Articles

Culturally Responsive Teaching for American Indian Students (2003)
~ Cornel Pewewardy and Patricia Cahape Hammer | ERIC Digest

Developing a Culturally Sensitive Curriculum: Teaching Native American Children about Psychological and Behavioral Health (2011)
~ William J. Warzak, Rebecca K. Dogan, Maurice Godfrey |
US-China Education Review

Diversity in Learning: A Comparison of Traditional Learning Theories With Learning Styles and Cultural Values of Native American Students (2012)
~ Mark S. Parrish, John L. Klem, and David R. Brown | 
Ideas and Research You Can Use: VISTAS 2012

Educating Native Americans (1995)
~ K. Tsianina Lomawaima | The Education of Ethnic Groups

Four Hundred Years of Evidence: Culture, Pedagogy, and Native America (2006)
~ Roland G. Tharp | Journal of American Indian Education

Incorporating Cultural Themes to Promote Preschoolers' Critical Thinking in American Indian Head Start Classrooms (2011)
~ Mia Dubosarsky, Barbara Murphy, Gillian Roehrig, Linda C. Frost, Jennifer Jones, and Stephan P. Carlson, with Nette Londo, Carolyn J.B. Melchert, Cheryl Gettel, and Jody Bement | Young Children

Issues in the Education of American Indian and Alaska Native Students with Disabilities (2000)
~ Susan Faircloth and John W. Tippeconnic, III | ERIC Digest

New Study Exposes Barriers That Block Girls of Color From Opportunity (2017)
Kenrya Rankin | Color Lines

Nurturing Resilience and School Success in American Indian and Alaska Native Students (2002)
~ Joyce A. Strand and Thomas D. Peacock | ERIC Digest

Preparing Teachers To Support American Indian and Alaska Native Student Success and Cultural Heritage (2002)
~ Don Trent Jacobs and Jon Reyner | ERIC Digest

Reading First, Literacy, and American Indian/Alaska Native Students (2008)
~ John Reyhner and Denny S. Hurtado | Journal of American Indian Education

Schooling for Self-Determination: Research on the Effects of Including Native Language and Culture in the Schools (2002)
~ Jerry Lipka | ERIC Digest

Selecting Diverse Resources of Native American Perspective for the Curriculum Center: Children’s Literature, Leveled Readers, and Social Studies Curriculum (2011)
~ Nadean Meyer | Education Libraries

A Survey and Assessment of Culturally Based Education Programs for Native American Students in the United States (2006)
~ David Beaulieu | Journal of American Indian Education

Teaching Reading to American Indian/Alaska Native Students (2001)
~ Jon Reyhner | ERIC Digest

Toward a Tribal Critical Race Theory in Education (2006)
~ Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy | The Urban Review

The Use of Academic Achievement Tests and Measurements with American Indian and Alaska Native Students (2003)
~ John W. Tippeconnic, III | ERIC Digest

Using Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Assessments to Ensure that American Indian and Alaska Native Students
Receive the Special Education Programs and Services They Need (2002)
~ John W. Tippeconnic, III and Susan C. Faircloth | ERIC Digest

Using Culturally Based Education to Increase Academic Achievement and Graduation Rates (2008)
~ National Indian Education Association

Varied Strategies Sought for Native American Students (2007)
~ Mary Ann Zehr | Education Week

What Every Teacher Needs to Know to Teach Native American Students (2009)
~ Hani Morgan | Multicultural Education

What We Don't Know Can Hurt Them: White Teachers, Indian Children (2006)
~ Bobby Ann Starnes | Phi Delta Kappan

Research, Papers, and Literature Reviews

American Indian and Alaska Native Early Childhood Health, Development, and Education Assessment Research
~ Patricia Cahape Hammer and William G. Denmert, Jr. |
ERIC Digest

American Indian and Alaska Native Young Children: Findings from the ECLS-K and ECLS-B Baseline Data (2005)
~ Rural Early Childhood Brief

American Indian Education: The Role of Tribal Education Departments (2009)
~ Prepared by Dawn M Mackety, Ph.D., Susie Bachler, Zoe Barley, Ph.D., and Lou Cicchinelli, Ph.D. | Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)

Building from Within: Improving the Skills and Credentials of Migrant, Seasonal and American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start Teachers (2010)
~ Sean Cavanagh and Arati Singh | community College Policy Center, National Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Collaboration Office, National American Indian & Alaska Native Head Start Collaboration Office, and center for Education Policy and Practice

Compilation of Abstracts - Effective Teaching of American Indian Students: A Preliminary Response (2011)
~ The Regional Educational Laboratory for the Central Region

Cultivated Ground: Effective Teaching Practices for Native Students in a Public High School (2013)
~ Brittany Dorer and Anna Fetter | Harvard University

Culturally Relevant Classroom Management Strategies for American Indian Students (2004)
~ Helen Hammond | University of Texas at El Paso

Developments in Elementary Students' Knowledge About and Empathy with Native Americans (1998)
~ Jere Brophy | Michigan State University

Effective Standards-Based Practices for Native American Students: A Review of Research Literature (2003)
~ Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)

Enhancing Success in American Indian Students: Participatory Research at Akwesasne as Part of the Development of a Culturally Relevant Curriculum (2001)
~ Seth A. Agbo | Journal of American Indian Education

An Examination of Western Influences on Indigenous Language Teaching (2000)
~ Dean J. Mellow | Learn in Beauty: Indigenous Education for a New Century | Northern Arizona University

Examining American Indians' Recall of Cultural Inclusion in School (2007)
~ Scott Freng, Adrienne Freng, and Helen Moore | Journal of American Indian Education

Exploring Achievement: Factors Affecting Native American College Student Success (2011)
~ Heather Crosby | Texas State University

For This Place, for These People: An Exploration of Best Practices Among Charter Schools Serving Native Students (2012)
~ Eve L. Ewing and Meaghan E. Ferrick | Harvard University

Guidelines for Strengthening Indigenous Languages (2001)
~ University of Alaska | Alaska Native Knowledge Network

Holding a Mirror to "Eyes Wide Shut": The Role of Native Cultures and Languages in the Education of American Indian Students (2000)
~ Tarajean Yazzie | Office of Educational Research and Improvement

Improving Academic Performance Among Native American Students: A Review of the Research Literature (2001)
~ William G. Demmert, Jr. | ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools

Language Planning Challenges and Prospects in Native American Communities and Schools (2006)
~ Mary Eunice Romero Little and Teresa L. McCarty | Arizona State University

Learning Styles of American Indian/Alaska Native students: A Review of the Literature and Implications for Practice (2002)
~ Cornel Pewewardy | Journal of American Indian Education

Meeting the Needs of American Indian/Native American Students (2013)
~ Midwest Regional Educational Laboratory

Models of American Indian Education: Cultural Inclusion and the Family/Community/School Linkage (2006)
~ A. Freng, S. Freng & H. Moore | University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Sociology Department

Moving Toward a Classroom Inclusion Model (2003)
~ Rachel Carney, Bessie Horseherder, Judith Littlefox, Roger Trujillo, Ylandra Wimmer & Gregory Prater | In Rural Survival - Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES)

National Indian Education Study 2015: American Indian and Alaska Native Students at Grades 4 and 8 (2015)
~ U.S. Department of Education

Native American Language Immersion: Innovative Native Education for Children & Families (2016) ~ Janine Pease-Pretty on Top | American Indian College Fund

Proceedings of the Rural Early Childhood Forum on American Indian and Alaska Native Early Learning, July 28-29, 2005, Little Rock, Arkansas (2006)
~ Elizabeth F. Shores, Ed. | National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives

Profiles of Partnerships Between Tribal Education Departments and Local Education Agencies (2012)
~ National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance - Institute of Education Sciences

Psychosocial Foundations of Academic Performance in Culture-
Based Education Programs for American Indian and Alaska Native Youth: Reflections on a Multidisciplinary Perspective (2006)
~ Gerald V. Mohatt, Joseph Trimble, and Ryan A. Dickson | Journal of American Indian Education

Returning to the Reservation: Experiences of a First Year Native American Teacher (2001)
~ MaryJane W. Blasi | Northern Arizona University

A Review and Analysis of the Research on Native American Students (2006)
~ William G. Denmert, David Grissmer, and John Tower |
Journal of American Indian Education

The Role of Native Languages and Cultures in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Student Achievement (2011)
~ Teresa L. McCarty, Ph.D.  |  Arizona State University

The Role of Tribal Languages and Cultures in American Indian Education (2008)
~ Sasanehsaeh “Suzi” Pyawasay (Menominee) | UW-Madison

School Psychologists Working with Native American Youth: Training, Competence, and Needs (2011)
~ Carol Robinson-Zañartu, Nola Butler-Byrd, Valerie Cook-Morales, Paul Dauphinais, Elvina Charley and Mike Bonner | Contemporary School Psychology

Social and Emotional Distress among American Indian and Alaska Native Students: Research Findings (2002)
Ardy SixKiller Clarke | ERIC Digest

State of the Field: The Role of Native Languages and Cultures in American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Student Achievement (2011)
~ Teresa L. McCarty, Ph.D. | Arizona State University

Traditional Culture and Academic Success among American Indian Children in the Upper Midwest (2001)
~ Les B. Whitbeck, Dan R. Hoyt, Jerry D. Stubben and Teresa LaFromboise  | Journal of American Indian Education

Views and Perspectives of Native Educational Success: A National Survey of American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Others Associated with Indian Education
~ CHiXapkaid, University of Oregon and Ella Inglebret and Rose L. Krebill-Prather, Washington State University

Reports and Publications

Media 

Podcasts

Booklets, Bulletins, Journals, and Magazines

General Information and Resources

Teaching Resources

Organizations, Agencies, and Associations

Recommended Reading

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2009)
~ Sherman Alexie

Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

"All the Real Indians Died Off": And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans (2016)
~ Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker

In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed generations. Tracing how these ideas evolved, and drawing from history, the authors disrupt long-held and enduring myths such as: (a) Columbus Discovered America”; (b) “Thanksgiving Proves the Indians Welcomed Pilgrims”; (c) “Indians Were Savage and Warlike”; (d) “Europeans Brought Civilization to Backward Indians”; (e) “The United States Did Not Have a Policy of Genocide”; (f) “Sports Mascots Honor Native Americans”; (g) “Most Indians Are on Government Welfare”; (h) “Indian Casinos Make Them All Rich”; (i) “Indians Are Naturally Predisposed to Alcohol”

Each chapter deftly shows how these myths are rooted in the fears and prejudice of European settlers and in the larger political agendas of a settler state aimed at acquiring Indigenous land and tied to narratives of erasure and disappearance. Accessibly written and revelatory, “All the Real Indians Died Off” challenges readers to rethink what they have been taught about Native Americans and history.

The Assassination of Hole in the Day (2011)
~ Anton Treuer

On June 27, 1868, Hole in the Day (Bagonegiizhig) the Younger left Crow Wing, Minnesota, for Washington, DC, to fight the planned removal of the Mississippi Ojibwe to a reservation at White Earth. Several miles from his home, the self-styled leader of all the Ojibwe was stopped by at least twelve Ojibwe men and fatally shot. Hole in the Day's death was national news, and rumors of its cause were many: personal jealousy, retribution for his claiming to be head chief of the Ojibwe, retaliation for the attacks he fomented in 1862, or retribution for his attempts to keep mixed-blood Ojibwe off the White Earth Reservation. Still later, investigators found evidence of a more disturbing plot involving some of his closest colleagues: the business elite at Crow Wing. While most historians concentrate on the Ojibwe relationship with whites to explain this story, Anton Treuer focuses on interactions with other tribes, the role of Ojibwe culture and tradition, and interviews with more than fifty elders to further explain the events leading up to the death of Hole in the Day. The Assassination of Hole in the Day is not only the biography of a powerful leader but an extraordinarily insightful analysis of a pivotal time in the history of the Ojibwe people.

Aztalan: Mysteries of an Ancient Indian Town (2006)
~ Robert A. Birmingham and Lynne Goldstein

Aztalan has remained a mystery since the early nineteenth century when it was discovered by settlers who came to the Crawfish River, fifty miles west of Milwaukee. Who were the early indigenous people who inhabited this place? When did they live here? Why did they disappear? Birmingham and Goldstein attempt to unlock some of the mysteries, providing insights and information about the group of people who first settled here in 1100 AD. Filled with maps, drawings, and photographs of artifacts, this small volume examines a time before modern Native American people settled in this area.

The Bingo Queens of Oneida: How Two Moms Started Tribal Gaming in Wisconsin (2014)
~ Mike Hoeft

Before Indian casinos sprouted up around the country, a few enterprising tribes got their start in gambling by opening bingo parlors. A group of women on the Oneida Indian Reservation just outside Green Bay, Wisconsin, introduced bingo in 1976 simply to pay a few bills. Bingo not only paid the light bill at the struggling civic center but was soon financing vital health and housing services for tribal elderly and poor. While militant Indian activists often dominated national headlines in the 1970s, these church-going Oneida women were the unsung catalysts behind bingo’s rising prominence as a sovereignty issue in the Oneida Nation. The bingo moms were just trying to take care of the kids in the community. The Bingo Queens of Oneida: How Two Moms Started Tribal Gaming tells the story through the eyes of Sandra Ninham and Alma Webster, the Oneida women who had the idea for a bingo operation run by the tribe to benefit the entire tribe. Bingo became the tribe’s first moneymaker on a reservation where about half the population was living in poverty. Author Mike Hoeft traces the historical struggles of the Oneida—one of six nations of the Iroquois, or Haudenosaunee, confederacy—from their alliance with America during the Revolutionary War to their journey to Wisconsin. He also details the lives of inspirational tribal members who worked alongside Ninham and Webster, and also those who were positively affected by their efforts. The women-run bingo hall helped revitalize an indigenous culture on the brink of being lost. The Bingo Queens of Oneida is the story of not only how one game helped revive the Oneida economy but also how one game strengthened the Oneida community.

Bowwow Powwow (2018)
~ Brenda J. Child (Author), Jonathan Thunder (Illustrator), Gordon Jourdain (Translator)
***Age Range: 3 - 7 years | Grade Level: 1 - 2***

Windy Girl is blessed with a vivid imagination. From Uncle she gathers stories of long-ago traditions, about dances and sharing and gratitude. Windy can tell such stories herself–about her dog, Itchy Boy, and the way he dances to request a treat and how he wriggles with joy in response to, well, just about everything. When Uncle and Windy Girl and Itchy Boy attend a powwow, Windy watches the dancers and listens to the singers. She eats tasty food and joins family and friends around the campfire. Later, Windy falls asleep under the stars. Now Uncle's stories inspire other visions in her head: a bowwow powwow, where all the dancers are dogs. In these magical scenes, Windy sees veterans in a Grand Entry, and a visiting drum group, and traditional dancers, grass dancers, and jingle-dress dancers–all with telltale ears and paws and tails. All celebrating in song and dance. All attesting to the wonder of the powwow. This playful story by Brenda Child is accompanied by a companion retelling in Ojibwe by Gordon Jourdain and brought to life by Jonathan Thunder's vibrant dreamscapes. The result is a powwow tale for the ages.

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants (2014)
~ Robin Wall Kimmerer

As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, a mother, and a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings—asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass—offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In a rich braid of reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

Don't Know Much About Indians (2011)
~ Gyasi Ross

The alternating stories and poems in this debut collection by Gyasi Ross tell the stories of contemporary Native Americans who do not represent a stereotype. They don t ride horses or get falling down drunk. They are not the stoic crying Indian from a commercial nor the flowing-haired warrior on the cover of a romance novel. The characters in these 18 stories and poems are regular Indians - people who have day jobs, college students, insecure folks, kids in love. These characters are unique, diverse, and just like the rest of America. The book is heartbreaking and life-affirming, controversial and heartwarming, funny and tragic. If you think you know about Indians or if you know that you don't, step into the lives of these characters and you will come away enlightened, discomfited, entertained and inspired.

Electa Quinney: Stockbridge Teacher (2014)
~ Karyn Saemann

Electa Quinney loved to learn. Growing up in the early 1800s in New York, she went to some of the best boarding schools. There she learned how to read, write, and solve tough math problems—she even learned how to do needlework. Electa decided early on that she wanted to become a teacher so she could pass her knowledge on to others. But life wasn’t simple. Electa was a Stockbridge Indian, and her tribe was being pressured by the government and white settlers to move out of the state. So in 1828, Electa and others in her tribe moved to Wisconsin. Almost as soon as she arrived, Electa got to work again, teaching in a log building that also served as the local church. In that small school in the woods, Electa became Wisconsin’s very first public school teacher, educating the children of Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indians as well as the sons and daughters of nearby white settlers and missionaries. Electa’s life provides a detailed window onto pioneer Wisconsin and discusses the challenges and issues faced by American Indians in the nineteenth century. Through it all, Electa’s love of learning stands out, and her legacy as Wisconsin’s first public school teacher makes her an inspiration to students of today.

Everything You Know About Indians is Wrong (2009)
~ Paul Chaat Smith

In this sweeping work of memoir and commentary, leading cultural critic Paul Chaat Smith illustrates with dry wit and brutal honesty the contradictions of life in “the Indian business.”  Raised in suburban Maryland and Oklahoma, Smith dove head first into the political radicalism of the 1970s, working with the American Indian Movement until it dissolved into dysfunction and infighting. Afterward he lived in New York, the city of choice for political exiles, and eventually arrived in Washington, D.C., at the newly minted National Museum of the American Indian (“a bad idea whose time has come”) as a curator. In his journey from fighting activist to federal employee, Smith tells us he has discovered at least two things: there is no one true representation of the American Indian experience, and even the best of intentions sometimes ends in catastrophe. Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong is a highly entertaining and, at times, searing critique of the deeply disputed role of American Indians in the United States.

Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask (2012)
~ Anton Treuer

What have you always wanted to know about Indians? Do you think you should already know the answers—or suspect that your questions may be offensive? In matter-of-fact responses to over 120 questions, both thoughtful and outrageous, modern and historical, Ojibwe scholar and cultural preservationist Anton Treuer gives a frank, funny, and sometimes personal tour of what's up with Indians, anyway. White/Indian relations are often characterized by guilt and anger. Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask cuts through the emotion and builds a foundation for true understanding and positive action.

The Forever Sky (2019)
~ Thomas Peacock and Annette S. Lee
***Age Range: 3 - 7 years | Grade Level: Preschool - 2***

"Nooko's spirit is there in the stars," says Niigaanii to his younger brother, Bineshiinh, as they sprawl in a meadow, gazing skyward. "Uncle said when Nooko':s spirit left this world it went there." Nooko was their grandmother, and they miss her. But Uncle helps them find comfort in the night sky, where all the stars have stories. Indeed, there are so many stars and so many stories that the boys spend night after night observing and sharing, making sense of patterns and wisdom in "the forever sky." They see a moose, a loon, a crane, the Path of Souls, and so much more.One night, a beautiful show of lights fills the sky. Niigaanii explains that the northern lights are the spirits of the relatives who have passed on. The boys imagine different relatives dancing, lighting up the sky with their graceful movements. And then they see her: Nooko is one of the elders leading the dance. She has a message for them. One they can share with their parents and their uncle and everyone else who remembers her. One that lends power to the skies and brings smiles to the stargazers' faces.

How to Be an Indian in the 21st Century (2017)
~ Louis V. Clark III (Two Shoes)

In deceptively simple prose and verse, Louis V. "Two Shoes" Clark III shares his life story, from childhood on the Rez, through school and into the working world, and ultimately as an elder, grandfather, and published poet. How to Be an Indian in the 21st Century explores Clark’s deeply personal and profound take on a wide range of subjects, from schoolyard bullying to workplace racism to falling in love. Warm, plainspoken, and wryly funny, Clark’s is a unique voice talking frankly about a culture’s struggle to maintain its heritage. His poetic storytelling style matches the rhythm of the life he recounts, what he calls "the heartbeat of my nation."

How to Say I Love You in Indian (2013)
~ Gyasi Ross

How to Say I Love You in Indian, with a foreword by renowned Native activist, environmentalist, economist and author Winona LaDuke, follows his universally well-received first book, Don't Know Much About Indians, now in its third printing. The stories and poems of How to Say I Love You in Indian are filled with humor, heartbreak and wisdom and convey Native love in many forms romantic, parental, love between friends, love of one's culture and community.

Hungry Johnny (2014)
~ Cheryl Kay Minnema and Wesley Ballinger
***Age Range: 3 - 7 years | Grade Level: Preschool - 2***

"I like to eat, eat, eat," choruses young Johnny as he watches Grandma at work in the kitchen. Wild rice, fried potatoes, fruit salad, frosted sweet rolls—what a feast! Johnny can hardly contain his excitement. In no time, he'll be digging in with everyone else, filling his belly with all this good food. But wait. First there is the long drive to the community center. And then an even longer Ojibwe prayer. And then—well, young boys know to follow the rules: elders eat first, no matter how hungry the youngsters are. Johnny lingers with Grandma, worried that the tasty treats won't last. Seats at the tables fill and refill; platters are emptied and then replaced. Will it ever be their turn? And will there be enough? As Johnny watches anxiously, Grandma gently teaches. By the time her friend Katherine arrives late to the gathering, Johnny knows just what to do, hunger pangs or no. He understands, just as Grandma does, that gratitude, patience, and respect are rewarded by a place at the table—and plenty to eat, eat, eat.

Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal (2013)
~ Patty Loew

From origin stories to contemporary struggles over treaty rights and sovereignty issues, Indian Nations of Wisconsin explores Wisconsin's rich Native tradition. This unique volume—based on the historical perspectives of the state’s Native peoples—includes compact tribal histories of the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, Oneida, Menominee, Mohican, Ho-Chunk, and Brothertown Indians. Author Patty Loew focuses on oral tradition—stories, songs, the recorded words of Indian treaty negotiators, and interviews—along with other untapped Native sources, such as tribal newspapers, to present a distinctly different view of history. Lavishly illustrated with maps and photographs, Indian Nations of Wisconsin is indispensable to anyone interested in the region's history and its Native peoples.

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (2015)
~ Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 

Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire. In An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Dunbar-Ortiz adroitly challenges the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories of the original inhabitants, displacing or eliminating them. Spanning more than four hundred years, this classic bottom-up peoples’ history radically reframes US history and explodes the silences that have haunted our national narrative.

The Killing of Crazy Horse (2011)
~ Thomas Powers

With the Great Sioux War as background and context, and drawing on many new materials, Thomas Powers establishes what really happened in the dramatic final months and days of Crazy Horse’s life. He was the greatest Indian warrior of the nineteenth century, whose victory over General Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 was the worst defeat ever inflicted on the frontier army. But after surrendering to federal troops, Crazy Horse was killed in custody for reasons which have been fiercely debated for more than a century. The Killing of Crazy Horse pieces together the story behind this official killing.

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (2007)
~ James W. Loewen

This updated and revised edition of the American Book Award-winner and national bestseller revitalizes the truth of America’s history, explores how myths continue to be perpetrated, and includes a new chapter on 9/11 and the Iraq War. Americans have lost touch with their history, and in Lies My Teacher Told Me Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying eighteen leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past. In this revised edition, packed with updated material, Loewen explores how historical myths continue to be perpetuated in today's climate and adds an eye-opening chapter on the lies surrounding 9/11 and the Iraq War. From the truth about Columbus's historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring the vitality and relevance it truly possesses. Thought provoking, nonpartisan, and often shocking, Loewen unveils the real America in this iconoclastic classic beloved by high school teachers, history buffs, and enlightened citizens across the country.

Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf: A Memoir (2014)
~ Raymond Kaquatosh

“Little Hawk” was born Raymond Kaquatosh in 1924 on Wisconsin’s Menominee Reservation. The son of a medicine woman, Ray spent his Depression-era boyhood immersed in the beauty of the natural world and the traditions of his tribe and his family. After his father’s death, eight-year-old Ray was sent to an Indian boarding school in Keshena. There he experienced isolation and despair, but also comfort and kindness. Upon his return home, Ray remained a lonely boy in a full house until he met and befriended a lone timber wolf. The unusual bond they formed would last through both their lifetimes. As Ray grew into a young man, he left the reservation more frequently. Yet whenever he returned—from school and work, from service in the Marines, and finally from postwar Wausau with his future wife—the wolf waited. In this rare first-person narrative of a Menominee Indian’s coming of age, Raymond Kaquatosh shares a story that is wise and irreverent, often funny, and in the end, deeply moving. 

Mountain Wolf Woman: A Ho-Chunk Girlhood (2007)
~ Diane Holliday

With the seasons of the year as a backdrop, author Diane Holliday describes what life was like for a Ho-Chunk girl who lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Central to the story is the movement of Mountain Wolf Woman and her family in and around Wisconsin. Like many Ho-Chunk people in the mid-1800s, Mountain Wolf Woman's family was displaced to Nebraska by the U.S. government. They later returned to Wisconsin but continued to relocate throughout the state as the seasons changed to gather and hunt food. Based on her own autobiography as told to anthropologist Nancy Lurie, Mountain Wolf Woman's words are used throughout the book to capture her feelings and memories during childhood. Author Holliday draws young readers into this Badger Biographies series book by asking them to think about how the lives of their ancestors and how their lives today compare to the way Mountain Wolf Woman lived over a hundred years ago.

Native Nations of Wisconsin: Sharing Their History, Culture and Traditions (2009)
~ D.C. Everst Area Schools

This collection of oral history interview is dedicated to the eleven Native Nations of Wisconsin. It includes Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Ojibwe, Oneida, Forest County Potawatomi, and Mohican Nation Stockbridge-Munsee Band. Interviews were taken and assembled by students from the D.C. Everest High School's Oral History Project. Destined to become an important Native American historic reference.

Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder (2002)
~ Kent Nerburn

In this 1996 Minnesota Book Award winner, Kent Nerburn draws the reader deep into the world of an Indian elder known only as Dan. It’s a world of Indian towns, white roadside cafes, and abandoned roads that swirl with the memories of the Ghost Dance and Sitting Bull. Readers meet vivid characters like Jumbo, a 400-pound mechanic, and Annie, an 80-year-old Lakota woman living in a log cabin. Threading through the book is the story of two men struggling to find a common voice. Neither Wolf nor Dog takes readers to the heart of the Native American experience. As the story unfolds, Dan speaks eloquently on the difference between land and property, the power of silence, and the selling of sacred ceremonies

A Nation within a Nation: Voices of the Oneidas in Wisconsin (2010)
~ L. Gordon McLester III and Laurence M. Hauptman

The Oneidas of Wisconsin tell their own story in this richly diverse, authoritative contemporary history. A Nation within a Nation gathers first-person accounts, biographical essays, and scholars’ investigations in a sweeping and provocative consideration of the period of 1900-1969. In the wake of removal from their native New York, the Oneida people settled near what is now Green Bay, on 65,000 acres of commonly held land. But in 1887, the Dawes Act paved the way for a devastating break-up of the reservation, and within a lifetime the Oneidas saw their land holdings plummet to less than 200 acres. Throughout struggles with poverty, oppression, and government interference and assimilationism, Wisconsin Oneidas remained connected as a community and true to their Iroquois roots. They also refused to relinquish their dream of reclaiming their land, and in recent years have not only stopped the land-loss, but have begun to reverse it.

Native People of Wisconsin: Revised and Expanded Edition (2015)
~ Patty Loew

Native People of Wisconsin tells the stories of the twelve Native Nations in Wisconsin, including the Native people's incredible resilience despite rapid change and the impact of European arrivals on Native culture. Young readers will become familiar with the unique cultural traditions, tribal history, and life today for each nation. Complete with maps, illustrations, and a detailed glossary of terms, this highly anticipated new edition includes two new chapters on the Brothertown Indian Nation and urban Indians, as well as updates on each tribe's current history and new profiles of outstanding young people from every nation.

Original Local: Indigenous Foods, Stories, and Recipes from the Upper Midwest (2013)
~ Heid E. Erdrich

Local foods have garnered much attention in recent years, but the concept is hardly new: indigenous peoples have always made the most of nature's gifts. Their menus were truly the "original local," celebrated here in 135 home-tested recipes paired with stories from tribal activists, food researchers, families, and chefs. The innovative recipes collected here—from Maple Baked Cranberry Beans to Three Sisters Salsa, from Manoomin Lasagna to Black and Blue Bison Stew—will inspire home cooks not only to make better use of the foods all around them but also to honor the storied heritage they represent.

People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942 (2014)
~  Tom Jones, Michael Schmudlach, Matthew Daniel Mason, Amy Lonetree, and George A. Greendeer

People of the Big Voice tells the visual history of Ho-Chunk families at the turn of the twentieth century and beyond as depicted through the lens of Black River Falls, Wisconsin studio photographer, Charles Van Schaick. The family relationships between those who “sat for the photographer” are clearly visible in these images—sisters, friends, families, young couples—who appear and reappear to fill in a chronicle spanning from 1879 to 1942. Also included are candid shots of Ho-Chunk on the streets of Black River Falls, outside family dwellings, and at powwows. As author and Ho-Chunk tribal member Amy Lonetree writes, “A significant number of the images were taken just a few short years after the darkest, most devastating period for the Ho-Chunk. Invasion, diseases, warfare, forced assimilation, loss of land, and repeated forced removals from our beloved homelands left the Ho-Chunk people in a fight for their culture and their lives.”

People of the Sturgeon: Wisconsin’s Love Affair with an Ancient Fish (2009)
~ Kathleen Schmitt Kline, Ronald M. Bruch, and Frederick P. Binkowski

People of the Sturgeon tells the poignant story of an ancient fish. Wanton harvest and habitat loss took a heavy toll on these prehistoric creatures until they teetered on the brink of extinction. But, in Wisconsin, lake sturgeon have flourished because of the dedicated work of Department of Natural Resources staff, university researchers and a determined group of spearers known as Sturgeon For Tomorrow. Thanks to these efforts, spearers can still flock by the thousands to frozen Lake Winnebago each winter to take part in a ritual rooted in the traditions of the Menominee and other Wisconsin Indians. A century of sturgeon management on Lake Winnebago has produced the world's largest and healthiest lake sturgeon population. Through a fascinating collection of images, stories and interviews, People of the Sturgeon chronicles the history of this remarkable fish and the cultural traditions it has spawned. The authors introduce a colorful cast of characters with a good fish tale to tell. Color photos by the late Bob Rashid and images from the Wisconsin Historical Society evoke both the magical and the mortal. Weaving together myriad voices and examining the sturgeon's profound cultural impact, the authors reveal how a diverse group of people are now joined together as "people of the sturgeon."

Race, Racism & American Law (2008)
~ Derrick A. Bell

The Sixth Edition of this innovative text written by Derrick Bell continues to provide students with insight into the issues surrounding race in America and an understanding of how the law interprets those issues as well as the factors that directly and indirectly influence the law. The first casebook published specifically for teaching race related law courses, Race, Racism, and American Law is engaging, offering hard-hitting enlightenment, and is an unparalleled teaching tool. Among the features that have made this text a success with both students and instructors through five editions over 35 years: (a) Clear and readable text along with a participatory approach that encourages discussion of unresolved and perhaps unresolvable racial issues; (b) Interdisciplinary excerpts from historical, sociological, and psychological publications that provide comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the subject; (c) and in this edition pose the question of the law’s limitations in remedying current racial barriers. The presentations promote learning by teaching experience that enables students to realize the complex nature and consequences of racism in the United States. Commentary on the Supreme Court's conception of a color-blind society and its adverse effects on school desegregation, voting, employment, and affirmative action. Alternatives to integration in achieving the goal of equal educational opportunity. The absence or inadequacy of remedies for racial barriers facing Latino, Asian and Native American citizens. Discussion of Professor Lani Guinier's advocacy of proportional representation over majority-minority districts. The uses of nooses as racial intimidation symbols replacing flaming crosses. Racial priorities in Hurricane Katrina rescue and recovery policies. The legal ramifications of the disproportionately high percentage of blacks and Hispanics in American prisons Legal and social barriers to blacks and Latinos seeking to challenge employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. The growing acceptance and continued hostility to interracial sex and marriage. The vulnerability of black and Latino buyers to consumer schemes and sub-prime mortgages. The limited value of racial protests during a time of war and national crisis. 

The Relentless Business of Treaties: How Indigenous Land Became U.S. Property (2018)
~ Martin Case

The story of "western expansion" is a familiar one: U.S. government agents, through duplicity and force, persuaded Native Americans to sign treaties that gave away their rights to the land. But this framing, argues Martin Case, hides a deeper story. Land cession treaties were essentially the act of supplanting indigenous kinship relationships to the land with a property relationship. And property is the organizing principle upon which U.S. society is based.U.S. signers represented the relentless interests that drove treaty making: corporate and individual profit, political ambition, and assimilationist assumptions of cultural superiority. The lives of these men illustrate the assumptions inherent in the property system–and the dynamics by which it spread across the continent. In this book, for the first time, Case provides a comprehensive study of the treaty signers, exposing their business ties and multigenerational interrelationships through birth and marriage. Taking Minnesota as a case study, he describes the groups that shaped U.S. treaty making to further their own interests: interpreters, traders, land speculators, bureaucrats, officeholders, missionaries, and mining, timber, and transportation companies. Odds are, the deed to the land under your home rests on this system.

Seventh Generation Earth Ethics: Native Voices of Wisconsin (2014)
~Patty Loew

Wisconsin’s rich tradition of sustainability rightfully includes its First Americans, who along with Aldo Leopold, John Muir, and Gaylord Nelson shaped its landscape and informed its “earth ethics.” This collection of Native biographies, one from each of the twelve Indian nations of Wisconsin, introduces the reader to some of the most important figures in Native sustainability: from anti-mining activists like Walt Bresette (Red Cliff Ojibwe) and Hillary Waukau (Menominee) to treaty rights advocates like James Schlender (Lac Courte Oreille Ojibwe), artists like Truman Lowe (Ho-Chunk), and educators like Dorothy “Dot” Davids (Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians), along with tribal geneologists, land stewards, and preservers of language and culture. Each of the biographies speaks to traditional ecological values and cultural sensibilities, highlighting men and women who helped to sustain and nurture their nations in the past and present.

The Seventh Generation: Native Students Speak About Finding the Good Path (2003)
~ Amy Bergstrom, Linda Miller Cleary, and Thomas D. Peacock

This book is based on interviews with 120 Native youth from across North America. Written especially for today's Native middle and high school students, the authors share students' stories of life's challenges and their struggles to find and stay on the Good Path. They focus especially on how students developed strong Native identities; coped with troubles in their families, communities, and schools; reached their breaking points or responded resiliently to high-pressure situations; learned to appreciate their own intellectual gifts and abilities; and met the academic and social challenges they encountered in school. Interspersed throughout the book are short fictional "teaching stories" meant to illustrate common dilemmas faced by Native youth and how the characters responded.

Skunk Hill: A Native Ceremonial Community in Wisconsin (2015)
~ Robert A. Birmingham

Rising above the countryside of Wood County, Wisconsin, Powers Bluff is a large outcrop of quartzite rock that resisted the glaciers that flattened the surrounding countryside. It is an appropriate symbol for the Native people who once lived on its slopes, quietly resisting social forces that would have crushed and eroded their culture. A large band of Potawatomi, many returnees from the Kansas Prairie Band Potawatomi reservation, established the village of Tah-qua-kik or Skunk Hill in 1905 on the 300-foot-high bluff, up against the oddly shaped rocks that topped the hill and protected the community from the cold winter winds. In Skunk Hill, archeologist Robert A. Birmingham traces the largely unknown story of this community, detailing the role it played in preserving Native culture through a harsh period of US Indian policy from the 1880s to 1930s. The story’s central focus is the Drum Dance, also known as the Dream Dance or Big Drum, a pan-tribal cultural revitalization movement that swept the Upper Midwest during the Great Suppression, emphasizing Native values and rejecting the vices of the white world. Though the community disbanded by the 1930s, the site, now on the National Register of Historic Places with two dance circles still visible on the grounds, stands as testimony to the efforts of its members to resist cultural assimilation. 

The Story of Act 31: How Native History Came to Wisconsin Classrooms (2018)
~ J P Leary

From forward-thinking resolution to violent controversy and beyond. Since its passage in 1989, a state law known as Act 31 requires that all students in Wisconsin learn about the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of Wisconsin’s federally recognized tribes. The Story of Act 31 tells the story of the law’s inception—tracing its origins to a court decision in 1983 that affirmed American Indian hunting and fishing treaty rights in Wisconsin, and to the violent public outcry that followed the court’s decision. Author J P Leary paints a picture of controversy stemming from past policy decisions that denied generations of Wisconsin students the opportunity to learn about tribal history.

Teaching What Really Happened: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History (2009)
~ James W. Loewen

In this follow-up to his landmark bestseller, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, James Loewen continues to break silences and change our perspectives on U.S. history. Loewen takes history textbooks to task for their perpetuations of myth and their lack of awareness of today's multicultural student audience (not to mention the astonishing number of facts they just got plain wrong). How did people get here? Why did Europe win? Why Did the South Secede? In Teaching What Really Happened, Loewen goes beyond the usual textbook-dominated viewpoints to illuminate a wealth of intriguing, often hidden facts about America's past. Calling for a new way to teach history, this book will help teachers move beyond traditional textbooks to tackle difficult but important topics like conflicts with Native Americans, slavery, and race relations. Throughout, Loewen shows time and again how teaching what really happened connects better with all kinds of students to get them excited about history.

There There (2018)
~ Tommy Orange

Tommy Orange’s shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to each other in ways they may not yet realize. There is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and working to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, who is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death, has come to work at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil has come to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American—grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, utterly contemporary and always unforgettable.

Water Panthers, Bears, and Thunderbird: Exploring Wisconsin’s Effigy Mounds (2003)
~ Bobbie and Amy Rosebrough

Based on recent archaeological interpretation, this standards-based resource enriches material covered in Native People of Wisconsin. Water Panthers, Bears, and Thunderbirds introduces young readers to effigy mound sites in five southern Wisconsin counties. Suggested activities encourage students to graph, compare, contrast, and analyze the ways these mound groups vary from county to county.

We Are Still Here: A Photographic History of the American Indian Movement (2013)
~ Laura Waterman Wittstock (Author), Dick Bancroft (Photographer), Rigoberto Menchu Tum (Introduction)

The American Indian Movement, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, burst into that turbulent time with passion, anger, and radical acts of resistance. Spurred by the Civil Rights movement, Native people began to protest the decades—centuries—of corruption, racism, and abuse they had endured. They argued for political, social, and cultural change, and they got attention. The photographs of activist Dick Bancroft, a key documentarian of AIM, provide a stunningly intimate view of this major piece of American history from 1970 to 1981. Veteran journalist Laura Waterman Wittstock, who participated in events in Washington, DC, has interviewed a host of surviving participants to tell the stories behind the images.

Why You Can't Teach United States History without American Indians (2015)
~ Edited by Susan Sleeper-Smith, Juliana Barr, Jean M. O'Brien, Nancy Shoemaker, and Scott Manning Stevens

A resource for all who teach and study history, this book illuminates the unmistakable centrality of American Indian history to the full sweep of American history. The nineteen essays gathered in this collaboratively produced volume, written by leading scholars in the field of Native American history, reflect the newest directions of the field and are organized to follow the chronological arc of the standard American history survey. Contributors reassess major events, themes, groups of historical actors, and approaches--social, cultural, military, and political--consistently demonstrating how Native American people, and questions of Native American sovereignty, have animated all the ways we consider the nation's past. The uniqueness of Indigenous history, as interwoven more fully in the American story, will challenge students to think in new ways about larger themes in U.S. history, such as settlement and colonization, economic and political power, citizenship and movements for equality, and the fundamental question of what it means to be an American.

Wisconsin Indian Literature: Anthology of Native Voices (2006)
~ Edited by Kathleen Tigerman and Foreward by Jim Ottery

Literature of the Indian Nations of Wisconsin is a unique anthology that presents the oral traditions, legends, speeches, myths, histories, literature, and historically significant documents of the current twelve independent bands and Indian Nations of Wisconsin. Kathleen Tigerman sought input from tribe elders and educators to provide an accurate chronological portrait of each nation, including the Siouan Ho-Chunk; the Algonquian Menominee, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi; and three groups originally from what is now New York State: the Iroquoian Oneida, the Stockbridge-Munsee band of the Mohican Nations, and the Brothertown Nation. Some of these works feature a cultural hero or refer to very ancient times—more than six thousand years ago—and others are contemporary. These pieces focus on issues of Wisconsin Native communities by sharing Native knowledge and dialogue about sovereignty, decolonization, cultural genocide, forced removals, assimilation, and other concerns. This anthology introduces us to a vivid and unforgettable group of voices, enhanced by many maps, photographs, and chronologies. Literature of the Indian Nations of Wisconsin fosters cross-cultural understanding among non-Native readers and the people of the First Nations.

Wisconsin Indians: Revised and Expanded Edition (2002)
~ Nancy Oestreich Lurie with Foreword by Francis Paul Prucha

This best-selling short history of Wisconsin's native peoples is now updated and expanded to include events through the end of the twentieth century. From the treaty-making era to the reawakening of tribal consciousness in the 1960s to the profound changes brought about by Indian gaming, Lurie’s classic account remains the best concise treatment of the subject.