Recommended Reading
non-exhaustive lists
Adult Fiction and Non-Fiction
We Are Still Here by Dick Bancroft and Laura Waterman Wittstock
A Dictionary of the Ojibway Language by Frederic Baraga
The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway by Edward Benton-Banai
Daybreak Woman by Jane Lamm Carroll
My Grandfather's Knocking Sticks by Brenda Child
To Banish Forever by Cathy Coats
In the Beginning, the Sun by Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa)
If the Dead Belong Here by Carson Faust
Girl Warrior: On Coming of Age by Joy Harjo
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
The Manitous: The Spiritual World Of The Ojibway by Basil Johnston
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Bad Indians Book Club: Reading at the Edge of a Thousand Worlds by Patty Krawec
Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future by Patty Krawec
Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity by Joseph Lee
Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The Trail of Nenaboozho: And Other Creation Stories by Isaac Murdoch
There There by Tommy Orange
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
You Were Made for This World: Celebrated Indigenous Voices Speak to Young People by Stephanie Sinclair and Sara Sinclair
Plums or Nuts: Ojibwe Stories of Anishinaabe Humor by Larry Amik Smallwood and Michael Migizi Sullivan Sr.
The Fry Site: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Perspectives on the Maumee River Ottawa of Northwest Ohio by David M. Stothers and Patrick M. Tucker
Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer
The Language Warrior's Manifesto by Anton Treuer
Two Old Women by Velma Wallis
Mni Sota Makoce by Gwen Westerman and Bruce White
They Would Not Be Moved: The Enduring Struggle of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to Keep Their Reservation by Bruce White
"A Child of the Indian Race" by Sandy White Hawk
Spirit Car by Diane Wilson
Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden by Gilbert L. Wilson
Following my Spirit Home by Sam and Travis Zimmerman
Children’s Fiction and Non-Fiction
The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway by Edward Benton-Banai
Bud Finds Her Gift by Robin Wall Kimmerer; Illustrated by Naoko Stoop
Josie Dances by Denise Lajimodiere; Illustrated by Angela Erdrich
The Four Hills of Life by Thomas Peacock and Marlene Wisuri
The Good Path: Ojibwe Learning and Activity Book for Kids by Thomas Peacock and Marlene Wisuri
The Naming of Aki by Thomas Peacock; Illustrations by Allison Horner
Across the Ice: How We Saved the Ojibwe Horse by Darcy Whitecrow and Heather M. O'Connor; Illustrated by Natasha Donovan
How the Birds Got Their Songs (Bilingual edition) by Travis Zimmerman; Illustrations by Sam Zimmerman (Zhaawanoogiizhik)
Other Children’s Book Lists
Established in 2006 by Dr. Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical analysis of Indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books. Dr. Jean Mendoza joined AICL as a co-editor in 2016
A critically reviewed list of American Indian-authored books for children, young adults, and educators. Also includes a list of not-recommended books.
Recommended Reading from Ottawa History Class Discussions
Please note that some of these titles may be out of print and may only be available secondhand or through libraries.
The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway by Edward Benton-Banai
The Ottawas - Past, Present and Future, 1870-1980 by Lewis H. Barlow, Charles Dawes, Tom Doyle
Tribal Dispossession and the Ottawa Indian University Fraud by William E. Unrau and H. Craig Miner.
The Ottawa Indians of Oklahoma and Chief Pontiac by Norman G. Holmes
Sparks from Ottawa Campfires: Meaning of the Name Pontiac by
Walter King, Sr.