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Native North American Voices: Memoirs & Personal Narratives

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Universe Narratives Maintaining traditional Native American values in a modern world

Maintaining traditional native american values in a modern world.

Patrick Willie (Navajo) is a professional Native American hoop dancer from an urban area and in his youth had long hair braided down his back. He did not fully understand the cultural reasons for having long hair but kept his long hair because it pleased his parents. The teasing at grade school continued into high school and finally led Willie to cut his hair.

“I felt a lot of social pressure for being different and I cut my hair,” Willie said.

According to Willie, going to school in an urban area as a Native American was difficult because he never fully fit in. He was too native for the white kids and not native enough for the native kids. He felt disconnected between two worlds.

“When I look back on it now, I realize there was so much I could have learned,” Willie said.

Willie balances the two worlds of his traditional values and modern life by learning about the history from his parents.

“Holding onto my culture in the modern world is about identity and remembering where I come from,” Willie said.

Native American people have a long history on the American continent. Many tribes have origin stories about how their ancestors came to the land. These origin stories are different from tribe to tribe but contain many similarities about the Holy People (deity), different worlds, and symbolism.

The history of the Native American people is told orally and passed down generation-to-generation. Detailed, documented histories did not come until the Anglo-Saxon colonists.

Sunni Begay (left) and Dion Tapahe (right) dance on BYU’s Living Legends in the Native American section. They enjoy dancing because it reminds them about the history of their ancestors. (Erin Tapahe)

Timeline:  (information from the  History Channel )

1492: Christopher Columbus marks the beginning of European exploration to the Americas.

1700-1800s: Diseases and wars kill hundreds of thousands of Native Americans. Laws are passed by the U.S. Federal Government to take away their rights and land.

May 28, 1830: The Indian Removal Act was passed. President Andrew Jackson allows Native Americans plots of land west of the Mississippi River in exchange for the land already taken.

1838: Trail of Tears is one of the first major forced-relocation trek from the Indian Removal Act. The route covered 1,200 miles through Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. More than 5,000 Cherokee people died from this journey.

1851: U.S. Federal Government passes the Indian Appropriation Act. This created the Indian reservation system. Native Americans were not allowed to leave their reservations without approved permission.

1862: U.S. Congress passes the Homestead Act. This act made lands west of the Mississippi River available to non-native settlers. These lands originally belonged to numerous Native American nations. This was the beginning of the mass migration of the western territory.

1864: The Navajo Long walk is another major relocation to a new reservation. More than 8,000 Navajos were forced from Fort Defiance, Arizona, to Mosque Redondo, New Mexico, which was more than 300 miles.

1870: Bison are nearly extinct and this causes a crisis for Plains tribes because they rely on them for survival.

This timeline lists several major historical events from the time Christopher Columbus arrived to the Americas to present-day. (Erin Tapahe)

June 25, 1876: Battle of Little Bighorn also known as Custer’s Last Stand. The leaders of this battle was Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse against Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. More than 10,000 Native Americans gathered along the Little Bighorn river to protect the sacred Black Hills. Custer underestimated the Native Americans and led to defeat.

October 6, 1879: The first off-reservation boarding school, Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was established. The school was designed to assimilate Native American students. For 25 years, the headmaster, Colonel Richard Henry Pratt, enforced his motto, “Kill the Indian in him and save the man.”

1887: Congress passed the General Allotment Act also known as the “Dawes Act”. Tribal lands were not allotted, contrary to original plan, to Native Americans on the reservation and sold to the United States. Then the land was opened for homesteading. Before the Dawes Act, the total land held by American Indian tribes on reservations was 138,000,000 acres. After the allotment period, land was reduced to 48,000,000 acres (approximately two-thirds less).

1887: Boarding Schools became more popular and 200 schools were established with over 14,000 Native American children enrolled.

1890: The Wounded Knee Massacre resulted in hundreds of unarmed Lakota people massacred for practicing the Ghost Dance, which was part of their religion. Approximately 150 men, women and children are killed.

1891: Congress authorized the Indian Education Act. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs enforces rules and increases regulations to ensure Native American children attended boarding schools designed for assimilation.

1924: Indian Citizenship Act. Congress grants citizenship to all Native Americans born in the territorial limits of the country.

1954-96: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints first started the Indian Placement Program. Native American children who were baptized members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints church were placed in foster homes of church members during the school year. Most children attended primarily white public schools, instead of boarding schools or local schools on the reservations. There is an estimated 50,000 Native American children who participated in this program.

1975: Congress passed the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. This provided the U.S. Federal Government the opportunity to contract with tribal governments for federal services. Native American tribes were able to operate their own schools. This allows Native Americans to intertwine education with their native languages, beliefs and philosophies into their schools.

1978: The Indian Child Welfare Act addressed the care and custody of Native American children to non-native people. This gave authority to tribal courts to oversee the adoption and guardianship cases of Native American children and establish a strict set of statutory guidelines for those cases held in state court.

1978: Congress passed the Indian Religious Freedom Act and therein  states the “policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indian . . including but not limited to access to sites, use and possession of sacred objects and freedom to worship through ceremonials and traditional rites.” This is the first-time Native Americans are legally allowed to practice their traditional beliefs.

1990: The Native American Languages Act was passed and the U.S.  policy is to “preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American languages.” The federal government encourages and supports of the use of native languages and encourages schools to include native languages in the curriculum. There are thousands of Native American languages lost, but with new technology, there is an increase of young people learning their ancestral language.

2016: The Standing Rock movement started for the protection of water and opposed the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This movement brought people from around the world to Standing Rock in North Dakota and provided a unified voice for indigenous people.

The gates outside Oceti Sakowin (one of the camps at Standing Rock, North Dakota) carry flags representing people from all across the world. This is a representation of the unification and gathering of people at Standing Rock. (Erin Tapahe)

The Standing Rock movement brought hundreds of Native American tribes together. Bryan Jansen (Navajo/Kiowa), BYU alumnus who studied Native American Studies at BYU, considers the Standing Rock movement impressive. “It’s crazy to think about how small native people are, of the world population, we were on a world stage at Standing Rock,” he said. 

According to the Bureau of Indian Affairs , there were approximately 12,000 Native Americans who served in the military during World War I and were not granted U.S. citizenship at this time.

“Our people heard we were attacked by someone from somewhere, so there were old men in their 60s and 70s, even boys 13-14, carrying rabbit guns to enlist in the military,” Jansen said.

Jansen says there is a high number of Native Americans enlisted as soldiers because they were fighting to protect their land.

“The Indians were fighting in the war, not for the U.S. Constitution, but were fighting to protect their land,” Jansen said.

Jingle dress dancers gathered to dance for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. (Erin Tapahe)

Michalyn Steele (Seneca), BYU law professor, finished a paper about the resilience of Native American tribes through the assaults of the federal government and settler/colonialism.

The main question of her paper was: what was it about their character, traditions and culture to enable them to withstand the forces of the federal government’s army?

“It’s a miracle the tribes withstood the policies and war efforts because the expectation was for the tribes to fade away,” Steele said.

Preserving History

Willie finds technology a positive because it provides the opportunity to preserve the Native American teachings and languages. He sees people from his community wanting to document their family history and making videos to share their culture.

Patrick Willie is making men’s fancy bustles for BYU’s Living Legends group. He enjoys teaching and sharing his skills. (Erin Tapahe)

Willie has a YouTube channel and creates video-blogs to document his life and share his culture with his viewers. “I like making videos because I am able to share my experiences and knowledge,” Willie said.

Documenting culture is important to Willie because it is a preservation of history. “The Navajo language was dying but thanks to technology, they are preserving the language for the future generations,” Willie said.

Crystal Stewart (Navajo), a BYU student, is from Window Rock, Arizona, worked on preserving the Hal L. Taylor special collection. Taylor was the Southwest Indian mission president from 1965-1968. The documents contained the histories of the work done in the area and letters from general authorities.

Stewart explains before working on the project, she felt lost and struggled with finding a balance between her cultural heritage and religious beliefs.

“I read the reports, letters and miracles. I saw the church’s influence on Native Americans and it helped me navigate my own thoughts about combining my Navajo culture and LDS religion,” Stewart said.

According to Stewart, as she continued learning more about the history, she also learned more about herself.

Crystal Stewart is sharing her findings from the Hal L. Taylor special collections at the end of the semester presentation. (Erin Tapahe)

“I came out with more confidence in who I am,” Stewart said. “It gave me the extra oomph to keep me going and keep learning even more about Native American history.”

This infographic displays facts about Native Americans in education. (Erin Tapahe)

According to the US Department of Education , American Indian students have a high percentage (18 percent) who do not receive their high school diploma and are the second highest ethnic group living in poverty.

Jim Sam (Navajo), is the grazing official for the Oak Springs Chapter. He hopes for his grandchildren to obtain as much education so they can help Native American communities.

“I want them to get a lot of education, from college and in life, so they can use their education for good,” Sam said. “So they can help their people and families, too.”

Chauma Jansen (Assiniboine Sioux/Navajo), mother of four and a committee member working to rename the Provo peak, explains why it is important for her husband, Dusty Jansen, and her to play an active part in their children’s education is because teachers have a big influence about teaching children of Native Americans.

“It’s really important for parents to advocate for accurate teachings of Native American cultures and histories,” Jansen said.

The Jansen’s typically volunteer at their children’s schools for Native American Heritage month in November. They teach cultural presentations to show Native Americans are still here and not only in books.

Steele pursued a career in law because she saw the credibility attorneys have and recognized the ability to advocate for people whose voices are not always heard.

“Being a lawyer helps you to amplify their voices and helps you to advocate for issues about fairness and justice,” Steele said. 

According to Steele, the purpose of education is to develop skills and give back. Steele believes it is important to give back to her brothers and sisters, tribal communities, and to offer her skills to the Lord.

“You can succeed because of your native inheritance,” said Steele. “That means you can do hard things and you had ancestors who overcame obstacles so you could be here, to achieve happiness and be a servant to future generations.”

Michalyn Steele is in her J. Reuben Clark Law School office and finished writing a paper about the resiliency of Native American tribes. (Erin Tapahe)

Kimberlyn Yellowhair, BYU student, is from Monument Valley, Utah. Her motivation to succeed in school comes from her family and friends. She also she wants to prove she can succeed to those who doubted her ability to succeed.

Yellowhair lived in a home without running water and two hours away from the nearest Walmart. She says coming to BYU is easier because there is running water and everything is close.

The transition from the Navajo reservation to college life was hard for Yellowhair but she is determined to push through the discomfort because it means she is growing from her experiences.

Kimberlyn Yellowhair is a freshman at BYU and hopes to help her people with education. (Erin Tapahe)

Chief Manuelito was a prominent leader and advocate for education. Just a few days before his death in 1893 Manuelito said , “My grandchild, education is the ladder. Tell our people to take it.”

Stewart is a descendent of Chief Manuelito. Education is a big part of Stewart’s life. She hopes to gain an education and help her Native American people.

Stewart’s grandmother motivates her to continue towards her college degree. She calls Stewart weekly and asks her about school, always ending with a pep talk in the Navajo language.

It is important for Stewart to pursue her education because she knows the sacrifices and trials of her ancestors.

“Their blood runs through my veins and I feel like they’re always there pushing me to keep going and to do better,” Steward said.

Cultural Education

Native Americans from urban areas typically struggle with identity and cultural knowledge. They are often faced with negative stereotypes.

According to Chauma Jansen, she wants her children to have friends with similar cultural teachings so her children do not have to feel alone in their cultural experiences.

“We have to bring cultural teachings into the family and our homes,” Jansen said.

All school districts have a Title VI program dedicated to teaching Native American children about their culture through dance, language, and history programs.

Bryan Jansen sings in a drum circle and wants to teach his children about his Native American culture. He hopes they will continue the teachings and pass on the Native American traditions to their children. (Erin Tapahe)

Jansen encourages those looking for more knowledge about their own Native American identity to be part of the community. There are different organizations helping the native community.

Sam encourages his grandchildren to learn about their culture as these teachings were passed down to him from his grandparents. It is important for Sam to live his culture and be an example for his grandchildren.

“I am living on the reservation, working with my community and serving my people. These are all good things I want my grandchildren to do as well,” Sam said.

Jonah Graham is a Monument Valley tour guide. People from around the world come to the Navajo Nation’s Monument Valley Tribal Park to witness the unique rock formations. Graham feels a sense of pride when he shares the stories of his ancestors and he finds it a great responsibility.

“I am the representative of my Navajo people and I’m telling tourists about our (Navajo) way of life, our customs and traditions,” Graham said. 

Native American dancing is a reminder to Willie about the connection he has with his ancestors. Willie has competed in the World Champion Hoop Dance contest six times.

“I feel like dancing has been a huge connection to my identity and helps me find more about my culture,” Willie said.

Patrick Willie dances the Native American men’s fancy bustles dance at BYU’s Cedartree Pow Wow. (Erin Tapahe)

Stewart encourages the Native American youth to search for learning opportunities for their culture and find a community to help them navigate through the modern world.

“It’s easy to give up but it’s harder and more fulfilling for you to try and find the balance for yourself because everybody’s balance is different,” Stewart said.

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How to Tell Your Native Story on a College Application

If you’re like most students, you’re not exactly looking forward to the high stakes college application process. How do you write the perfect essay? How do you share with reviewers everything you want them to know about you? Will sharing your Native heritage help make your application stand out? Here are some tips for telling your Native story on a college application.

Utilize Every Part of the Application While many would argue that the personal essay is the most important part of the college application, it’s certainly not the only one. Many applications require or allow for short essays, lists of activities, resumes, and options for including creative work. These areas can be incredibly helpful in telling your Native story. While there is only so much you will be able to include in your personal essay, the other sections of the application provide areas to expand upon, or introduce, aspects of what your Native heritage means in your life. Use them to do just that, highlighting experiences, skills, and memories that are unique to you.

Don’t Be Afraid to Write about Yourself College applications are where you’re supposed to show who you are, and what you have accomplished. Don’t be afraid of sharing your Native story. Instead, highlight it — it’s something uniquely personal to you. Reviewers aren’t necessarily looking for flash; they’re looking for honesty and substance. Sharing with reviewers who you are, and what your Native experience looks like, will help them better understand you as an applicant and potential student at their school.

Focus on the Personal Essay The personal essay is the best place to tell your Native story. But how do you share everything in so few words? Don’t panic. Think about your story and what you want reviewers to come away knowing. Focus on one or two moments or experiences that tell your story, and offer insight into who you are as a person.

Be Honest Whether it’s the fact that you are a first-generation college student or have a passion for taxidermy, be honest on every part of your application. Reviewers want to know what makes you, you. Your honesty gives reviewers the best look at you, and helps them better understand your Native story. Reviewers gravitate toward authenticity and honesty, and they’ve read enough applications to know when those two aspects are absent. Honesty really is the best policy.

Be OK with Sharing Only Part of Your Story At the end of the day, there is only so much you can include in your college application. Even taking advantage of every section, you may feel like your Native story isn’t complete. That’s OK. As long as you’ve told the parts you find meaningful, you will have done your job. You’ve given reviewers a strong sense of who you are as an individual and a student, and that’s all they really need. So don’t obsess over trying to fit every single aspect of your Native story into your application. You don’t need to. 

Completing an application can seem like a monumental task. Try to think of it as an opportunity to show reviewers who you are and what you would bring to their campus. Your story is unique to you, and no one can take that away. Only you can choose how and what you share, but being open, honest, and clear can give your application the added boost it needs to stand out from the rest. Don’t be afraid to tell your Native story — embrace it!

Abigail Reigner, Comanche Nation, is a sophomore at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where she studies mechanical engineering. She also serves as the AISES Region 6 Student Representative. 

With thousands of applications landing at admissions offices, why is it important to make yours personal? Every college’s admission process is different. It’s daunting to submit your application in a pool of thousands. Writing a personal, heartfelt story can be a breath of fresh air for the person reviewing your application.

Why should you tell your Native story on a college application?   Native American students are typically one of the least populous groups among college applicants. It is important not just to tell your story with the goal of getting into college, but also to bring a better awareness to Native struggles, lifestyles, and stories. College applications are a place where you don’t only represent yourself, but all your backgrounds and experiences. It’s your job to own your backgrounds! Providing insight to an otherwise overlooked experience can help admissions counselors get a better idea of who you are —your background, the way you were raised, and where you come from.

What’s the best way to tell your Native story on an application?  A lot of college essays have prompts, that are either assigned or “pick and choose.” If you’re not sure yet what you want to write about, try brainstorming a few different ideas for each essay topic. If you already have an essay topic in mind, try to find the question that best fits your story, and how you can reflect on it. There’s no wrong way to express yourself, so don’t worry so much about the story itself versus what you felt and learned.

How can a Native story be relayed without revealing too much information?  There are a lot of ways to do this, like changing or not using names or simply leaving out details that you deem too personal to share. However, you need to make sure that your story makes sense without these details, so that it is still a comprehensible, thoughtful essay through which you reveal parts of yourself that would be beneficial to the admissions process. It’s important to outline your essay before writing. You can do this by “story mapping” details that are important to include. By mapping the essay early in the process, you can identify information you don’t want to share, and can find an alternate approach to telling your story in a way that makes sense.

How can your Native experience translate to a campus involvement?  A lot of college campuses have Native student clubs, where Indigenous students can connect and work on a variety of things. Many schools also have umbrella-style diversity programs. Either type of club is a way to get involved. Because Indigenous cultures are so diverse, it’s a good idea to have your voice heard through a club. If there are no opportunities for Indigenous involvement on your campus, try reaching out to people within your college to find out how you can start a club or organization to support Native students. 

Pro Tip from Sally M. Douglas, senior associate director of the Undergraduate Admissions Office at the Rochester Institute of Technology The college essay gives an admission committee an opportunity to learn about a student’s passions and character, and how those have shaped personal development. Colleges read thousands of applications, but essays that express resilience to challenges that have contributed to personal growth are ones that stand out the most. The essay is an opportunity to share your journey and let colleges know who you are. The Native traditions and experiences you represent are a wonderful way to demonstrate how a campus can be culturally enriched by unique ideas and perspectives. 

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Another way to be a Native American:  'What does it mean to be an unenrolled Indian?' | Opinion

What does it mean to be an unenrolled indian with or without my card, my history is the same, but the world does not see me the same way..

• Danielle Romero taught on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.

After my family evaded the Trail of Tears by hiding in plain sight, I am wary to  ever get on an Indian list. 

Choosing not to enroll in my matrilineal tribe is something I sometimes wrestle with on a weekly basis. At the age of 35, I have yet to meet another Indian who felt the same way. 

What does it mean to be an unenrolled Indian? With or without my card, I know that my ancestors are the same. My history is the same, but the world does not see me the same way.  

My ancestors came from modern day Texas and Louisiana — back when it was still Natchitoches and Caddo land. External influence changed hands often between Spain, France and eventually, the U.S. during the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.

The land and the rivers were the same, but we did not see it the same way. My great uncle Dan told me that when he gets a $20 bill, he puts Andrew Jackson in his wallet upside down — because of what he did our family.

Hear more Tennessee Voices:  Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns .

In 1830, my family was living in the same place they had for centuries, although now under President Andrew Jackson, it was called Louisiana.  All the Indians were told to go. Go to Oklahoma. Walk out west. Leave your home. Leave forever. 

 Uncle Dan told me that some of our family did go — we don’t know what happened to them. Hopefully, they survived. Even if they did, what kind of survival awaited them? 

Shockingly, most of my family stayed in Louisiana by hiding in plain sight. They refused to leave. They remained on their land and remained quiet.

Did anyone know that there were Indians hiding in Louisiana all those years? On their own land? An Indian without government identification is another way to be Indian.

Hear from Tennessee's Black Voices: Get the weekly newsletter for powerful and critical thinking columns .

How my family hid their true identity to survive

In the mid 1930s, my great grandmother, Lola, left Louisiana and moved to New York with her Irish husband. He died soon after, leaving her a widow with 8 children in a strange new culture.

When Lola appealed to her in-laws for assistance, she was turned away and told that they would never help any Indian kids.

More: For thousands of Indigenous children, Native American boarding schools erased their culture or worse | Opinion

My grandmother infrequently whispered stories to us of how she foraged for food in neighbors gardens just to survive. Her brothers were forced to sleep in the attic, so Lola could rent out their rooms for money.

People would gossip and point at them in the grocery store, and neighborhood children were told not to play with my grandmother and her siblings.  Grandma Lola knew what had happened before, and she knew what could happen again.

She didn’t teach her children about their culture , and so we never learned from our parents. The closest thing to physical identification that exists is a brass Indian head bolero that Grandma Lola kept in the family.

It’s in been in Uncle Dan’s drawer for years.  I didn’t ask him why. I knew. Sometimes, it just feels safer to stay out of sight. 

Why don’t I just enroll? Because even today, I don’t want to be on a government list of Indians. I know what happened to the list they had of us before.

Need proof of how Indian I am? Check out the facedown $20 bill in my wallet.

Danielle Romero earned her M.Ed. from Vanderbilt University and previously taught on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. She currently lives in Nolensville, TN. Find her on Instagram at @newyorktonashville

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Native American and Indigenous History & Culture; with Memoirs, Essays, and Poetry

A selection of books about Native American and Indigenous history and culture, with emphasis on books by Native American and Indigenous authors. For more books and resources on Racial Equity and Social Justice, see the resource guide  Racial Equity Resources . For more reading suggestions check out the Madison Public Library Insider newsletter--  History .

History | Memoirs and Essays | Poetry

We Are Still Here: A Photographic History of the American Indian Movement

The photographs of activist Dick Bancroft, a key documentarian of AIM, provide a stunningly intimate view of this major piece of American history from 1970 to 1981. Veteran journalist Laura Waterman Wittstock, who participated in events in Washington, DC, has interviewed a host of surviving participants to tell the stories behind the images.

Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U. S. History

Blackhawk's retelling of U.S. history acknowledges the enduring power, agency, and survival of Indigenous peoples, yielding a truer account of the United States and revealing anew the varied meanings of America.

Available to download: eBook

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West

A true classic of American history, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is Dee Brown’s eloquent, meticulously documented account of the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth century. Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with force and clarity, this book changed forever our vision of how the West was really won.

Available to download: eBook Audio  

"All the Real Indians Died Off" and 20 Other Myths About Native Americans

In this enlightening book, scholars and activists Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and Dina Gilio-Whitaker tackle a wide range of myths about Native American culture and history that have misinformed generations. Tracing how these ideas evolved, and drawing from history, the authors show how these myths are rooted in the fears and prejudice of European settlers and in the larger political agendas of a settler state aimed at acquiring Indigenous land and tied to narratives of erasure and disappearance.

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

Spanning more than four hundred years, this classic bottom-up peoples' history radically reframes US history and explodes the silences that have haunted our national narrative.

Black Elk Speaks

Black Elk Speaks , the story of the Oglala Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk (1863-1950) and his people during momentous twilight years of the nineteenth century, offers readers much more than a precious glimpse of a vanished time. Black Elk's searing visions of the unity of humanity and Earth, conveyed by John G. Neihardt, have made this book a classic that crosses multiple genres. Whether appreciated as the poignant tale of a Lakota life, a history of a Native nation, or an enduring spiritual testament, Black Elk Speaks is unforgettable.

Available to download: Audio  

Our History is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance

In 2016, a small protest encampment at the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota, initially established to block construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, grew to be the largest Indigenous protest movement in the twenty-first century, attracting tens of thousands of Indigenous and non-Native allies from around the world. In this work, Nick Estes traces traditions of Indigenous resistance leading to the #NoDAPL movement from the days of the Missouri River trading forts through the Indian Wars, the Pick-Sloan dams, the American Indian Movement, and the campaign for Indigenous rights at the United Nations. While a historian by trade, Estes also draws on observations from the encampments and from growing up as a citizen of the Oceti Sakowin (the Nation of the Seven Council Fires), making Our History is the Future at once a work of history, a personal story, and a manifesto.

Available to download: eBook Audio

As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock

Through the unique lens of "Indigenized environmental justice," Indigenous researcher and activist Dina Gilio-Whitaker explores the fraught history of treaty violations, struggles for food and water security, and protection of sacred sites, while highlighting the important leadership of Indigenous women in this centuries-long struggle. 

Available to download: Audio

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.

Citizens of a Stolen Land: A Ho-Chunk History of the Nineteenth-Century United States

Steven Kantrowitz explores the transformations of American citizenship in the Civil War era through the history of the Ho-Chunk people. Kantrowitz has had opportunity to work closely with members of the Ho-Chunk tribe, whose home territory centers around Madison, and this work grows out of his interest in their particular struggles for citizenship and recognition.

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America

Thomas King offers a deeply knowing, darkly funny, unabashedly opinionated, and utterly unconventional account of Indian-White relations in North America since initial contact. Ranging freely across the centuries and the Canada-U.S. border, King debunks fabricated stories of Indian savagery and White heroism, takes an oblique look at Indians (and cowboys) in film and popular culture, wrestles with the history of Native American resistance and his own experiences as a Native rights activist, and articulates a profound, revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands.

Available to download: eBook  

The Story of Act 31: How Native History Came to Wisconsin Classrooms

Since its passage in 1989, a state law known as Act 31 requires that all students in Wisconsin learn about the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of Wisconsin's federally recognized tribes. The Story of Act 31 tells the story of the law's inception, tracing its origins to a court decision in 1983 that affirmed American Indian hunting and fishing treaty rights in Wisconsin, and to the violent public outcry that followed the court's decision. Author J P Leary paints a picture of controversy stemming from past policy decisions that denied generations of Wisconsin students the opportunity to learn about tribal history. Despite its uneven implementation, Act 31 stands as an important example of how American Indians worked through the policy system to pursue positive change.

The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America

A landmark history: the sweeping story of the enslavement of tens of thousands of Indians across America, from the time of the conquistadors up to the early 20th century.

Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America

A sweeping history of Indigenous traditions of gender and sexuality that decolonizes North America's past and reveals how Two-Spirit people are reclaiming their place in Native nations.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask

Treuer, an Ojibwe scholar and cultural preservationist, answers the most commonly asked questions about American Indians, both historical and modern. He gives a frank, funny, and personal tour of what's up with Indians, anyway.

The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America From 1890 to the Present

An essential, intimate history - and counter-narrative - of a resilient people in a transformative era.

Memoirs and Essays

You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: A Memoir

A searing, deeply moving memoir about family, love, loss, and forgiveness from the critically acclaimed, bestselling National Book Award-winning author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian .

Spirit Run: A 6,000-mile Marathon Through North America's Stolen Land

The son of working-class Mexican immigrants flees a life of labor in fruit-packing plants to run in a Native American marathon from Canada to Guatemala in this "stunning memoir that moves to the rhythm of feet, labor, and the many landscapes of the Americas.

A History of My Brief Body

A profound meditation on queerness and indigeneity from the youngest ever winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize.

Black Indian

Black Indian, searing and raw, is Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club and Alice Walker's The Color Purple meets Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony--only, this isn't fiction. Beautifully rendered and rippling with family dysfunction, secrets, deaths, alcoholism, and old resentments, Shonda Buchanan's memoir is an inspiring story that explores her family's legacy of being African Americans with American Indian roots and how they dealt with not just society's ostracization but the consequences of this dual inheritance. Black Indian doesn't have answers, nor does it aim to represent every American's multi-ethnic experience. Instead, it digs as far down into this one family's history as it can go--sometimes, with a bit of discomfort. But every family has its own truth, and Buchanan's search for hers will resonate with anyone who has wondered "maybe there's more than what I'm being told."

Warrior Princesses Strike Back: How Lakota Twins Fight Oppression and Heal through Connectedness

In Warrior Princesses Strike Back , Lakhota twin sisters Sarah Eagle Heart and Emma Eagle Heart-White recount growing up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and overcoming odds throughout their personal and professional lives. Woven throughout are self-help strategies centering women of color, that combine marginalized histories, psychological research on trauma, perspectives on "decolonial therapy," and explorations on the possibility of healing intergenerational and personal trauma.

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

In an urgent and visceral work that asks essential questions about the treatment of Native people in North America while drawing on intimate details of her own life and experience with intergenerational trauma, Alicia Elliott offers indispensable insight into the ongoing legacy of colonialism. She engages with such wide-ranging topics as race, parenthood, love, mental illness, poverty, sexual assault, gentrification, writing and representation, and in the process makes connections both large and small between the past and present, the personal and political.

Birding while Indian

Birding has always been Gannon's escape and solace. He later found similar solace in literature, particularly by Native authors. He draws on both throughout this expansive, hilarious, and humane memoir. An acerbic observer-of birds, of the aftershocks of history, and of human nature-Gannon navigates his obsession with the ostensibly objective avocation of birding and his own mixed-blood subjectivity, searching for that elusive Snowy Owl and his own identity. The result is a rich reflection not only on one man's life but on the transformative power of building a deeper relationship with the natural world.

Poet Warrior

Poet Laureate Joy Harjo offers a vivid, lyrical, and inspiring call for love and justice in this contemplation of her trailblazing life. In the second memoir from the first Native American to serve as US poet laureate, Joy Harjo invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her "poet-warrior" road. A musical, kaleidoscopic meditation, Poet Warrior reveals how Harjo came to write poetry of compassion and healing, poetry with the power to unearth the truth and demand justice.

Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land

A powerful, poetic memoir about what it means to exist as an Indigenous woman in America, told in snapshots of the author's encounters with gun violence.

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers. In this collection of essays, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowing together to reveal what it means to see humans as "the younger brothers of creation."

Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future

Weaving her own story with the story of her ancestors and with the broader themes of creation, replacement, and disappearance, Krawec helps readers see settler colonialism through the eyes of an Indigenous writer. Settler colonialism tried to force us into one particular way of living, but the old ways of kinship can help us imagine a different future. Krawec asks, What would it look like to remember that we are all related? How might we become better relatives to the land, to one another, and to Indigenous movements for solidarity? Braiding together historical, scientific, and cultural analysis, Indigenous ways of knowing, and the vivid threads of communal memory, Krawec crafts a stunning, forceful call to 'unforget' our history.

Red Paint: The Ancestral Autobiography

Exploring what it means to be vulnerable in love and in art while offering an unblinking reckoning with personal traumas as well as the collective historical traumas of colonialism and genocide that continue to haunt native peoples, Red Paint is an intersectional autobiography of lineage, resilience and above all the ability to heal that chronicles Sasha's struggles navigating a collapsing marriage while answering the call to greater purpose. Set against a backdrop of tour vans and the breathtaking beauty of Coast Salish ancestral land and imbued with the universal spirit of punk-an ethos that challenges us to reclaim what's rightfully ours: our histories, our power, our traditions, and our truths-Red Paint is ultimately a story of the ways we learn to heal while fighting for our right to a place to call home.

Earth Keeper: Reflections on the American Land

A magnificent testament to the earth, from Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and poet N. Scott Momaday.

Our Voice of Fire: A Memoir of a Warrior Rising

A wildfire of a debut memoir by internationally recognized French/Cree/Iroquois journalist Brandi Morin set to transform the narrative around Indigenous Peoples. Brandi Morin is known for her clear-eyed and empathetic reporting on Indigenous oppression in North America. She is also a survivor of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis and uses her experience to tell the stories of those who did not survive the rampant violence. From her time as a foster kid and runaway who fell victim to predatory men and an oppressive system to her career as an internationally acclaimed journalist, Our Voice of Fire chronicles Morin's journey to overcome enormous adversity and find her purpose, and her power, through journalism.

Thinning Blood: A Memoir of Family, Myth, and Identity

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by The Millions a vibrant new voice blends Native folklore and the search for identity in a fierce debut work of personal history. Leah Myers may be the last member of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe in her family line, due to her tribe's strict blood quantum laws. In this unflinching and intimate memoir, Myers excavates the stories of four generations of women in order to leave a record of her family.

Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation in Montana

From journalist Abe Streep, the story of coming of age on a reservation in the American West and a team uniting a community March 11, 2017, was a night to remember: in front of the hopeful eyes of thousands of friends, family members, and fans, the Arlee Warriors would finally bring the high school basketball state championship title home to the Flathead Indian Reservation. The game would become the stuff of legend, with the boys revered as local heroes. The team's place in Montana history was now cemented, but for starters Will Mesteth, Jr. and Phillip Malatare, life would keep moving on-senior year was only just beginning. In Brothers on Three, we follow Phil and Will, along with their teammates, coaches, and families, as they balance the pressures of adolescence, shoulder the dreams of their community, and chart their own individual courses for the future. Brothers on Three is not simply a story about high school basketball, about state championships and a winning team. It is a book about community, and it is about boys on the cusp of adulthood, finding their way through the intersecting worlds they inhabit and forging their own paths to personhood.

Doom Guy: Life in First Person

John Romero, gaming's original rock star, is the cocreator of DOOM, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3-D, some of the biggest video games of all time. Considered the godfather of the first-person shooter, a genre that continues to dominate the market today, he holds a unique place in gaming history. In DOOM Guy: Life in First Person, Romero chronicles, for the first time, his difficult childhood and storied career, beginning with his early days submitting Apple II game code to computer magazines and sneaking computers out the back door of his day job to write code at night. 

Drawing upon Navajo history and enduring tradition, Sherwin Bitsui leads us on a treacherous, otherworldly passage through the American Southwest. Fluidly shape-shifting and captured by language that functions like a moving camera, Dissolve is urban and rural, past and present in the haze of the reservation. Bitsui proves himself to be one of this century's most haunting, raw, and uncompromising voices.

How to be an Indian in the 21st Century

In deceptively simple prose and verse, Louis V. "Two Shoes" Clark III shares his life story, from childhood on the Rez, through school and into the working world, and ultimately as an elder, grandfather, and published poet. 

New Poets of Native Nations

A landmark anthology celebrating twenty-one Native poets first published in the twenty-first century.

Aurum: Poems

In Aurum , poet Santee Frazier attempts to discuss various subtle forms of oppression that Indigenous people are exposed to on a daily basis, using strong imagery to carry readers through wide-open plains and imposing cities as seen through the eyes of a Cherokee poet.  

Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light

A magnificent selection of fifty poems to celebrate three-term US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's fifty years as a poet.

Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry

With work from Natalie Diaz, Ray Young Bear, Craig Santos Perez, Sherwin Bitsui, Layli Long Soldier, among others, Living Nations, Living Words showcases, as Joy Harjo writes in her stirring introduction, "poetry [that] emerges from the soul of a community, the heart and lands of the people. In this country, poetry is rooted in the more than 500 living indigenous nations. Living Nations, Living Words is a representative offering.

Through an array of short lyrics, prose poems, longer narrative sequences, resolutions, and disclaimers, Layli Long Soldier has created an innovative text to examine histories, landscapes, her own writing, and her predicament inside national affiliations.

Dream Drawings: Configurations of a Timeless Kind

From Pulitzer Prize winner and celebrated American master N. Scott Momaday, a collection of 100 new prose poems, rooted in Native American oral tradition, along with 5-7 pieces of art by the author.

Eyes Bottle Dark With a Mouthful of Flowers: Poems

Selected by Kathy Fagan as a winner of the 2018 National Poetry Series, Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers is a debut collection of poems by a dazzling geologist of queer eros.

Native American Writing Prompts: Explore Indigenous Perspectives

My name is Debbie, and I am passionate about developing a love for the written word and planting a seed that will grow into a powerful voice that can inspire many.

Understanding the Importance of Native ⁣American Writing Prompts

Exploring the significance of native american writing prompts, exploring indigenous perspectives through writing, connecting with native american culture through writing prompts, unearthing untold stories:⁣ writing about native american⁤ history, why participate in our writing prompts, engaging in critical thinking ⁣with native american writing prompts, promoting empathy and cultural understanding through native american writing​ prompts, frequently asked questions, to wrap it up.

Native American‌ writing prompts hold a vital place in cultural education and⁢ communication. They provide a ⁣platform for⁢ individuals to delve ​into the rich heritage and stories‌ of Native American tribes, encouraging a⁣ deeper understanding and appreciation of their‍ customs,​ beliefs, and history. These​ prompts play a‌ pivotal role in fostering creativity while promoting cultural sensitivity and ​respect.

Incorporating Native American writing prompts into the learning process allows students⁣ to engage with diverse perspectives and broaden⁤ their knowledge about indigenous communities. By encouraging critical⁣ thinking and research, these prompts encourage students to explore and reflect upon the complex issues faced by Native Americans, ensuring that their voices are heard and respected⁢ in academic settings. Writing on topics‍ such as traditional ceremonies, indigenous art forms, or historical events ‌allows‌ students⁣ to grasp the nuances of Native American culture while cultivating empathy and respect for these communities.

Benefits of ⁤Native American Writing Prompts: – Promote cultural literacy and awareness – Encourage critical ​thinking ​and analysis – Provide a creative outlet for self-expression – Foster empathy and understanding towards Native American communities – Encourage research and exploration of indigenous history and ⁣traditions

Tips for Effective Native American Writing Prompts: – Ensure the inclusion of diverse Native American​ tribes‌ and‌ cultures – Provide resources and references for students to deepen⁤ their knowledge – Encourage students to interview or interact with members of Native American communities, when possible – Prompt students to reflect on the challenges, achievements, and contributions of Native Americans throughout history – Create‍ a safe and inclusive environment for discussing sensitive ​topics and differing perspectives

In conclusion,​ Native American writing prompts serve as crucial tools for promoting cultural appreciation, education, and respect. By incorporating them into educational settings, we can ⁢empower students to embrace the narratives and ⁣experiences of indigenous communities, paving the way for⁣ a more inclusive and empathetic society.

The rich cultural heritage and diverse perspectives of indigenous communities can be explored through writing, offering a⁣ window into their traditions, beliefs, and values. Through the power of storytelling, indigenous voices can be amplified, fostering⁢ a greater appreciation for their contributions to literature and society. The act of writing allows for the‍ preservation and sharing of indigenous ‌knowledge, helping to bridge the gap ​between different cultures⁤ and generations.

When , it⁣ is essential to‌ acknowledge the multitude of voices within these communities. Indigenous literature ​encompasses a wide range of genres, from poetry and memoirs to fiction and non-fiction. These works provide valuable insights into the experiences of indigenous ​peoples, their ⁤struggles, triumphs, and the complexities of their identities.

• Historical Insights: Indigenous ‍writing often sheds light on untold ⁢stories from the past, offering alternative⁤ narratives about colonization, resistance, and resilience.
• Cultural Traditions: Writers from indigenous backgrounds share their cultural practices, rituals, and customs,⁢ providing a deeper understanding of their communities.
• Environmental Perspectives: Many indigenous authors have a deep connection to the land, emphasizing the importance of environmental stewardship​ and sustainability.

By ​engaging ‍with indigenous literature, readers can develop a greater sense of empathy, dismantle stereotypes, and confront the challenges​ faced by these communities. Writing offers⁢ an avenue for indigenous voices to ⁣be heard and celebrated, enriching our collective literary ⁢landscape.

Exploring Native American culture ​can ​be⁢ a transformative experience, allowing us⁢ to⁤ gain a deeper understanding of the traditions,⁢ values, and perspectives that​ have shaped this rich ​heritage. One way to connect with ⁢Native American culture ‍is through engaging ‍writing prompts that encourage introspection ‌and creative expression. By ‌delving into these prompts, we can unearth hidden insights and foster a greater appreciation for the diverse tribal​ communities that make up Native‌ American ‌culture.

The beauty of using writing prompts as a gateway to Native American culture⁣ lies in the opportunity they provide for self-reflection. Whether it’s⁤ contemplating the significance of storytelling in Native American tribes or exploring the ⁢deep spiritual connections to ‌nature, these prompts encourage us to‌ delve into our own thoughts‍ and emotions. Through ⁢this process, we can gain a unique perspective on the values that Native American cultures uphold and how they intersect with our own lives.

• Celebration of nature: Explore the profound connections that Native American tribes have ‍with the natural world. Reflect on ​your personal relationship ‍with‍ nature and how it⁣ aligns with the reverence for ​the environment found in various ⁤Native​ American cultures.
• Uncovering oral traditions: ⁣ Dive into the power of storytelling in Native American culture. Write a story inspired by traditional⁤ oral ‌narratives, or create your own mythological tale that incorporates elements from Native ⁤American folklore.
• Spiritual practices: Reflect on​ the spiritual practices and rituals ⁣that are integral to Native ⁤American tribes. ⁣Explore how these practices differ from​ mainstream religions and their potential ⁢impact on ‍personal spirituality.
• Art as cultural expression: Investigate the significance of art in Native​ American culture, such as pottery, beadwork, and painting. Create your ​own piece⁣ of art inspired by these traditional forms, using it as a means to connect with and pay homage to the artistic traditions⁢ of Native American tribes.

Native American history is rich and diverse, with countless untold stories waiting to be discovered ⁣and shared. Writing about this history provides⁣ an opportunity to shed light on the ‍experiences, achievements, and struggles of Indigenous peoples across the ‍Americas. ‍By ⁤delving into the lesser-known aspects ‍of⁤ Native American history, writers can help reshape the narrative, challenge stereotypes, and ⁣contribute ​to a⁣ more inclusive understanding of the past.

When writing about Native ⁤American history, it is crucial⁣ to approach the subject with respect, sensitivity, ⁤and extensive⁤ research. Here are some key considerations:

• Authenticity and Representation: Seek diverse perspectives and voices to accurately represent the vast array of Native American cultures and experiences. Collaborate with Indigenous ⁣scholars, elders, and‌ community members to ensure authenticity in your storytelling.
• Awareness of Historical Context: Understand the historical context in which events occurred and the impact​ of colonization, forced assimilation, and other systemic injustices. This ​knowledge will provide a deeper understanding of Native American history.
• Challenging Stereotypes: Question and challenge the ⁤stereotypes often associated with Native American history.​ Avoid perpetuating harmful narratives‍ and ⁢instead emphasize the resilience, accomplishments, and contributions of​ Indigenous peoples.
• Engaging Narratives: Infuse your writing with engaging ⁤storytelling techniques to captivate readers and make the ‌often-overlooked stories of Native Americans accessible to wider audiences. Be mindful of⁤ cultural sensitivities and avoid sensationalizing or appropriating Native American experiences.

Writing ⁤about Native ‍American history is an opportunity‍ to ⁤honor the past, celebrate cultural heritage, and foster understanding ⁣between different communities. By unearthing untold stories and ⁣presenting them in a respectful and accurate manner, writers have the power to contribute to a more comprehensive and inclusive portrayal of Native American history.

Amplifying Indigenous Voices‌ through Writing Prompts

Writing has always⁣ been a powerful tool for self-expression and storytelling, and now it is being used as a ⁢means to amplify Indigenous voices. By providing‌ thought-provoking writing prompts that center around Indigenous culture, history, and experiences, we aim to create a ⁤space where these voices can be heard⁣ loud and clear.

Our writing prompts are carefully crafted to encourage reflection, engagement, and exploration. They offer an opportunity for Indigenous writers to share their unique perspectives, shed light on important issues, and celebrate the rich traditions of their communities. Whether it is through poetry, prose, or personal anecdotes, the power of words‍ allows for the preservation and dissemination of Indigenous stories, ensuring they are not forgotten​ or silenced.

• Celebrate Indigenous heritage: Engaging with ⁣our writing prompts ‍provides a platform ​to showcase the diverse⁤ cultures and traditions of Indigenous communities, allowing readers‌ to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for their rich heritage.
• Foster community connection: ‌By participating in our writing prompts, ⁢Indigenous writers can connect with others who share similar experiences, challenges, and triumphs. It creates a⁣ sense of belonging and community, giving participants the opportunity to uplift and support one another.
• Challenge stereotypes and⁣ raise awareness: Writing prompts centered around Indigenous experiences can challenge preconceived notions and stereotypes, helping‍ to educate others‌ about the complex history, contemporary issues, and resilience of Indigenous people and cultures.
• Empowerment through storytelling: Through ​writing,​ Indigenous individuals⁤ have the power to reclaim their narratives, share their truths, and inspire others. It is⁢ a form of empowerment, allowing for personal growth and healing while educating​ and enlightening readers.

can foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for the rich cultural‍ heritage of Indigenous peoples. By exploring thought-provoking prompts inspired by Native American literature and folklore, students are encouraged to analyze, interpret, and connect with ‌these powerful narratives on a personal level.

Through these writing prompts, students can embark on ‌a journey of critical thinking, allowing them to ⁢develop empathy, broaden their worldview, and challenge their⁢ own assumptions. Here are a few ways that engaging with Native American writing prompts⁣ can enhance critical ‌thinking skills :

• Exploring diverse perspectives: Native American writing showcases diverse viewpoints, experiences, and wisdom, inviting students to critically examine different cultural values and beliefs. This prompts ⁤them to‍ question their own perspectives and develop a more nuanced understanding of the world.
• Analyzing symbols and themes: Native American literature often incorporates symbolic elements and explores universal themes of identity, nature, and spirituality. Writing prompts can inspire students to analyze these symbols and themes, challenging them to think critically about their meaning ⁢and relevance in the context of Native American cultures.
• Connecting⁤ with ⁣personal experiences: Native American stories and prompts often emphasize the importance of personal connections​ to nature, community, and ancestral heritage. Engaging with ⁤these prompts can encourage students to reflect on ⁤their⁤ own​ experiences and values, fostering a ​deeper sense of self-awareness and ⁣empathy.

By , students are not only honing their analytical skills but also gaining a⁤ greater appreciation for the cultural richness and resilience of Indigenous peoples.

Native American writing prompts can⁢ be a powerful tool for promoting empathy⁤ and cultural ⁤understanding. By ​engaging with the stories, experiences, and perspectives of Native American writers, students can gain ⁤a deeper appreciation for the rich diversity of Native American cultures, histories, and traditions. These writing prompts provide a unique opportunity for students to explore⁢ themes such as ‍identity, heritage, and the important issues facing Native communities today.

One of the key benefits of using Native American writing prompts is that they encourage students‍ to ⁤step outside their own cultural bubbles and ​explore different perspectives. ​By delving into these prompts, ‌students can gain a better understanding of the challenges, triumphs, and unique⁢ perspectives of Native American individuals and communities. This process of reflection and research fosters ⁢empathy, allowing students to develop a more nuanced ⁣understanding of Native American experiences and cultural contributions. Furthermore, writing prompts can encourage critical thinking , creativity, and self-expression, empowering students to ⁣engage deeply with the material and develop their own voices.

• Engagement with Native American writers’ ⁤stories
• Expanding cultural horizons through diverse experiences
• Developing empathy ‍and understanding through exploration of themes
• Promoting critical thinking and self-expression
• Fostering appreciation for Native American cultures, histories, and traditions

Embracing ⁢Native ⁢American writing prompts in educational settings ⁢enriches the learning experience, offering students a unique lens ‍through which to view the world. By exploring these prompts, they can broaden their perspectives, challenge their assumptions, and deepen their understanding of the beauty and complexity of Native American cultures.

Q: What is the purpose of ⁤”Native American Writing Prompts: Explore Indigenous Perspectives”? A: The purpose of⁤ this article⁢ is to introduce a collection ​of writing prompts that delve into indigenous perspectives,​ specifically those of Native Americans.

Q: Who is the intended audience for this article? A:⁢ This article is intended for writers, educators, students, or anyone‍ interested in exploring Native American perspectives through the act of writing.

Q: What is unique about these writing prompts? A: These prompts are designed to showcase the diversity and ⁢richness of Native American cultures, allowing writers to explore various themes, histories, and perspectives ⁤rooted in indigenous experiences.

Q: Can anyone use ‍these writing prompts or are they only for Native American writers? A: These writing prompts are accessible to everyone – whether you have ⁤Native American heritage or not. They provide a platform for all individuals to engage with and learn ‌from indigenous perspectives.

Q: How can these writing ‌prompts ‍help writers connect with Native American perspectives? A: By using​ these writing prompts, writers can delve into Native ​American cultures and explore their deep-rooted traditions, stories, and worldviews. This process allows for a deeper⁤ understanding and connections with indigenous perspectives.

Q: Are there any ​recommended resources or​ references accompanying these writing prompts? A: Yes, the article ​provides a list of additional ⁤resources, including books, documentaries, and websites, that can further enhance​ one’s‍ understanding ‍of ⁣Native American history, traditions, and contemporary issues.

Q: Can these writing prompts be used in an educational or classroom setting? A: Absolutely! These prompts can be utilized effectively in ⁢educational settings to promote cultural awareness, understanding, and inclusivity. They encourage ⁤students to‌ engage​ with Native American perspectives and challenge preconceived notions or stereotypes.

Q: How many writing prompts are included in this article? A: The article includes a comprehensive compilation of ten unique writing prompts ⁢that⁤ cover a broad ‍range of topics ⁤relevant to Native American experiences.

Q: Are the writing prompts ‌suitable for writers of⁤ all ‌levels? A: Yes, these writing prompts are ⁢adaptable to⁤ various writing levels, ranging from beginners to experienced writers. They​ are⁤ designed to ⁤be accessible and stimulating, allowing writers to explore indigenous perspectives at ‍their own‌ pace and comfort.

Q: Can these writing prompts serve as a starting point for longer writing projects or research? A: Certainly! These⁢ prompts can serve as thought-provoking starting points for longer writing projects or even research papers. They provide a foundation for writers to embark on deeper investigations of Native American histories, cultures, and contemporary issues.

In conclusion, exploring indigenous perspectives⁢ through Native American writing prompts allows us to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation​ of their rich‌ culture and history. It offers a unique opportunity to amplify their voices and ensure​ their‌ stories are heard and celebrated.

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107 Native American Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Native American culture and history are rich and diverse, making them excellent topics for essays. Whether you are studying Native American history, literature, or contemporary issues, there are countless topics to explore. Here are 107 Native American essay topic ideas and examples to inspire your writing.

• The impact of colonization on Native American communities
• The role of spirituality in Native American culture
• The significance of storytelling in Native American traditions
• Native American contributions to environmental conservation
• The history of Native American boarding schools
• Indigenous resistance movements in North America
• The representation of Native Americans in popular media
• Native American perspectives on land ownership and stewardship
• The importance of tribal sovereignty in modern America
• Native American traditional healing practices
• The effects of forced assimilation policies on Native American communities
• The role of women in Native American societies
• The significance of powwows in Native American culture
• Native American perspectives on education and knowledge transmission
• The impact of federal Indian policy on Native American communities
• Indigenous perspectives on climate change and environmental justice
• The history of Native American art and craft traditions
• Native American perspectives on mental health and wellness
• The role of music and dance in Native American ceremonies
• The legacy of the American Indian Movement (AIM)
• Native American perspectives on gender and sexuality
• The history of Native American treaty rights
• Traditional Native American foods and cooking methods
• The impact of colonialism on Native American languages
• The representation of Native American history in museums and cultural institutions
• Indigenous perspectives on land reclamation and environmental justice
• The role of storytelling in preserving Native American languages
• The impact of residential schools on Native American communities
• Native American perspectives on cultural appropriation
• The history of Native American activism in the United States
• The significance of tribal elders in Native American communities
• Indigenous perspectives on restorative justice and conflict resolution
• The legacy of Native American boarding schools in contemporary America
• Native American perspectives on traditional ecological knowledge
• The role of traditional ceremonies in preserving Native American culture
• The impact of urbanization on Native American communities
• Indigenous perspectives on education and language revitalization
• The history of Native American land dispossession and displacement
• The representation of Native American women in literature and film
• The impact of federal recognition on Native American tribes
• Indigenous perspectives on sovereignty and self-determination
• The role of traditional medicine in Native American healing practices
• Native American perspectives on historical trauma and intergenerational healing
• The significance of sacred sites in Native American culture
• The impact of extractive industries on Native American lands
• Indigenous perspectives on traditional governance and leadership
• The history of Native American resistance to colonialism
• The representation of Native American history in textbooks and curricula
• The impact of climate change on Native American communities
• The role of Native American literature in preserving cultural traditions
• Indigenous perspectives on decolonization and self-governance
• The history of Native American legal struggles for land and resources
• The representation of Native American spirituality in popular culture
• Native American perspectives on environmental activism and conservation
• The impact of federal policies on Native American health disparities
• Indigenous perspectives on food sovereignty and traditional agriculture
• The role of traditional knowledge in addressing contemporary challenges
• The history of Native American resistance to cultural assimilation
• The representation of Native American women in leadership roles
• The impact of historical trauma on Native American communities
• Indigenous perspectives on traditional storytelling and oral history
• The significance of traditional crafts in Native American culture
• The role of Native American artists in preserving cultural heritage
• The impact of globalization on Native American communities
• Indigenous perspectives on environmental justice and land rights
• The history of Native American land reclamation movements
• The representation of Native American history in public monuments and memorials
• Native American perspectives on traditional knowledge and science
• The role of traditional ceremonies in healing historical trauma
• The impact of colonialism on Native American gender roles
• Indigenous perspectives on Indigenous rights and self-determination
• The history of Native American resistance to settler colonialism
• The representation of Native American culture in tourism and marketing
• The impact of federal policies on Native American economic development
• Native American perspectives on cultural revitalization and preservation
• The role of traditional music and dance in Native American culture
• The significance of tribal colleges and universities in Native American education
• The impact of historical trauma on Native American mental health
• Indigenous perspectives on traditional medicine and healing practices
• The history of Native American land struggles and activism
• The representation of Native American history in public art and monuments
• Native American perspectives on traditional storytelling and oral history

These are just a few examples of the many topics you can explore in your Native American essays. Whether you are interested in history, culture, politics, or contemporary issues, there is a wealth of information to draw from. By delving into these topics, you can gain a deeper understanding of Native American experiences and perspectives, and contribute to ongoing conversations about Indigenous rights, sovereignty, and cultural preservation.

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20 Essential Books by Indigenous Authors

By sarah neilson | may 15, 2024, 1:55 pm edt.

Though the United States only recognizes Native American Heritage Month in November,  Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island/North America are here, writing and resisting, all year round. To celebrate this fact and spotlight some of the many Indigenous writers creating crucial work, here is a list of 20-plus essential Indigenous-authored books of contemporary and modern classic literature .

Split Tooth  // Tanya Tagaq

Braiding sweetgrass: indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants  // robin wall kimmerer, the heartbeat of wounded knee: native america from 1890 to the present  // david treuer, our history is the future: standing rock versus the dakota access pipeline, and the long tradition of indigenous resistance  // nick estes, legacy: trauma, story, and indigenous healing  // suzanne methot, there there // tommy orange, islands of decolonial love // leanne betasamosake simpson, the break  // katherena vermette, white magic  // elissa washuta, crazy brave  // joy harjo, i am woman: a native perspective on sociology and feminism // lee maracle, eyes bottle dark with a mouthful of flowers  // jake skeets, black indian  // shonda buchanan, as long as grass grows: the indigenous fight for environmental justice, from colonization to standing rock  // dina gilio-whitaker, a history of my brief body //  billy-ray belcourt, jonny appleseed  // joshua whitehead, love medicine //  louise erdrich, the marrow thieves  // cherie dimaline, indian horse  // richard wagamese, bad indians: a tribal memoir  // deborah miranda.

Tanya Tagaq (Inuit) is an internationally renowned throat singer. This book is billed as a novel, but it traverses genre and style, not unlike Tagaq’s music . It tells the story of a young Inuk girl coming of age and becoming a mother in Nunavut in the 1970s as she navigates relationships with family, animals, self, place, and culture. This book was longlisted for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Robin Wall Kimmerer (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) is a north star for many readers who want to protect and live harmoniously with land and Earth. She is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Braiding Sweetgrass is a revered work of literature for its beautiful embodiment of the interwoven nature of all living things. Her previous book,  Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses,  approaches its subject with the same broad framework of reciprocal relationships between people and Earth, and with the same engaging prose.

This intricate and nuanced book of Native American history combines reporting, extensive interviews, and memoir as it works against the erasure narrative that posits the destruction of Indigenous peoples after the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. David Treuer (Ojibwe) deftly dismantles myths and lays out the rich history of social and political activism around self-determination, cultural preservation, resistance, and resilience in modern Native history. It was a finalist for the 2019 National Book Award.

Nick Estes (Lower Brule Sioux Tribe) is a professor at the University of New Mexico and co-founder of The Red Nation , a coalition dedicated to Native liberation from capitalism and colonialism, which also produces a podcast of the same name. In this book, Estes puts the massive movement at Standing Rock and #NoDAPL into context of a long history of Indigenous struggle and resistance. It offers excellent liberation-focused perspective on the Water Protectors and how they became so successful.

This is a wonderful book about healing from trauma, especially intergenerational trauma. Using history, past and contemporary story, and psychology and human development, Methot (Asiniwachi Nehiyaw [Rocky Mountain Cree]), who is an experienced educator across age and other demographics, writes clearly about the ways in which intergenerational trauma affects bodies and psyches and offers concrete frameworks for healing at every scale. This book won the 2019–20 Huguenot Society of Canada Award.

This debut novel from 2018 marked Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) as a major literary voice. The book is narrated by a chorus of characters across age and background but who are all Indigenous people in Oakland, California, and uniting at a community pow wow. The book was lauded for its portrayal of complex characters living within the realities of urban Indigenous life. Orange’s writing is electric and engrossing.

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg/Alderville First Nation)’s writing is nothing short of stunning, and it defies categorization. Centering Indigenous ways of storytelling, which are often cyclical, Simpson’s writing and music evoke love above all, while also embodying the full spectrum of emotion and human experience—especially Indigenous experience on land that has been harmed and exploited by settler colonialism and capitalism.

Katherena Vermette (Red River Métis [Michif]) is a prolific author of fiction, poetry, children’s and YA, and graphic novels. The Break is an immersive and fast-paced intergenerational novel that starts when a young mother, Stella, sees a possible crime taking place on The Break, a barren field by her house, through her window. When she calls the police, a sprawling saga unfolds that spans time and community. Vermette is a gifted storyteller and this book won, among other honors, the 2016 McNally Robinson Book of the Year.

Elissa Washuta (Cowlitz) is one of the best contemporary essayists out there, and her work is always layered so intricately and with such deep thought that reading her feels like growing your brain, in the best way possible. She’s also quick with her humor, and this, combined with her intellectual genius, makes her essays about place, self, pop culture, addiction, the body, and yes, magic, a great joy to read.

Joy Harjo (Muscogee (Creek) Nation) is the current (23rd) Poet Laureate of the United States and the author of nine collections of poetry, as well as plays and children’s books. Crazy Brave is one of her two memoirs (the other is Poet Warrior ), and like all of her work, it is honest and brilliant. It details her coming of age into a spiritual and complex life, and her journey to becoming a poet.

Sadly, Maracle (Sto:lo Nation) passed away in 2021, but her rich and abundant work lives on in the world, which is better for it. Maracle wrote nonfiction, fiction, criticism, and poetry, and published over 14 books. I Am Woman is one of Maracle’s crowning works, a book that openly explores sexualization and sexual victimization of Indigenous women through a lens of feminist theory. But all of her work is well worth the read.

Jake Skeets (Diné/Navajo) is a teacher and poet. Eyes Bottle Dark is his debut collection and made all kinds of 2019 best-of lists, winning multiple awards including a Lambda Literary award and a Whiting Award. Taking as its starting point a photograph Skeets found of a family member taken by a white photographer, which is on the cover of the book, this collection dives into themes of queerness, land and place, growing up, and the dark and bright sides of love.

Shonda Buchanan writes deeply and beautifully into the space, idea, and experience of being “mixed blood.” Born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Buchanan says she has always written “towards the thought of how I can use my craft to explore, explain, testify, investigate, celebrate the things happening around me.” She has accomplished this as a widely published journalist and educator. This memoir delves into her upbringing and development of her sense of self and identity, and the broader context of the culture of capitalism and colonial governments.

This book is an excellent and approachable history of Indigenous environmental activism and movements. Crucially, it also offers frameworks and pathways toward future environmental justice and protection from an Indigenous lens. Dina Gilio-Whitaker (Colville Confederated Tribes) is a consultant and educator in the field of environmental justice policy planning, in addition to a journalist, scholar, and lecturer.

If you’ve ever wanted to feel your brain light up and bloom with every line or sentence you read in a book, Billy-Ray Belcourt (Driftpile Cree) is a great place to start. A History of My Brief Body is the only one of this three books to be classified as an essay collection—the other two, NDN Coping Mechanisms and This Wound is a World , are poetry—but like many of the writers on this list, his work defies categorization. In this book, Belcourt actively resists colonization even as he uses the colonizer’s language, and dives into this tension. At the same time, he writes beautifully about love, hope, family, grief, violence, and art.

Jonny Appleseed is a tender-hearted, funny, and enrapturing novel about a Two-Spirit Indigiqueer young man navigating life as a sex worker in the city in the weeks leading up to his stepfather’s funeral on the rez, and his memories of his grandmother and coming of age. Whitehead (Peguis First Nation) is a writer, poet, and intellectual; his other published work includes the anthology Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction and the poetry collection full-metal indigiqueer . Jonny Appleseed was the 2021 Canada Reads winner, among other accolades.

Louise Erdrich (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) is a prolific and widely known writer whose novels are often interconnected and span time, families, and communities. Love Medicine is her debut novel, originally published in 1984. It follows five families from the 1930s through the 1980s living on fictional reservations in Minnesota and North Dakota. Like many of her works, it is immersive and full of rich, complex characters, and though all of her novels stand alone, this first one is a great place to start. Erdrich is also the author of poetry and children’s books, and owns Birch Bark Books in Minneapolis.

TIME called The Marrow Thieves one of the best YA books of all time, and with good reason. This dystopian novel is set in a world nearly destroyed by human-induced climate change, in which settlers have lost the ability to dream. In this world, the bone marrow of Indigenous people can restore the ability to dream. The book follows the character of Frenchie, and the people around him, as they try to stay hidden from hunters. It’s a brilliant work of fast-paced storytelling, and won many awards including the 2017 Governor General’s Literary Award, but Dimaline (Metis Nation of Ontario)'s other works are also well worth seeking out, including the Marrow Thieves sequel, Hunting by Stars , and the wonderful adult novel Empire of Wild .

Richard Wagamese (Ojibwe/Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Northwestern Ontario) remains one of the most widely known writers of contemporary literature, publishing 16 books, two of them posthumously after his death in 2017. Indian Horse is one of his famous works, a novel that follows a boy named Saul Indian Horse as he survives the brutal residential school system and becomes a hockey player. This book depicts the devastating realities of the residential schools, which systematically harmed individuals, families, and communities. Wagamese was a writer of incredible talent and emotional range, and all of his work should be sought out.

This multi-genre memoir uses archives in all senses of the word, as well as imaginative writing, to render a prismatic and complex story about her own family and the history of colonization in California from the Spanish missions of the 1700s to present. Miranda (Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation) also maintains a blog called Bad NDNS , on which she continues this ongoing work of documenting and synthesizing stories and histories that remain relevant as ever in the present day.

Native American & Indigenous Hertiage Month

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The first American Indian Day was celebrated in May 1916 in New York. Red Fox James, a Blackfeet Indian, rode horseback from state to state, getting endorsements from 24 state governments, to have a day to honor American Indians (CDC). In 1986, President Reagan issues a proclamation stating the week of November 23rd - 30th as "American Indian Week." It has since evolved into the month-long celebration of National American Indian Heritage Month every November. A proclamation is issued by the President annually to reaffirm the celebration. National American Indian Heritage Month is an opportunity to learn about, uplift, and celebrate the indigenous people and cultures of the Americas. Browse this virtual display to access fiction, nonfiction, and biographical eBooks, digital academic and local resources, films, documentaries, music, and more to celebrate and commemorate the month.

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Native Americans in the United States Essay

Introduction, american identity, works cited.

Our planet is inhabited with a great number of different people. Having chosen different places to live, they formed different groups with some common features. Peculiarities of the each group, or folk were determined by the environment where people lived. People of the North are severe and solid, people of the South are passionate and emotional. These differences made every nation unique and underlined its character. Great diversity makes our planet an interesting place to live.

Identity of a nation is the thing which should be boasted and treated very carefully as it is contains the whole history of the folk. America is a unique phenomenon among other lands. Its history witnessed the great people migration and culture interchange. However, due to these facts and strong bond with its roots America managed to save its unique identity, having made it even richer.

Being inhabited with Indian tribes from the earliest moments of its history, American land has taken a lot from them. Great love for nature, realization of your place in this world, connection with the roots and ancestors and unique love for native land are the factors which determine American identity.

It cannot be doubted that Indian tribes influenced greatly the formation of the American identity. That is why it is possible to speak about inherited deep and respectful perception of environment and nature. Native Americans used to deify natural events, treating them in the proper way. In the book The Norton Anthology of American Literature the chapter form the book Black Elk Speaks is given.

In contains the words of Oglala Lakota man, which can prove Indians’ great love for nature “I looked below me where the earth was silent in a sick green light, and saw the hills look up afraid and the grasses on the hills and all the animals” (Baym and Levine 30). His understanding of nature as one of the main treasures of this world came from his upbringing and it became the part of American identity.

Another thing which is peculiar for it is great respect to ancestors and to the land where they lived In the same chapter, written from the Black Elks words the author also stresses the great respect for wisdom and experience of ancestors. “Your Grandfathers all over the world are having council, and they have called you here to teach you” (Baym and Levine 27).

The phrase which reflects the whole understanding of relations between generations peculiar to Americans. The Grandfathers are the wisest men and their knowledge is unlimited. Their pieces of advice should be followed.

In American identity great respect for old people is instilled since early childhood. Great love for native land is an obvious result of this great respect. Nothing can be worse than to lose your Motherland, place where a great number of your ancestors were born and died, the place which is filled with their knowledge and power.

Having analyzed the great history of American people, its great cultural heritage and peculiarities of its development it is possible to conclude that there are some main characteristics which give America its identity. Having descended from the Indian land, America has inherited its great love for nature and the careful attitude to it. Respect for ancestors and love for native land are also important characteristics. Many times in the history America proved it showing great patriotism which was not easy to break.

Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Eighth Edition. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company. 2011. Print.

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IvyPanda. (2020, March 27). Native Americans in the United States. https://ivypanda.com/essays/native-americans-in-the-united-states/

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1. IvyPanda . "Native Americans in the United States." March 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/native-americans-in-the-united-states/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Native Americans in the United States." March 27, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/native-americans-in-the-united-states/.

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Storytelling and Truth-telling: Personal Reflections on the Native American Experience in Law Schools

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  Abstract

Excerpted From: Angelique EagleWoman (Wambdi A. Was'teWinyan), Dominic J. Terry, Lani Petrulo, Dr. Gavin Clarkson, Angela Levasseur, Leah R. Sixkiller and Jack Rice, Storytelling and Truth-telling: Personal Reflections on the Native American Experience in Law Schools, 48 Mitchell Hamline Law Review 704 (May, 2022) (95 Footnotes) ( Full Document )

There has been sparse legal scholarship on the experience of Native American applicants, law students, faculty, and staff in law schools. The Indigenous perspective essays in this compilation are an opportunity to hear the voices of Indigenous peoples on their lived experiences in seeking law degrees and careers in law-related fields. Words such as resiliency, endurance, and perseverance often come to mind when Native Americans discuss their personal experiences in the legal academy. The following collection of essays are a contribution to the legal academy in the Indigenous tradition of storytelling shared as firsthand accounts through the seven authors' perspectives. Within the personal reflections, the tenacity of Native people to succeed and overcome barriers is a common theme. Many of the contributors speak to the value of mentoring or becoming a Native lawyer to serve as a mentor. The compilation provides insight into the experience the authors share of a deep commitment to their Indigenous communities and to trailblazing for the next generation of Native lawyers.

The first essay in the compilation is Becoming a Native Lawyer by Dominic Terry (Navajo Nation/Diné). His contribution is motivated by his desire to “share my story in hopes that it inspires Native children to believe in themselves.” He details the struggles of surviving a broken home, poverty, and teachers with low expectations, and worse, derogatory comments from his childhood and teenage years. Drawing on his grandmother's love and determination, he persevered when an injury sidelined his dreams of a football career and re-dedicated himself to pursuing his undergraduate degree after finding himself off-track. A poster in the back of a classroom planted the seed that he could attain a law degree.

With few examples of Navajo college or law graduates, Dominic decided to serve as an inspiration and role model by becoming a Navajo lawyer. Taking the Law School Admissions Test (“LSAT”) twice to gain admission to law school, he explains, “[l]aw school was exactly what I expected- tough.” Major life changes occurred for him as a law student as he moved across the country to attend law school, fathered a newborn, and adopted his nephew. His resiliency was again tested when he failed the Minnesota bar examination and eventually triumphed on the fourth attempt. He remembered his grandmother's words to never give up. The personal essay concludes with Dominic contributing as a lawyer in the Child Protection Division as an Assistant Hennepin County Attorney in the Minnesota Twin Cities area. Through his many difficult experiences, he finds the sacrifices were worth it as he can now state that “[m]y position allows me to be a voice for the Native community.”

The second essay is titled, Barred: A Personal Reflection on the Native American Experience in Legal Academia, by Lani Petrulo (Native Hawaiian). In her essay, she writes, “[a]lthough Native Hawaiians are treated differently under most federal laws and policies than members of federally recognized tribes, they are still connected to their Indigenous brothers and sisters through shared cultural values that live on today.” In detailing her ancestral history as a Native Hawaiian, Lani explains that the lack of inclusion in both mainstream legal curricula and in curricula focused on American Indians and Alaska Natives can be painful and traumatizing. She shares that “learning and practicing in the field of Native American law can bring up many painful and unresolved issues related to generational trauma, but also involving confusion of cultural identity.” She names the experience of “Native imposter syndrome” as connected to the invisibility for her as a Native Hawaiian woman in the legal field.

As in the prior essay, the theme of making a difference for future generations is present in Lani's essay. Due to the uncertainty around Native Hawaiian political status, she cites to the multiple barriers she faced when applying for scholarships, the limited spots for Native Hawaiians in the one law school in Hawaii, financial stressors, and the emotional toll from the impending occupation of “Maunakea, one of the most sacred sites in Hawaiian culture, believed to be an ancestor of the people.” Following her Juris Doctor (“J.D.”) and Master of Laws (“LL.M.”) degrees, she currently works as a judicial law clerk and has the goal of joining the legal academy to become a law professor and “ultimately be the Native Hawaiian representation that I never had.”

Next is my personal essay in this compilation titled, Making a Community and Taking a Stand: Reflections on Law School from a Dakota Woman. In the essay, I speak of racial injustice and broken U.S. government treaty promises as motivating my dream of being a Native lawyer from a young age. My lived experience included a lack of stability in my early home life requiring ongoing focus to attain high grades which led to acceptance at Stanford University. After graduating with a degree in political science, I questioned my path to a law degree and ultimately attended the law school closest to my reservation to avoid homesickness. During law school, I participated in “demonstrations and small teach-ins on why the University mascot was dehumanizing towards my people and our sister Tribes.” My experience in law school was often a lonely one as the only Native law student in most law classrooms and in my graduating class.

After becoming a lawyer and a single mother, I returned to law school to earn my LL.M. degree in American Indian and Indigenous Law. The faculty in the LL.M. program encouraged my development in the law and allowed me to confidently apply to be a law professor. Currently, I am a law professor and director of the Native American Law and Sovereignty (“NALS”) Institute at Mitchell Hamline School of Law (“MHSL”) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In the legal academy, there are very few Native Americans and “fewer Native women, who have attained the rank of tenured law professor in the two hundred plus law schools in the United States.” While my path was a winding trail, the strength of elders and ancestors helped me along to encourage the next generation of Native lawyers. “Through my example and advocacy, I hope to ensure that the doors of law schools stay open to Native women and men students and that there are resources of community, financial assistance, and cultural understanding for these same students to succeed.”

The fourth contribution highlights the importance of mentoring by Dr. Gavin Clarkson (Choctaw Nation) and is titled, My Indian Law Journey. With both parents escaping poverty and instilling the value of education, Gavin pursued a career as a professor in the field of computer science as a self-labeled “nerdy Native.” He attained degrees from Harvard University and after a decade of teaching was encouraged by mentor and visiting law professor Robert A. Williams to consider becoming a Native law professor. “If I wanted to solve any of the problems I had witnessed in the Choctaw Nation and elsewhere, becoming an Indian law professor would provide such an opportunity.” With the goal of infusing tribal economic development into the legal academy curriculum, Gavin pursued his law degree to complement his doctorate in business.

Professor Williams steadfastly served as a mentor while Gavin advocated a variety of perspectives on initiatives that combined tribal economics and tribal sovereignty. He noted that, at times, he faced opposition within the field of law and took his mentor's advice to keep focused on his research. This led to the publication of law review articles on tribal finance, testimony on tribal access to capital markets, and eventually a position with the Trump Administration to serve in the U.S. Department of the Interior as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development. “Although Professor Williams and I disagree on many political issues off-reservation, he was able to look past those differences and think outside the box about how I might contribute and make a difference in other people's lives throughout Indian Country,” he explains.

Next, third year law student, Angela Levasseur (Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation) contributed her personal essay titled, Native American Legal Experience: A Cree & Dakota Grandmother's Perspective. To provide insight into her experiences as a law student, Angela determined five areas of focus as “trauma and intergenerational trauma; the importance of mentors and role models, poverty and the consequential financial struggles; systemic racism and discrimination; and finally; culture shock.” From the experiences of her ancestors, her tribal history and her own personal lived experiences, Angela declares “these experiences have made me extremely resilient.” She also credits mentors and role models with demonstrating that she too could complete her legal education as “others have broken the trail for you and are actively cheering you on.”

She relates how a case taught in her first-year criminal law course about a Native American family did not include instruction on the context, the cultural forces at work or the tragedy of the events depicted. Angela felt obligated to provide the class with a history lesson on the removal of Native children and the context for the course material. This and other similar experiences around the lack of context for Native American issues are described as “exhausting” as she pursues a law degree. She also experienced “culture shock” from the lack of Native American imagery and space within the law school building. These experiences have inspired her to set the goal to “practice law for several years in service to my tribe and then become a Native law professor.”

The sixth reflection is by attorney and tribal judge Leah Sixkiller (Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians) sharing experiences in her essay, Reflection Paper. She noted that “my law school experience is exceptional and perhaps unbelievable to some.” After graduating from Harvard University, Leah attended law school in Arizona within a well-developed program where she attained the Certificate of Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy. She felt welcomed, celebrated and in a law school where Indian law was recognized as important for all law students. “For the first time in my entire life, I was not part of the unheard ultra-minority in an institutional setting, but rather of the outstanding and celebrated minority,” she explains.

Leah provided her lived experience as an example of best practices to support and uplift Native American law students. “To all of a sudden be a part of a sizable and vibrant American Indian educational community at [the University of Arizona College of Law] both floored me and added to my self-confidence and sense of self-worth, thus propelling me to work toward excellence and seek the most competitive opportunities.” As she reflects on her life in the law, she has found her motivation was to make her family proud. Leah shared, “I am standing on their and my ancestors' shoulders, and I have a duty to do and be the best.”

The seventh and final reflection is Why I Fight for Equity in the Criminal Justice System by Jack Rice (San Luis Rey Band of Luiseno Indians), criminal defense attorney and international trial advocacy trainer. He reflects on the impoverished conditions of his early years and the encouragement of his single mother telling Jack and his brother that they could achieve their dreams. “Coming from where she came from and from what she endured, I'm still blown away by her tenacity, her wisdom,” he explained. Dealing with racism and a history of ancestral genocide, Jack viewed his law school experience as failing to incorporate other perspectives on the law. The adversarial model of law “frequently ignored other forms and approaches including Native American ones that could be more effective.” He relates how he successfully employed a Native American restorative approach to a case that gained national attention due to the pulling down of the Christopher Columbus statue in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Jack has practiced in the criminal defense field for decades and provides trial advocacy training in countries around the world. As a new lawyer, he witnessed a judge take the time to provide a comfortable space and respectfully listen to his client who was a “poor, drug addicted, sexually abused” Native American woman. This judge demonstrated an open mind, and that the court had an obligation to justice as much as the defendant. This courtroom experience was pivotal in providing him hope that the criminal justice system could be positively influenced by the morals of judges, lawyers, and jurors towards defendants from diverse cultural communities. He provides the view that “if people are going to bandy about words like equality and justice for all, they also better be prepared for those of us who are going to hold them to it.”

Through this collection of essays, the voices of Native Americans as law students, lawyers, judges, and law professors speak through storytelling and personal truths. It is hoped that the ears of the legal academy are open to hear the recommendations on incorporating Native American law, restorative justice traditions, and context for Native American legal issues into law school classrooms and curricula. The common good for law schools will be positively impacted by admitting more Native American law students and hiring more Native American law professors for a more representative, inclusive, and just legal profession.

Life can break you. No one can protect you from that. However, when the “system” is the wrecking ball, the breakage can become a permanent stain on your record--leading to huge implications on a person's life, finances, housing, and general reputation. This institution is supposed to protect us from that breakage when the law is not in support of the outcome. Under this same law, we all should receive equal protection. It should be ours by right. We the people, by the people, and for the people. Of course, it was never originally intended for a lot of us, and it rarely works out that way. But I'll be damned if I won't work my tail off until I see change. I mean, if people are going to bandy about words like equality and justice for all, they also better be prepared for those of us who are going to hold them to it.

Professor Angelique EagleWoman (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate) served as the Chair of the Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples Section of the American Association of Law Schools in 2021.

Vernellia R. Randall Founder and Editor Professor Emerita of Law The University of Dayton School of Law Email

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The United States Government’s Relationship with Native Americans

A brief overview of relations between Native Americans and the United States Government.

Social Studies, U.S. History

Lakota Delegation 1891

The Treaty of Ft. Laramie of 1868 "set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation" of the Black Hills for the Lakota Nation. But the discovery of gold in the area ultimately led to the treaty's annulment and the Black Hills War.

Photograph by Charles Bell

The history of relations between Native Americans and the federal government of the United States has been fraught. To many Native Americans, the history of European settlement has been a history of wary welcoming, followed by opposition, defeat, near-extinction, and, now, a renaissance. To Europeans and Americans, it has included everything from treatment of Native American nations as equals (or near-equals) to assimilation to exile to near-genocide, often simultaneously. Late 18th Century Many Native American tribes allied with the British during the Revolutionary War. However, the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, was silent on the fates of these British allies. The new United States government was thus free to acquire Native American lands by treaty or force. Resistance from the tribes stopped the encroachment of settlers, at least for a while. Treaty-making After the Revolutionary War, the United States maintained the British policy of treaty -making with the Native American tribes . In general, the treaties were to define the boundaries of Native American lands and to compensate for the taking of lands. Often, however, the treaties were not ratified by the Senate, and thus were not necessarily deemed enforceable by the U.S. government, leaving issues unresolved. On occasion, the representatives of Native American tribes who signed the treaties were not necessarily authorized under tribal law to do so. For example, William McIntosh, chief of the Muskogee-Creek Nation, was assassinated for signing the Treaty of Indian Springs in violation of Creek law. Treaty -making as a whole ended in 1871, when Congress ceased to recognize the tribes as entities capable of making treaties. The value of the treaties also came to be called into question when the Supreme Court decided, in 1903, Congress had full power over Native American affairs, and could override treaties. Many of the treaties made before then, however, remained in force at least to some extent, and the Supreme Court was occasionally asked to interpret them. One notable treaty with ongoing repercussions is the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1868. Under that treaty , the United States pledged, among other things, that the Great Sioux [Lakota] Reservation , including the Black Hills, would be "set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation" of the Lakota Nation. Although neither side fully complied with the treaty ’s terms, with the discovery of gold in the area, the United States sought to buy back the Black Hills. The Lakota rejected the offer, resulting in the Black Hills War (1876-1877), which included Custer’s Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn (June 25-26, 1876). Finally, in 1877, Congress went back on the original treaty and passed an act reclaiming the Black Hills. In 1923, the Lakota sued. Sixty years later, the Supreme Court determined the annulment was a “taking” under the Fifth Amendment and that the tribe was owed “just compensation” plus interest starting from 1877. The tribe has refused to accept payment, however, and is still seeking return of the land. As of 2018, the amount due appears to be around $1 billion. Removal and Resettlement Although conflicts were fought in the Northwest Territories (Tecumseh and the Battle of Tippecanoe) and the Southeast (Creek War and the Seminole Wars), the major policy toward the North American tribes in the early part of the 19th century was removal and resettlement. The Removal Act of 1830 authorized President Andrew Jackson to negotiate for the removal and resettlement of Native American tribes. A primary target was the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Although the removal and resettlement was supposed to be voluntary, ultimately, this resulted in the series of forcible removals known as the Trail of Tears. Allotment and Assimilation For most of the middle part of the 19th century, the U.S. government pursued a policy known as “allotment and assimilation.” Pursuant to treaties that were often forced upon tribes, common reservation land was allotted to individual families. The General Allotment (Dawes) Act of 1887 made this more general, which resulted in the loss of much reservation land. A new approach was undertaken during the New Deal, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which ended allotment, banned further sale of Native American land, and returned some lands to the tribes. After World War II, however, proposals arose in favor of assimilation, termination of tribes, and an end to reservations. A number of reservations, such as the Menominee in Wisconsin and the Klamath in Oregon, had their reservations terminated. Today The influence of the civil rights movement in the 1960s led to the Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975, which restored some sovereignty to tribal governments and gave them a certain independence in handling federal funds and operating federal programs. The status of the Native American tribes with respect to the states is complicated. In general, today’s Native American groups are sovereign within their territory with respect to tribal members, but lack authority over nontribal members. However, the Supreme Court did determine in 1987 that states cannot regulate Native American gaming enterprises. This resulted in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988, which provided the framework that governs Indian casinos.

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Essay on Native American

Students are often asked to write an essay on Native American in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Native American

Who are native americans.

Native Americans are the first people who lived in North America. They are also called American Indians. Many different groups lived across the land for thousands of years before Europeans arrived.

Native American Homes

These first Americans lived in many types of homes. Some had teepees made of animal skins, while others built homes with wood or earth. The kind of home depended on the tribe’s location and resources.

Traditions and Culture

Native American culture is rich with traditions. They have special music, dance, and art that are important to their communities. Storytelling is also a big part of their culture, teaching lessons and history.

Challenges Faced

Native Americans faced many problems when Europeans came to America. They lost land and many people due to wars and diseases. Today, they work to preserve their culture and rights.

Native Americans Today

Today, Native Americans live all over the United States. They keep their heritage alive by practicing traditions and teaching them to younger generations. They contribute to America in countless ways.

250 Words Essay on Native American

Native Americans are the first people to live in what is now the United States. Before Europeans came to America, Native Americans lived across the land for thousands of years. They are also known as American Indians or Indigenous Americans.

Their Culture

Native Americans have rich traditions and cultures. They speak different languages and have various customs. Many celebrate their history through music, dance, and stories. They respect nature and often see the earth as a living thing.

Homes and Living

Long ago, Native Americans made homes that fit their needs and the places they lived. Some built teepees, others made igloos or wooden houses. They hunted, fished, and farmed for food. Families were very important, and everyone in the community helped each other.

Challenges They Faced

When Europeans arrived, life changed for Native Americans. They lost much of their land and many people due to new diseases and wars. Today, many Native Americans live on reservations, which are special areas of land set aside for them.

Today, Native Americans work to keep their cultures alive. They teach their languages and traditions to their children. Many are also involved in businesses, art, and politics. They contribute to America while remembering their past.

Native Americans have a unique and important place in the history and culture of the United States. Their story is one of strength and survival.

500 Words Essay on Native American

Who are native americans.

Native Americans are the first people who lived in what is now the United States, long before Europeans came to the continent. They are also known as American Indians or Indigenous Americans. There are many different groups, each with their own unique cultures, languages, and histories.

Where Did They Live?

Native Americans lived all across North America. They were in places like the cold, snowy lands of Alaska, the dry deserts of Arizona, the thick forests of the northeast, and the sunny beaches of Florida. Each group adapted to their environment and used what was around them to survive. They built homes, hunted, fished, and farmed, creating a life for themselves.

Culture and Traditions

Each Native American group had its own traditions, stories, and ways of living. Some celebrated with big dances and music, while others were known for their pottery or weaving skills. They respected nature and often believed that everything had a spirit. Family and community were very important to them, and they taught their children to value their cultural heritage.

Native American Languages

There were hundreds of Native American languages spoken by different tribes. Sadly, many of these languages are not used much anymore, and some are even at risk of being forgotten. Today, people are trying to save these languages by teaching them to young Native Americans.

Impact of European Arrival

When Europeans arrived in America, it brought many changes for Native Americans. They faced new diseases, lost their lands, and had to deal with many challenges. Over time, many Native Americans were moved away from their homes to places called reservations. Life became very difficult for them as they tried to hold onto their cultures and ways of life.

Today, Native Americans still live all over the United States. They work in all kinds of jobs, go to school, and are part of the larger community. But they also work hard to remember and celebrate their cultures. There are festivals, museums, and events where they share their history, art, and traditions with others.

Why We Should Learn About Native Americans

Learning about Native Americans is important because it helps us understand the first people of this land. Their stories and cultures are a big part of America’s history. By knowing more about them, we can respect and appreciate the diversity of people that make up our country.

In conclusion, Native Americans have a rich and diverse history that is an essential part of the American story. Despite facing many hardships, they continue to preserve their cultures and contribute to the country in many ways. By learning about their past and present, we can celebrate the strength and spirit of the original inhabitants of the United States.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Nationality
• Essay on National Pride
• Essay on Fashion Industry

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Top 105 Native American Essay Topics

Jun 13, 2022

Jun 13, 2022 | Topics

American history is surprising. It all started with a few Native American tribes, grew into the formation of the United States, and now it’s an official part of world history. Everything that we have in our lives today was created by Americans who adapted to their environment and fought against the obstacles they faced. Native Americans are important people in this story because they are the first ones who lived on this land and helped people settle down. If you want to learn more about these interesting people, you should check out Native American essay topics for inspiration.

1. Analysis of the civil rights movement in native America 2. Analysis of mascot controversy in native America 3. Analysis of the issues native America caused in modern society 4. The usefulness of the Native American education in the modern-day era 5. Comparing the life of a Native American woman and that of an American woman 6. What caused the Alcatraz island Occupation during native America 7. Comparing the Native American and the Asian American 8. The historical challenges Native American women face even today 9. How the historical trauma affected the Native American community 10. Understanding Native Americans, their culture, and history 11. What relationship do Native Americans and European nations have? 12. Do modern Americans have an origin from Native Americans? 13. An essay on the culture of the Native American 14. An essay on the Native American Religions 15. An essay on the Native American Music 16. An essay on the Native American Alcatraz and college students 17. An essay on how Native and African Americans affected America 18. Understanding the role and impact of the Native American Education 19. An essay on the oppression of Native American communities 20. The rights of Native Americans and the respect their education system 21. The less-known Native American Tribes originating from the Eastern Part of Mississippi 22. How the Native American Balladry came to be? 23. How Native Americans fueled the success of the modern education system 24. The relationship between Native Americans and alcohol 25. How different Native American misjudgments and beliefs negatively affected the Native Americans? 26. Disclosure of the Native American Sign Language 27. How was racism in the Native American Mascots perceived? 28. How the Native American Communities Perceived Alcohol 29. The adverse effects of Alcohol on the American Native Indians 30. The relationship between Native Americans and Modern medicine 31. Common issues when writing in Native American Language 32. How the different misjudgments and Beliefs Affected the Relationship between Spanish and Native America

Good Native American Essay Topics

• Native American mythology and its role in modern culture
• Legacy of Mesoamerican civilizations
• Specifics of Native American education
• The history of the social organization of pre-class Native American society.
• History of science of native Americans.
• Native American ethnology.
• Postcolonial psychology of Native American people
• Endangered Native American languages
• History of religious beliefs and religions.of Native American tribes
• Research problems of cultural/social anthropology.of Native American tribes

Native american argumentative essay topics

• A study in the color of the Cherokee skin: An insightful investigation of the Cherokee people.
• The true implications of the neo-modern American Indian identity and nomenclature on the Native Americans: Native Americans’ resentment toward this name as a manifestation of western influence upon them.
• A real discussion into the truth and verity about the origin, existence, and importance of Pocahontas, and the legend of Pocahontas.
• The diminution of the language of the Native Americans under the influence of western factors over the years.
• An analysis of the mythology commonly associated with the Lakota Native American tribe.
• An investigation in the mind and matter of the South-East Chickasaw Native American tribe.
• A detailed study of the series of attacks and skirmishes conducted on immigrant wagon locomotives moving through the state of Utah in the year 1857: Also known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre
• A detailed investigation of the Dawes Act: The story of how the Dawes Act enabled the United States’ Government to exploit the Native American tribes.
• A discussion of the tribal beliefs and practices of the Chumash American Indian tribes and their story of originations and progression.
• The American Indian casinos, now and then. The implications the Indian Casinos have had on American Mafia, and the role and relation with other crime syndicates.
• The saga of the trail of tears, and the American Indian tribe called the Cherokees: A study of the brutal savage pursuit of the native tribes’ folk.
• An investigative discussion into the role played by Andrew Jackson in the systematic removal of the American Indians from the areas west of the Mississippi river.

Most Interesting Topics for Research Paper

• Postcolonialism and indigenous feminisms
• Access to reproductive health care for Native women
• Language revitalization among contemporary Indians
• The people of the Great Lakes region, north and south
• Fundamentals of the Anishinaabe language
• Political autonomy and American Indian communities
• Native American film and television
• Contemporary Native American fiction: Almanac of the Dead and others
• Developmental psychology and Ojibwe stages of life
• Pan Indian movement philosophies
• Public education on reservations: Barriers to becoming college ready
• The first printed bible in American was in Algonquin: How religious colonization shaped commerce and industry in early America
• Native American Fashion: How groups like Beyond Buckskin fight appropriation and promote Native designers
• Medical care on reservations
• Federal law and the failure to prosecute those who systematically target Native people
• Blood quantum and the goals of genocide
• Native American history and major treaties
• Public policy: Rural deprivation in an urban obsessed culture
• How colonial forces portray Native women’s political and social power as cultural deficiency: A long history
• Targeting Native women: The high rates of cross racial rape and other violence against Native women on reservations
• The invasion of American: The first fifty years
• Legal decolonization
• Aboriginal and First Nations identities in America
• Legal conflicts over land and resources in the 21st century
• Contemporary American Indian Music: Traditional, 49s, hip hop, rounds, and more
• Tribal blood rules and blood quantum: Controlling indigenous women’s sexuality
• Contemporary regional distinctions among tribes: What Powwow circuits and dance competitions reveal about modern Indian identity
• Mental health care for indigenous people
• Genetic ancestry testing and white ‘discovery’ of Indianness
• Farming techniques of the indigenous upper Midwest
• Contemporary indigenous philosophies of Eastern nations
• The ethics of genetic research: Indigenous philosophies
• Kidnapping as rescue: The demonization of Native families and indigenous parenting
• How Native resources made European wealth and stability possible: Then and now
• S. Indian policy since the Mayflower
• Critical race theory and pan-Indian philosophies
• Dental care in Native communities: How teeth mark class
• Colonization and self-determination
• Peyote singers: Realities and myths
• Diversity is natural: The creation and enforcement of homogeneity in an America that was always multiracial and multinational
• Urban Indians: A history of Detroit’s indigenous communities
• Great expectations: What happens when Native people fall short of white presumptions
• No one needs saving: Why indigenous people need economic and political colonization to stop
• Linda Hogan, Leslie Marmon Silko, Ella Deloria, Janet Campbell Hale, and Wendy Rose. Do they have anything in common beyond white perceptions of their race.
• Food desserts in the bread basket of America: Native reservations and access to nutrition
• The National Indian Education Association and Native American Studies programs in America
• Cultural attachments and pathologies: Why do some whites believe their attachment to a sport mascot is of greater importance than Native attachment to their own identities
• Concepts of childhood in indigenous America
• Missionaries and federally controlled schools
• Reinventing the Enemy’s Language and other radical collections of Native writing
• Environmental racism and indigenous people
• Louise Erdrich and the formation of contemporary expectations for Native writers
• Native American pulp fiction: Sherman Alexie’s Indian Killer and
• International law: Federal tribes and the U.S. government
• Indigenous peoples and political autonomy
• Federal Indian law and policy in the twentieth century
• The Center for World Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Law Centre and other global indigenous organizations
• Assimilation and Americanization
• Sovereignty and contemporary legal issues
• All cowboys, no Indians: Native representation in modern American film and television
• Three Indian communities of Long Island: Shinnecock Indian Nation, Poospatuck Reservation, and New York City
• When genocide is the goal, survival is revolutionary: Repositioning the “failures” of Native communities
• In defense of oral histories: Science tends to agree

Bottom Line

The topic you choose has a huge impact on the success of your essay. You want to find something that is interesting enough to write about and will also give you a chance to explore an aspect of Native American culture that is lesser known or has never been studied before. Write one essay with us, and then try another! We hope these resources help students succeed in their academic career by providing them with ideas for their next paper or future project on Native Americans.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are 4 common themes found in native american literature.

Common themes in Native American literature are worship of many gods, reverence for nature, the link between the land and the people, a hero’s journey, and the supernatural and natural worlds.

What are some Native American issues?

Many issues stem from the subjugation of Native Americans in society, including societal discrimination, racism, cultural appropriation through sports mascots, and depictions in art.

What are some common themes in Native American stories?

Though each nation has its own stories, several themes that are common across the tribes are the link between the land and the people, a hero’s journey, and the supernatural and natural worlds

What are some good questions about Native Americans?

Who is a Native American? Why are Indians sometimes referred to as Native Americans? What is an Indian Tribe? What does the term “federally recognized” mean? What does “tribal sovereignty” mean and why is it so important to Native Americans?

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