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Three Essential New Reads to Honor This Year’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Recognizing the history, contributions, and path forward for the indigenous communities of North America requires all of us to look past the disassociated narratives that we’ve been presented in conventional history books. Instead, to honor the culture and people of Native America, we can look to diversity of narratives told by the people who have lived them and are living them today. 

If you have the day off this Indigenous Peoples’ Day, check out one of these three (or maybe all three) of these books to get your read on. 

3 Heart Berries by Terese Mailhot

While not quite fresh off the press, this 2018 memoir by 36-year-old First Nations writer and professor Terese Mailhot offers readers a glimpse at the systemic injustice in which her community on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in British Columbia had to endure, and how the effects of those experiences bore out in the narrative of her life. A New York Times reviewer in 2018 described the book as “a sledgehammer” of narrative power, citing what is perhaps Mailhot’s central question from within her memoir: “How could misfortune follow me so well, and why did I choose it every time?” 

2 The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer

Despite having sustained a campaign of existential and cultural genocide, it’s critical to understand that the power of indigenous culture shouldn’t be relegated to a tragic history bin of the past — there’s so much to look to in national current events that reveal the dynamics of advocates and activists working within communities across the country. Just consider the powerful acts of resistance at places like Standing Rock or Mauna Kea. 

A member of the Ojibwe Tribe, David Treuer’s book The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present positions itself from this empowered perspective, a much needed alternative to Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee which characterized the massacre at Wounded Knee as the symbolic, tragic end of Native America; Treuer’s book, instead, recognizes the way that indigenous people still thrive and have shaped the course of contemporary America. 

1 An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo 

Current U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s latest book of poetry An American Sunrise is as good a place to start in her work as any if you haven’t had a chance to become familiar with her writing yet. She’s our current Poet Laureate, so get with it and get yourself a copy! 

Born in Oklahoma, Harjo a member of the Muscogee Nation. In addition to being a poet, she is a painter and musician, aspects of creativity that make their way into her writing. While the work can read like tailor-made responses to the politics of today, Harjo’s work taps into a greater narrative of social justice, self-determination, and our relationship with nature. To get an idea of her poetic perspective, strongly rooted in oral tradition, check out her chat with Oprah on OWN’s Super Soul Sunday that aired earlier this month.

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