Home » 10 Books for National Indigenous History Month

Share this post!

10 Books for National Indigenous History Month

In honour of National Indigenous History Month, Read Alberta has compiled a selection of books that centre Indigenous voices, perspectives and stories. We encourage you to read these stories throughout the year, and look for more recommendations from your local bookseller. 

 

Memory and Landscape edited by Kenneth L. Pratt and Scott A. Heyes

Memory and Landscape explores how Indigenous peoples in the Arctic have adapted to challenging circumstances, including past cultural and environmental changes. In this beautifully illustrated volume, contributors document how Indigenous communities maintain and strengthen their cultural identity while also embracing forces of disruption.

Memory and Landscape: Indigenous Responses to a Changing North

Published: Oct 31, 2022 by Athabasca University Press
ISBN: 9781771993159

Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle. Available as an accessible eBook

Tales for Late Night Bonfires by G.A. Grisenthwaite

Tales for Late Night Bonfires is a collection of curious, uncanny tales blending Indigenous oral storytelling with meticulous literary style. These are stories that are a little bit larger than life, or maybe they really happened. Tales that could be told ’round the campfire, each one-upping the next.

Tales for Late Night Bonfires

G.A. Grisenthwaite (CA), Gord Grisenthwaite

Published: Sep 01, 2023 by Freehand Books
ISBN: 9781990601378

Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle. Available as an accessible eBook

Spirit Animals, Meanings & Stories By Wayne Arthurson

Our Aboriginal Elders tell of a time when animals and humans could speak to each other. When humans became too greedy and killed more animals than they needed for food, the Creator changed that relationship to protect the animals. So the Creator made a Spirit Animal to represent each one and granted them gifts they could give to people. This book is a guide, and the meanings of the Spirit Animals featured here are only one interpretation. 

Spirit Animals: Meanings & Stories

Wayne Arthurson (CA)

Published: Jun 15, 2015 by Eschia Books
ISBN: 9781926696263

Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle. Available as an accessible eBook

The Riel Problem by Albert Braz

Tracing Louis Riel’s metamorphosis from traitor to hero, Braz argues that, through his writing, Riel resists his portrayal as both a Canadian patriot and a pan-Indigenous leader. After being hanged for high treason in 1885, the Métis politician, poet, and mystic has emerged as a quintessential Canadian champion. The Riel Problem maps this representational shift by examining a series of cultural and scholarly commemorations of Riel since 1967.

The Riel Problem: Canada, the Métis, and a Resistant Hero

Albert Braz (CA)

Published: Mar 28, 2024 by University of Alberta Press
ISBN: 9781772127331

Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle. Available as an accessible eBook

We Remember the Coming of the White Man by S. Steward, R. Yakeleya

We Remember the Coming of the White Man chronicles the history of the Sahtú (Mountain Dene) and Gwinch’in People in the extraordinary time of the early 20th century. This 2021 Special Edition of the book recognizes the anniversary of the signing of Treaty 11, which is greatly controversial due to the emotional and economic fallout for the People. The remastered film “We Remember,” is included with the book, on DVD and as digital Vimeo links. As well as poignant essays on Treaty 11, the book includes transcripts of oral histories by Elders. They talk about the early days of fur trading and guns; the flu pandemic; and dismay about the way oil and uranium discoveries and pipelines were handled on their land.

We Remember the Coming of the White Man: Special Edition in Recognition of the 100th Anniversary of the Signing of Treaty 11

Raymond Yakeleya (CA), Elizabeth Yakeleya (CA), Simon Sarah (CA)

Published: Mar 21, 2021 by Durvile Publications
ISBN: 9781988824635

 

ÎETHKA: Stories and Language in Stoney Nakoda Country by Valentina Fox, Îyâ Sa Wîyâ and Trent Fox, Tataga Thkan Wagishi

This book features the Stoney Nakoda First Nation language in context and in action. The book contains a collection of stories and teachings by Trent and Valentina Fox, ranging from memories of grouse hunts to the desperate challenges of residential school. Each chapter culminates in a learning quiz and to assist in nuances of the language and the book includes audio components as web links.

Iethka: Stories & Language in Stoney Nakoda Country

Valentina Fox (CA), Trent Fox (CA)

Published: Jun 01, 2024 by Durvile Publications Ltd.
ISBN: 9781990735455

Those Who Know by Dianne Meili

The Elders in Those Who Know have devoted their lives to preserving the wisdom and spirituality of their ancestors. Despite insult and oppression, they have maintained forbidden practices for the betterment of not just Indigenous Peoples, but all humankind. First published in 1991, Dianne Meili’s book remains an essential portrait of men and women who have lived on the trapline, in the army, in a camp on the move, in jail, in residential schools, and on the reserve, all the while counselling, praying, fasting, healing, and helping to birth further generations.

Those Who Know: Profiles of Alberta's Aboriginal Elders (20th Anniversary Edition)

Dianne Meili (CA)

Published: May 15, 2012 by NeWest Press
ISBN: 9781927063132

Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle. Available as an accessible eBook

Remembering Our Relations by Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation with Sabina Trimble and Peter Fortna

Remembering Our Relations tells the history of Wood Buffalo National Park from a Dene perspective and within the context of Treaty 8. Oral history and testimony from Dene Elders, knowledge-holders, leaders, and community members place Dënesųłıné voices first. With supporting archival research, this book demonstrates how the founding, expansion, and management of Wood Buffalo National Park fits into a wider pattern of promises broken by settler colonial governments managing land use throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Remembering Our Relations: Dënesųłıné Oral Histories of Wood Buffalo National Park

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (CA)

Published: Dec 22, 2023 by University of Calgary Press
ISBN: 9781773854113

Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle. Available as an accessible eBook

Great Chiefs Vol I by Tony Hollihan

Great Chiefs Vol 1 is a tribute to the courageous chiefs and warriors who fought to protect their people and preserve the Native way of life in the face of European expansion across North America. Covering the life and death of six important Indigenous leaders, the book fleshes out the major historical events of these leaders’ lives with dialogue and scenes. 

Great Chiefs: Volume I

Tony Hollihan (CA)

Published: May 08, 2003 by Folklore Publishing
ISBN: 9781894864039

Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle. Available as an accessible eBook

Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities by Tyler McCreary

Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities examines the relationship between the Wet’suwet’en and hydrocarbon pipeline development, showing how colonial governments and corporations seek to control Indigenous claims and how the Wet’suwet’en resist. Tyler McCreary explores pipeline regulatory review processes, reviews attempts to reconcile Indigeneity with development, and asks fundamental questions about territory and jurisdiction.

Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities: Colonial Extractivism and Wet’suwet’en Resistance

Tyler McCreary (CA)

Published: Feb 29, 2024 by University of Alberta Press
ISBN: 9781772127041

Accessible icon: a stick person inside a circle. Available as an accessible eBook