of cultural insensitivity around her. When the newly-formed Parents Against Revisionist Theater group speaks out against cast... Read Hearts Unbroken Summary

The novel House Made of Dawn, by N. Scott Momaday, was first published in 1968. Heralded as a major landmark in the emergence of Indigenous American literature, the novel won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. House Made of Dawn blends fictional and nonfictional elements to depict life on an Indigenous American reservation like the one where Momaday grew up.This guide uses an eBook version of the 2018 First Harper Perennial Modern Classics (50th Anniversary)... Read House Made of Dawn Summary

How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child is a 2017 memoir by Sandra Uwiringiyimana. It recounts Sandra’s life in the volatile Democratic Republic of the Congo, her immigration to America, and her dedication to activism. This nonfiction autobiography is the winner of multiple awards, including the New York Public Library’s Best Books for Teens; Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books for Teens: Nonfiction; and Bank Street’s 2018 Best Books of... Read How Dare the Sun Rise Summary

Published in 2013 by Tim Tingle, How I Became a Ghost is a work of middle grade fiction that follows a young boy in the Choctaw nation and his death on the Trail of Tears. The Choctaw Trail of Tears refers to The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the forced relocation of Choctaws from their homes in the deep south to areas further west. How I Became a Ghost has received an American Indian... Read How I Became a Ghost Summary

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... Read I Can Make This Promise Summary