Books by Native American & Indigenous Creators

Xelena González practices the healing arts through writing and movement. She is a storyteller, dancer, and visiting author who centers self-love in her multi-disciplinary workshops for all ages. Her award-winning picture books include All Around Us and Where Wonder Grows. A former librarian and enrolled member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, Xelena has become a sought-after speaker on topics such as radical self love, creative early literacy strategies, inhabiting story through music and movement, and reclaiming indigenous identity in Latinx communities. She still lives in San Antonio, where she grew up. Find out more at xelena.space.

Tim Tingle is an Oklahoma Choctaw, an award-winning storyteller, and the author of more than twenty books for children, teenagers, and adults. His titles have been recognized by the American Indian Youth Literature Award four times and nominated for numerous state awards. He received his master's degree from the University of Oklahoma with a focus in American Indian Studies. Tingle lives in Texas. Visit his website at timtingle.com.

Jeanne Rorex Bridges traces her heritage back to Cherokee ancestors. Her work is nationally known and has won many awards in Native American art shows, including the 2005 Best of Show at the Five Civilized Tribes Museum. Crossing Bok Chitto is her first children's book, for which she was named Oklahoma Illustrator of the Year in 2007. She lives in eastern Oklahoma, and find her at rorexbridgesstudio.com.

Chief Jake Swamp (Tekaronianeken) was a founder of the Tree of Peace Society, an international organization promoting peace and conservation. Chief Swamp delivered the Thanksgiving Address throughout the world, as well as at the United Nations. He was born on the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation in upstate New York, and lived in Hogansburg, NY where he worked as a cultural adviser for the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne's Child and Family Services. Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message was his first picture book. He passed away in October 2010.

Erwin Printup is a Cayuga/Tuscarora painter who received a degree in fine arts from the Institute of American Indian Art, in Santa Fe, NM. Born in Niagara Falls, he now lives in Lewiston, NY. Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message is his first picture book.

Judith Lowry is a nationally exhibited painter of Mountain Maidu, Hamawi Pit-River, and Australian descent. Considered one of California’s premiere contemporary Native American artists, she is inspired by the stories passed down in her family. Judith lives in Nevada City, California.

The late Charlene Willing McManis (1953-2018) was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in Los Angeles. She was of Umpqua tribal heritage and enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Charlene served in the U.S. Navy and later received her bachelor's degree in Native American Education. She lived with her family in Vermont and served on that state's Commission on Native American Affairs. In 2016, Charlene received a mentorship with award-winning poet and author Margarita Engle through We Need Diverse Books. That manuscript became this novel, which is based on her family's experiences after their tribe was terminated in 1954. She passed away in 2018, knowing that her friend Traci Sorell would complete the revisions Charlene was unable to finish.

Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction books as well as poems for children. Her lyrical story in verse, At the Mountain's Base, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Kokila, 2019), celebrates the bonds of family and the history of history-making women pilots, including Millie Rexroat (Oglala Lakota). Her middle grade novel, Indian No More, with Charlene Willing McManis (Tu Books, 2019), explores the impact of federal termination and relocation policies on an Umpqua family in the 1950s. Traci's debut nonfiction picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge, 2018), won a Sibert Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Honor and an Orbis Pictus Honor. It also received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, The Horn Book and Shelf Awareness. A former federal Indian law attorney and policy advocate, she is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma where her tribe is located. For more about Traci and her other works, visit tracisorell.com.

Sunshine Tenasco is Anishinaabe from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, Quebec, Canada. She is a mom of four kids and a clean water activist. A portion of the profits from her handmade beadwork pendants go to a foundation that strives for a better environment for all. She also conducts workshops where she teaches beadwork and talks about the realities Indigenous people face in Canada, particularly around water access. Nibi’s Water Song is her first book. Visit her website at herbraids.com.

Chief Lady Bird is a Chippewa and Potawatomi artist from Rama First Nation and Moose Deer Point First Nation. The first artist to create an emoji for Twitter for Indigenous Peoples Day/Indigenous History Month, she uses digital illustration, mixed-media work, street art/murals, and community-based workshops to center contemporary truths and envision Indigenous Futurisms. You can find her online as @chiefladybird.

Simon J. Ortiz is a Puebloan writer of the Acoma Pueblo tribe, and one of the key figures in the second wave of what has been called the Native American Renaissance. Ortiz has published many books of poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction, but The People Shall Continue is his only book for young readers. His writing focuses on modern people’s alienation from others, from oneself, and from one’s environment—urging humanity to reconnect the wisdom of ancestral spirits and with Mother Earth. Ortiz lives in Tempe, Arizona.

Sharol Graves is a multimedia artist who creates innovative paintings, serigraphs and computer-generated artworks. She studied art at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico during high school and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Mills College in Oakland, California. Her artwork has been shown throughout the U.S. since 1977. Her Native American Indian lineage includes Chief Tecumseh of the Shawnee Tribe and Chief Peter Graves of the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe. She is a member of the Absentee Shawnee tribe.

EdNah New Rider Weber "Wolf Clan Woman," is a respected Native American elder and storyteller. She was born into the Skidi band of the Pawnee Nation and raised on the Crown Point Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. Weber has traveled all over the United States sharing stories of her childhood and life. She is also a gifted beadworker whose work has been recognized internationally and is featured in Lois Sherr Dubin's preeminent North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment. Weber lives with her family in Tucson, Arizona.

George Littlechild is an internationally renowned artist from the Plains Cree Nation. His first book for Children's Book Press, This Land Is My Land (1993), was the winner of both the prestigious Jane Addams Picture Book Award, and the National Parenting Publications Gold Medal. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Carla J. S. Messinger (Turtle Clan Lenape) is a cultural educator and the director of Native American Heritage Programs. She lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania, with her husband Allan and daughter Joy. You can visit her online at lenapeprograms.info.

David Kanietakeron Fadden (Wolf Clan Mohawk) was born in Lake Placid, New York, and grew up in nearby Onchiota in a family of artists, naturalists, and storytellers. David’s illustrations have appeared in books, periodicals, animations, and on television. He also works as the Museum Coordinator at the Native North American Travelling College and helps run his grandfather’s museum, the Six Nations Indian Museum, during the summer months. David lives in Akwesasne, Ontario, Canada. His artwork is online at 6nicc.com.

Richard Van Camp is a young writer and member of the Dogrib Nation from the Northwest Territories, Canada. He is a graduate of the University of Victoria and the En'owkin International School of Writing. He recently published his first novel and his stories have been featured in many collections.

Alejandro Martinez was a promising young Zapotec poet who spent many years collecting the oral traditions of his people, including the story of Lucia Zeneno. He published his own version of the story as a poem in 1986. Alejandro was killed in 1987 while organizing the Zapotec to regain their lost water rights.