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It’s nearly the end of Native American Heritage Month, and although we like to celebrate and read Indigenous authors yearround, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to feature some of our favorite recent nonfiction titles that center Indigenous stories. This is a list filled with books that highlight reclamation, identity, sexuality, climate, and white supremacy (to only name a few) via oral storytelling, art, music, poetry, and interview (to only name a few). This is by no means an exhaustive list (of titles or subjects), merely a starting point to encourage you to keep reading, keep exploring, and keep learning from Native American voices.

In his foreword to this important new book that looks at the history of gender and sexuality within Indigenous communities, Gregory D. Smithers writes: “In spite of five centuries of colonialism, it is still possible for Two-Spirit people to reclaim their traditions, identities, roles and their sacred status. For other Native people the term "Two-Spirit" is a starting point for telling new stories.” In Reclaiming Two-Spirits, Smithers explores the history of the Two-Spirit identity — Indigenous people whose identity spans multiple genders — and how the violence of colonization turned this identity (one that didn’t conflate sex and gender) from something that was commonly accepted into something that was best kept a secret. Incredibly informative — and devastating — I’m grateful this book exists. — Moses M.

An incredible, and incredibly powerful, memoir, from Sasha taq^wšeblu LaPointe, a Coast Salish woman and Indigenous artist who has spent her life searching for home and a sense of community. LaPointe weaves her story of loss and healing alongside the story of her ancestor, her great-grandmother, who lost her family to smallpox. This juxtaposition does so much within the book, letting the historical and more modern cultures collide. As she writes about ancestors, she also writes about Twin Peaks and The Goonies, Bikini Kill and Joy Division and Nick Cave. This is a deftly written, beautiful book. — Kelsey F.

For more, check out the recording our event with Sasha taq^wšeblu LaPointe.

We Refuse to Forget is a book about how “white supremacy divides marginalized groups and pits them against each other.” Author Caleb Gayle looks at the history of Black members of the Creek Nation — how they were granted citizenship rights within the Nation in 1866, how those rights were challenged with the 1887 Dawes Act, and how the Nation’s constitution ultimately disenfranchised them. Through his profile of Black members of the tribe and their ongoing battle to preserve their legacy, Gayle manages to also write about colonialism, racism, and capitalism (just to name a few heavy themes he gets at), as well as the complicated, multi-valent nature of identity — a question Gayle is familiar with as a Black American of Jamaican descent from Oklahoma, and one he reflects on throughout the book. This is an important contribution to the history of Indigenous and Black Americans — Lucinda G.

For more, check out an interview with the author.

If I could, I would shelve this book in every applicable section, so as to get the maximum number of eyes on it! It is certainly welcome in the climate change section, as its overarching theme is the threat of rising seas to Guam and other Pacific Island nations. I'd also welcome it in US History, where you can learn about our government's treatment of Guam, its people, its resources. Literature Reference? Yep, the book is full of loving recommendations. Poetry? Obviously, the book is full of impactful poems. Julian Aguon is a remarkable writer — so open-hearted and full of fierce love for his home island, for books, for people, for the planet. I am blown away. — Lesley A.

I've been a fan of Adrienne Keene's work for a long time, and was so delighted to get my hands on her book (and read her thoughtful reflections on release that also served as a look back at over ten years of her work at Native Appropriations). Notable Native People is a stunningly illustrated compendium of profiles of 50 American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian individuals. It's a book that's accessible for kids, and bound to teach adults about the lives of powerful, often-overlooked leaders, artists, advocates, and more. — Michelle C.

This important collection of interviews with 20 Indigenous voices on climate change manages to be informative, beautiful, and hopeful for the future, all at once. The interviews compiled here ask necessary questions about the climate — how did we get here, and how do we move forward? Contributors highlight that damage to the environment isn’t a new phenomenon, but also that the Earth has survived despite us for so long, and will continue to do so (whether humans survive, however, is a different question). A vitally important new source of Indigenous wisdom, filled with moving and educational insight and deep respect for our environment. — Moses M.

Author Jessica Hernandez PhD, an Indigenous environmental scientist, has given us an important new book on how Indigenous voices have long been ignored when it comes to the climate, and how important it is that we make sure there’s room for them at the table when trying to come up with solutions for our in-danger world. This is an educational, thoughtfully put together book; when I finished it, I felt like I came away with a better idea of our world and a potential way into a hopeful future. — Lucinda G.

We loved this in hardcover and we love it in paperback, everything we said last year still stands:

Elissa Washuta’s collection of essays blends the personal and the political as she traces how her own struggles relate to her peoples’. Magic and popular culture are also waypoints on the journey that Washuta charts with both charm and an at times brutal honesty. This is both a memoir and a thoughtful exploration of different cultures, and the spaces between them.

This is an important, moving memoir from Brandi Morin, an activist and a journalist (among other titles!). Morin doesn’t flinch away from the hard parts of her story. She writes about intergenerational trauma, colonialism, sexual assault — and still manages to come away from all of that with a sense of hope. This is a deeply affecting work; the fact that it exists is an extreme act of generosity from the author. — Kelsey F.

Whenever a writer is generous enough to sit down and take us through their world and how they look at their writing, I make sure to listen. It’s such a gift. And when that gift comes from a writer like Joy Harjo? This book, Catching the Light, is a true light from such a brilliant poet, and I’m grateful. — Kelsey F.