Pre Nov. 2009 titles were sent by authors/publishers or purchased by the site owner. Post Nov. 2009 added book listings include source information.
"If I Can Read, I Can Do Anything" promotes reading at schools on or near Native American Indian reservations through building library collections and organizing reading promotion events.
Books listed here are either by Native American Indian authors or illustrators or both, including books that also feature non-Indian authors and Native illustrators. Where tribal affiliations are known, they are noted. Our intent is not to be all-inclusive but rather to highlight.
AS LONG AS THE RIVERS FLOW: THE STORIES OF NINE
NATIVE AMERICANS by Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna Pueblo/Sioux) and Patricia
Clark Smith (Micmac) (Scholastic, 1996). Brief but well-done biographies
of Weetamoo, Geronimo, Will Rogers, Jim Thorpe, Maria Tallchief, Senator
Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Wilma Pearl Mankiller, Michael Naranjo, and Louise
Erdrich. Notable both for the quality of the writing and presentation of
information as well as the diversity of figures, past and present, male
and female, and the variety of their pursuits. Ages 10-up.
MY HEROES, MY PEOPLE: AFRICAN AMERICANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS IN THE WEST portraits by Morgan Monceaux (Creek-Seminole), text by Morgan Monceaux (Creek-Seminole) and Ruth Katcher (Frances Foster, 1999). A collection of biography sketches that features stylized, interpretative portraits and historical notes. Highlights well-and-lesser known figures of interest. A must-have for those with an interest in Black Indians and Native history. Ages 12-up.
"One of the other problems I see is that if a Latino does get published, the only kind of stories the companies continue to seek is more culturally based stories. In other words, Maria Garcia and her family can make tortillas, but Maria Garcia can't win a spelling bee. I'd love to write more 'color blind' literature, and I know many writers who feel the same way."
–Diane Gonzales Bertrand,
author of TRINO'S TIME