Indigenous

Una Huna?: What Is This?

Ukpik loves living in her camp in the North with her family and she especially loves thinking up names for her brand new puppy. When a captain from the south arrives to trade with Ukpik’s father, she’s excited to learn how to use forks, knives, and spoons. At first, Ukpik enjoys teaching the other children how to use these new tools. But soon, she starts to wonder if they’ll need to use the new tools all the time, and if that means that everything in camp will change. After a conversation with her grandmother, Ukpik realizes that even though she will learn many new things, her love for her family and camp will never change – and it even inspires her to find a name for her puppy!

Code Word Courage

In September 1944 eleven-year-old Billie lives with her great aunt, Doff, eagerly waiting for her older brother Leo to return from boot camp, and desperate to find the father that left when she was little; but Leo brings a friend with him, a Navajo named Denny, and the injured dog they have rescued and named Bear–and when the two young men go off to war Bear becomes the thread that ties them all together, and helps Billie to find a true friend.

It’s Time For Bed

In this charming bedtime story, readers follow Siasi on a nighttime adventure as she comes up with excuse after excuse for why she’s not quite ready to go to bed.

Putuguq and Kublu and the Qalupalik

What creatures lurk beneath the sea ice? Putuguq and Kublu – two siblings who can’t seem to get along- are about to find out! On their way to the shoreline, Putuguq and Kublu run into their grandfather, who has a stern warning for the pair: always beware when playing on the shore, because you never know if a qalupalik, a mythical creature that snatches children, is lying in wait under the ice. Kublu is pretty sure their grandfather is just trying to spook them with a scary story from the past….but maybe not?

First Laugh

A Navajo family welcomes a new baby into the family with love and ceremony, eagerly waiting for that first special laugh. Includes brief description of birth customs in different cultures.

The Origin of Day and Night

In this Inuit tale, the actions of a hare and a fox change the Arctic forever by creating day and night. In very early times, there was no night or day and words spoken by chance could become real. When a hare and a fox meet and express their longing for light and darkness, their words are too powerful to be denied. Passed orally from storyteller to storyteller for hundreds of years, this beautifully illustrated story weaves together elements of an origin story and a traditional animal tale, giving young readers a window into Inuit mythology.

We Are Grateful

The word otsaliheliga (oh-jah-LEE-hay-lee-gah) is used by members of the Cherokee Nation to express gratitude. Beginning in the fall with the new year and ending in summer, follow a full Cherokee year of celebrations and experiences. Written by a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, this look at one group of Native Americans is appended with a glossary and the complete Cherokee syllabary, originally created by Sequoyah.

Go Show The World

Celebrating the stories of Indigenous people throughout time, Wab Kinew has created a powerful rap song, the lyrics of which are the basis for the text in this beautiful picture book, illustrated by the acclaimed Joe Morse. Including figures such as Crazy Horse, Net-no-kwa, former NASA astronaut John Herrington and Canadian NHL goalie Carey Price, Go Show the World showcases a diverse group of Indigenous people in the US and Canada, both the more well known and the not- so-widely recognized. Individually, their stories, though briefly touched on, are inspiring; collectively, they empower the reader with this message: “We are people who matter, yes, it’s true; now let’s show the world what people who matter can do.

There There

As we learn the reasons that each person is attending the Big Oakland Powwow—some generous, some fearful, some joyful, some violent—momentum builds toward a shocking yet inevitable conclusion that changes everything. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honor his uncle’s memory. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos and will to perform in public for the very first time. There will be glorious communion, and a spectacle of sacred tradition and pageantry. And there will be sacrifice, and heroism, and loss. There There is a wondrous and shattering portrait of an America few of us have ever seen.