Written by Mackenzie Manley, Content Specialist, Downtown Main Library
November is Native American Heritage Month. Celebrate the rich traditions, histories, languages, contributions, and stories of Native American and Alaska Native communities.
Join the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library in celebrating with notable people, featured events, and booklists.
Featured Notable People
A citizen of Navajo Nation, Sydney Freeland was born in New Mexico and raised on a reservation. A filmmaker, Sydney was a 2009 Sundance Institute Native Lab fellow. Her directing work includes feature-length film Drunktwon's Finest, a coming-of-age narrative which explores the complex issues faced by Native Americans. She also directed a digital series about queer and transgender women called Her Story. Sydney has directed episodes for several TV shows, including Netflix's Little House on the Prairie, Hulu’s Reservation Dogs, Echo, Rutherford Falls, and more.
Susan La Flesche Picotte was a Native American medical director and member of the Omaha tribe. She was one of the first indigenous people, and the first indigenous woman, to earn a medical degree. When no Commissioner of Indian Affairs supported a government-funded hospital for Native Americans, Susan founded the Walthill Hospital, the first privately funded hospital on a Native American reservation.
Louise Erdrich is an award-winning Indigenous-American novelist, poet, and children's book author. Her work features Native American characters and settings. Louise is a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota. She has written 28 books, including The Night Watchman, which was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 2009, her novel The Plague of Doves was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist. The Round House received the 2012 National Book Award for Fiction.
Featured Event
Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with storytelling presented by Homer Shadowheart of the Urban Native Collective. The event will be held three times at various Library branches:
- Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6:30 p.m. at the Norwood Branch Library
- Monday, Nov. 9, 10:30 a.m. at the Mt. Healthy Branch Library
- Friday, Nov. 13, 11 a.m. at the Madeira Branch Library
Recommended Reading
In honor of Native American Heritage Month, Library staff curated lists for all ages. Check out these books this November, and all year long.
List created byCincyLibrary_Adults
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