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  North American Indians: Books to Start With
 
 

These books are about Indians before European contact.

Kopper, Philip. The Smithsonian Book of North American Indians Before the Coming of the Europeans. 1986. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Mann, Charles G. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus. 2005. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

While most include some information about pre-contact times and about modern times, these books focus mainly on the historic period.

Fleet, Cameron, editor. First Nations - Firsthand: A History of 500 Years of Encounter, War, & Peace Inspired by the Eyewitnesses. 1997. Edison, NJ: Chartwell Books.

Josephy, Alvin M., Jr. 500 Nations: An Illustrated History of North American Indians. 2002. New York: Gramercy Books.

Page, Jake. In the Hands of the Great Spirit: The 20,000-Year History of American Indians. 2003. New York: Free Press.

Thomas, David Hurst, et al. The Native Americans: An Illustrated History. 1993. Atlanta: Turner Publishing, Inc.

Viola, Herman J. After Columbus: The Smithsonian Chronicle of the North American Indians. 1990. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books. / New York: Orion Books.

Wright, Ronald. Stolen Continents: The "New World" Through Indian Eyes. 1992. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

America's Fascinating Indian Heritage. 1978. Pleasantville, NY: The Reader's Digest Association.

Through Indian Eyes: The Untold Story of Native American Peoples. 1995. Pleasantville, NY: Reader's Digest Books.


These books provide basic information.

Lippert, Dorothy L. (Choctaw), & Stephen J. Spignesi. Native American History for Dummies. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing.

Russell, George L. (Saginaw Chippewa). American Indian Facts of Life. 2004. Phoenix, AZ: Native Data.Com.

Utter, Jack. American Indians: Answers to Today's Questions. Revised edition 2001. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Do All Indians Live In Tipis? Questions & Answers from the National Museum of the American Indian. 2007. New York: Harper Collins, in association with the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution.

These books are about the Indian impact on the world.

Weatherford, Jack. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World. 1988. New York: Fawcett Columbine.

Weatherford, Jack. Native Roots: How the Indians Enriched America. 1991. New York: Fawcett Columbine.

These books are about recent times.

Josephy, Alvin M., Jr. Now That the Buffalo's Gone: A Study of Today's American Indians. 1984. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

Hirschfelder, Arlene, & Martha Kreipe de Montaño (Prairie Band Potawatomi). The Native American Almanac: A Portrait of Native America Today. 1998. Somerset, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Winds of Renewal. By the Editors of Time-Life Books. 1996. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books.

These books are for children.

Brown, Tricia. Children of the Midnight Sun: Young Native Voices of Alaska. Photos by Roy Corral.1998. Portland, OR: Alaska Northwest Books. Any age.

Hakim, Joy. The First Americans. 1993, 2002. New York: Oxford University Press. Ages 12 and up.

Harvey, Karen D., & Lisa D. Harjo (Choctaw). Indian Country: A History of Native People in America. 1994. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing. Ages 12 and up.

Hirschfelder, Arlene. Happily May I Walk: American Indians & Alaska Natives Today. 1986. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Ages 10 and up

Katz, William Loren. Black Indians: A Hidden Heritage. 1986. New York: Simon & Schuster. Ages 13 and up.

Konig, Hans. Columbus: His Enterprise; Exploding the Myth. 1976, 1992. New York: Monthly Review Press. Ages 12 and up.

Konig, Hans. The Conquest of America: How the Indian Nations Lost Their Continent. 1993. New York: Monthly Review Press. Ages 12 and up.

Ortiz, Simon J. (Acoma). The People Shall Continue. Illustrated by Sharol Graves.1994. San Francisco: Children's Book Press. Ages 6 and up.

Viola, Herman J. After Columbus: The Horse's Return to America. Illustrated by Deborah Howland. 1992. Norwalk, CT: Trudy Management Company, Soundprints Division. A Smithsonian Wild Heritage book. Ages 6 and up.

Waldman, Carl. Timelines of Native American History. Illustrated by Molly Braun. 1994. New York: Prentice Hall General Reference. Ages 10 and up.

Prepared by the National Museum of the American Indian,
in cooperation with the Public Inquiry Mail Service,
Smithsonian Institution. 2007

 

 
 


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