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These books by local Indigenous authors should be on your reading list
Plus, tell us what books we should add to the booklist.
New England is home to more than a dozen Native American tribes who are an important part of the region’s history and contemporary culture. This month, as the country celebrates Native American Heritage Month, we want to recognize the work of Indigenous writers in New England.
We spoke with booksellers at Newtonville Books, Porter Square Books, and The Book Shop of Beverly Farms who shared books written by or about Native Americans in New England so you can add them to your reading list.
Also on this list are recommendations from librarians at the Boston Public Library, who recently released Native Lives, Native Stories, a booklist of recent titles focusing on “the cultures, histories, experiences, and diversity of the Native American communities.”
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The 12 titles on this list include adult and children’s fiction, photography books, and oral histories that shed light on local Native history and culture. If you know of more books that do the same, share them and we’ll add them to the list.
“Blood Sisters” by Vanessa Lillie
Vanessa Lillie is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma who now lives on Narragansett land in Rhode Island. Her newest novel is about a Native American archaeologist working in Rhode Island who gets called back to Oklahoma to investigate the murder of two women, one of whom is her sister.
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“For a heart-pounding, page-turning thriller, try ‘Blood Sisters.’ It’s a suspenseful read that subtly educates you on land rights, Cherokee history, and the plague of violence against Native women,” said Mary Cotton, owner of Newtonville Books.
Buy it at Newtonville Books.
“Dawnland Voices: An Anthology of Indigenous Writing from New England,” edited by Siobhan Senier
Pick up this book “if you’re looking for a big tome that contains a multitude of voices,” said Newtonville Books owner Mary Cotton. This anthology includes classic and contemporary writing from ten New England indigenous nations: the Abenaki, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Mohegan, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Schaghticoke, and Wampanoag. Working with Native tribal historians, Siobhan Senier reminds readers that Native stories are important parts of history and the present day.
Buy it at Newtonville Books.
“Night of the Living Rez” by Morgan Talty
This short story collection tells 12 linked stories about members of the Penobscot Indian Nation living in Maine. Each story demonstrates the economic insecurity, mental illness, addiction, and trauma, that touches every member of the community with a compassion that can only be shown by someone who’s experienced it personally. Talty was previously a featured author for Boston.com’s Book Club. “Night of the Living Rez” was the winner of the New England Book Award and is on the Boston Public Library’s Native Lives, Native Voices booklist.
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“[Talty] is a Mainer who’s really taken the literary world by storm with his collection of short stories that provides a gritty look at life in Maine’s largest native community,” said Sam Pfeifle, co-owner of The Book Shop of Beverly Farms.
Buy it at The Book Shop of Beverly Farms.
“Occupying Massachusetts: Layers of History on Indigenous Land” by Sandra Matthews, essays by David Brule and Suzanne Gardinier
This book captures images of rural Massachusetts and asks readers to think deeply about what it means to exist and build on stolen land. Newtonville Books owner Mary Cotton said she first spotted this “beautiful photography book” at a booth for the Nolumbeka Project, a tribal heritage group based out of Pocumtuck Nation homelands in Western Massachusetts, and was immediately impressed.
Buy it at Newtonville Books.
“Spirits of America” by Andromeda Lisle
Cambridge-based artist Andromeda Lisle created this visual book to preserve and educate about Native American animal lore. The book is for all ages and aims to make Native myths “as prevalent in American culture as Eurocentric myths and lore.” This book was recommended by Josh Cook, a bookseller and co-owner of Porter Square Books in Cambridge.
Buy it at Porter Square Books.
“Still They Remember Me” by Carol A. Dana, Margo Lukens, and Conor M. Quinn
This invaluable oral history of Maine’s Penobscot Nation includes thirteen stories from Penobscot people in the early twentieth century as told to anthropologist Frank Speck, who first published them in 1918. The book expands on the original publication by presenting the stories in the Penobscot language and English side-by-side and including illustrations from members of the tribal community.
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Carol A. Dana, one of the book’s authors, identifies as Penobscot, according to Jordan Draves, a librarian at the Boston Public Library. This book was featured in the library’s 2022 Native Lives, Native Voices list.
Find it at your local library or independent bookstore.
“The Berry Pickers” by Amanda Peters
In 1962, a Mi’kmaq family from Canada travels to Maine to pick blueberries for the summer and their youngest child goes missing. Meanwhile, Norma, the only child to a wealthy Maine family, begins to suspect her parents are hiding something. The author, Amanda Peters, is of Mi’kmaq ancestry. The Mi’kmaq are indigenous to much of Canada’s Atlantic provinces. In America, they consist of Native Americans in the northeastern region of Maine. This book came highly recommended by Josh Cook, a bookseller and co-owner of Porter Square Books in Cambridge.
Buy it at Porter Square Books.
“The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving” by Larry Spotted Crow Mann
Draves also recommends this book by Nipmuc Native author Larry Spotted Crow Mann. Nipmuc is an Indigenous group, whose historic territory includes central Massachusetts as well as parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island. In this novel, Neempau, a Native American Nipmuc man, fights to bring an end to Thanksgiving while battling personal demons and navigating a complicated family life.
Find it at your local library or independent bookstore.
“To Shape a Dragon’s Breath” by Moniquill Blackgoose
This is the first book in the new Nampeshiweisit fantasy series. A gifted young Indigenous woman is accepted into a colonizer-run dragon academy, where she is immediately at odds with the powers that be. When she finds and bonds with the first dragon hatchling in generations, she is forced to come to terms with her newfound power. The book’s author Moniquill Blackgoose is an enrolled member of the Seaconke Wampanoag Tribe.
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Mary Cotton of Newtonville Books said, “Grown-up fans of ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ ‘Wings of Fire,’ and Octavia Butler will love this new series.”
Buy it at Newtonville Books.
Children’s and Middle Grade
“Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” by Linda Coombs
Learn about the beginnings of American history from the perspective of the New England Indigenous Nations that existed long before European settlers arrived in North America. The book’s author, Linda Coombs, is a historian from the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah and lives in the Wampanoag community of Mashpee on Cape Cod. This book was recommended for young readers by Josh Cook, a bookseller and co-owner of Porter Square Books in Cambridge.
Buy it at Porter Square Books.
“Crossing the Starlight Bridge” by Alice Mead
Rayanne Sunipass is a Native American girl happily living on Two Rivers Island with her mother. When she and her mother have to move from the island to mainland Maine, Rayanne struggles to adjust to the new culture. Sam Pfeifle, co-owner of The Book Shop of Beverly Farms, recommends this book for young readers who want to learn more about Maine’s Native community.
Buy it at The Book Shop of Beverly Farms.
“Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun’s Thanksgiving Story” by Danielle Greendeer, Anthony Perry, and Alexis C. Bunten, illustrated by Garry Meeches Sr.
The story of the first Thanksgiving is told to every young person in the country, but rarely from the perspective of the Native people involved. This picture book tells the story of Thanksgiving from the Mashpee Wampanoag perspective. In it, the corn spirit Weeâchumun and her sisters teach the Pilgrims how to plant corn, beans, and squash. While the settlers celebrate the time of harvest with a feast, the book explains why the first Thanksgiving is remembered as a day of mourning for the Wampanoag.
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This book was recommended by booksellers from Newtonville Books and Porter Square Books and is featured on this year’s Native Lives, Native Voices booklist under Children’s Picture Books.
What are your favorite books by a Native American author?
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