Written by Mackenzie Manley, Content Specialist, Downtown Main Library
November is Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the traditions, languages, and stories of Native American, Alaka Native, Native Hawaiian, and affiliated island communities.
Join the Library in commemorating the month with featured people, storytimes, and curated book lists.
Learn About Notable Native Americans
Joy Harjo is a performer and writer of the Muscogee Nation. From 2019-2022, she served as the United States’ first Native American Poet Laureate. Harjo is the winner of the Poetry Society of America’s 2024 Frost Medal, Yale’s 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, and a National Humanities Medal.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Harjo has authored 11 books of poetry, including Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light: Fifty Poems for Fifty Years. She has also penned several plays, children's books, and non-fiction works, and two memoirs, Crazy Brave and Poet Warrior, her many honors include the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ruth Lily Prize for Lifetime Achievement from the Poetry Foundation, the Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
She released a book of essays, Girl Warrior: On Coming of Age, in October of this year.
James Beard-award-winning chef, cookbook author, and champion of traditional foodways Sean Sherman was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Through his work, Sean has promoted Indigenous cuisine under the name The Sioux Chef.
His cookbooks include The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen and Turtle Island.
Link Wray, who is of Shawnee descent, is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The legendary guitarist is credited with introducing the power cord, which would go on to shape not the sound of rock and roll, but the musical landscapes of punk and heavy metal.
You can also hear his music on the soundtrack of John Water’s dark comedy Pink Flamingos, as well as Quentin Tarantino’s iconic film Pulp Fiction.
Featured Events
Attend a Indigenous Storytime with Urban Native Collective! Held throughout the month at various branches the special storytimes will include books featuring compelling stories of Indigenous Peoples of North America.
Check Out a Book!
Celebrated with a staff-curated book exploring the lives and culture of Indigenous Peoples.
Celebrate Native American Heritage Month this November with these wonderful picture books.
Celebrate Native American Heritage Month early with this selection of new titles by contemporary Native American authors.
Celebrate and honor Native American Heritage Month with these great reads.
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