When we think of November, oftentimes, the holiday of Thanksgiving comes to mind immediately. However, it’s important to recognize, honor, and give thanks to the Native Americans who are the core of American history. 

November is a month to celebrate the rich traditions, cultures, and histories of Native people as well as to acknowledge the important contributions they’ve made and challenges they’ve overcome. 

The following books provide perspective into Native American life and to understand the hardships Native Americans have faced throughout history.

There, There by Tommy Orange 

Goodreads Summary:

Tommy Orange's wondrous and shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle's death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American--grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism.

My Thoughts:

This book is not for the light of heart. Tommy Orange has a way with words that evokes such a visceral feeling of grief and pain that I genuinely felt ill at times. There is no escaping that sense of searing pain the entire novel. I wouldn’t call this a happy story, but it is a powerful one. One that everyone needs to read at least once in their lifetime. I wouldn’t say I’m ignorant of the struggles Native Americans face in the U.S. today, but this story opened my eyes to just how awfully the world treats them. It’s clear from the get go that American society has perpetuated the stereotype that Native Americans cannot do well, and the characters, no matter how hard they try, cannot seem to escape this self-fulfilling prophecy. Orange also discusses the way the U.S. has killed Native Americans, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually as well. The reparations we hear about in the news are simply a bandaid to the gushing, bleeding wound that is Native American generational trauma. The novel is a reality check, but it also reveals such unique parts of Native culture and the heritage many have suppressed to stay alive, much of which I had no idea about before. This is one of the most powerful books I have read this year, so I highly recommend checking it out! 

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley 

Goodreads Summary:

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in—both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. When her family is struck by tragedy, Daunis puts her dreams on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother’s hockey team.

After Daunis witnesses a shocking murder that thrusts her into a criminal investigation, she agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and deaths—keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home. How far will she go to protect her community if it means tearing apart the only world she’s ever known?

My Thoughts:

This is a young adult book, but it is still very graphic. My heart broke while reading this story because the heroine, Duanis, experiences so much trauma in so very little time. There is a lot that she shares that would have killed an ordinary man. But her spirit is so incredibly strong that she manages to stay afloat despite the number of times life tries to drown her. There were a lot of plot twists in this novel that I did not expect, which was thrilling and had my head spinning in a thousand different directions. Also, this book may appear like a romance but do not fall for that! Firekeeper’s Daughter has a lot of difficult themes that are hard to come to terms with, but overall, I absolutely loved this novel. It was raw and it was emotionally turbulent, but it was amazing. 

Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot 

Goodreads Summary:

Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman's coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder and bipolar II disorder; Terese Marie Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma. The triumphant result is Heart Berries, a memorial for Mailhot's mother, a social worker and activist who had a thing for prisoners; a story of reconciliation with her father―an abusive drunk and a brilliant artist―who was murdered under mysterious circumstances; and an elegy on how difficult it is to love someone while dragging the long shadows of shame.

Mailhot trusts the reader to understand that memory isn't exact, but melded to imagination, pain, and what we can bring ourselves to accept. Her unique and at times unsettling voice graphically illustrates her mental state. As she writes, she discovers her own true voice, seizes control of her story, and, in so doing, reestablishes her connection to her family, to her people, and to her place in the world.

My Thoughts:

There are simply no words in the English language that could ever describe this memoir the way it deserves. Mailhot recounts her memories and experiences in a manner that makes it feel like you experience them alongside her. That being said, it also means that you feel every violent relationship, every heartbreak, and the raw hardships of battling mental illness. Mailhot gives readers insight into her life, but also the underrepresented parts of life that Western media would never cover. Her narrative is unlike any other, and more often than not she left me speechless. I fell in love with her voice, and I wanted to ease her pain after every traumatic experience because this woman has suffered more than any human being ought to. The novel is chaotic, but it's real and it's insufferably painful, but it offers so many insights into Native life and a woman’s life in general. 

Dog Flowers: A Memoir by Danielle Geller 

Goodreads Summary:

A daughter returns home to the Navajo reservation to confront her family's troubled history and retrace her mother's life—using both narrative and archive in this unforgettable and heart-wrenching memoir.

After Danielle Geller's mother dies of a withdrawal from alcohol during a period of homelessness, she is forced to return to Florida. Using her training as a librarian and archivist, Geller collects her mother's documents, diaries, and photographs into a single suitcase and begins on a journey of confronting her family's history and the decisions she's been forced to make, a journey that will end at her mother's home: the Navajo reservation.

Geller masterfully intertwines wrenching prose with archival documents to create a deeply moving narrative of loss and inheritance that pays homage to our pasts, traditions, heritage, the family we are given, and the family we choose.

My Thoughts:

Substance abuse has been a common theme among all the books I’ve reviewed so far, but as Geller recounts her relationship with her addicted mother, I genuinely struggled to keep reading at times. The relationship between drugs and a family have never been more clear and Geller writes about the cycle of addiction so poignantly. This brutal cycle is seen throughout the novel, with its accompanying ups and downs and roller coaster of emotions. This novel does end on a more positive note, if you can even call it that. Geller does a beautiful job of showcasing that resurrection from addiction is possible. She doesn’t do this from the point of view of an addict themself, but of the children in alcoholic families, who often feel like collateral damage, but do have a chance to overcome their circumstances. This was once again an absolutely devastating read but one that sheds light on important issues in Native American life now that no one really seems to acknowledge properly. 

Four other powerful novels to check out: 

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

The Removed by Brandon Hobson 

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson 

The Sentence by Louise Erdirich