Gathering of Nations
April 22-24, 2010
UNM Football Stadium
Avenida Cesar Chavez Blvd. SE
(Hwy. 25, exit #223)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Teachers,
students, and others are encouraged to read about Native American
and indigenous people.
The Gathering of Nations believes that reading promotes
understanding.
This is a selected bibliography, most are by and about Native
people. These books are recommended reading for all adults and young
adults (ages 11 - 18). The books are listed by: TITLE, AUTHOR,
PUBLISHER, YEAR, and RECOMMENDATION.
A Gathering of Flowers: Short Stories About Being
Young In America, By Joyce Carol
Thomas, HarperCollins Publishers, 1990.
Covering such diverse settings as urban San Francisco, a Chippewa reservation,
and a Latino barrio in Chicago, these eleven stories by authors from diverse
backgrounds recount what it is like to grow up in the United States...
A Woman Of Her Tribe,By Robinson,
Margaret A.,Charles Scribner’s Sons,1992.
Fifteen-year-old Annette has won a scholarship to St. John’s Academy in
Victoria, British Columbia...faces racism, but with the help of two special
teachers and a friend she begins to adjust. ..THIS BOOK HAS MATURE CONTENT.
American Indian Myths and Legends,
By Richard Erdoes, Alfonso Ortiz, Knopf
Publishing Group, 1985.
Gathering
160 tales from 80 tribal groups to offer a rich and lively panarama of the
Native American mythic heritage. 100 drawings.
Black Elk Speaks:
Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux,By
John G. Neihardt, Black, Vine Deloria, Lori Utecht, Black Elk, University
of Nebraska Press, 2004.
"Black Elk
Speaks is the story of the Lakota visionary and healer Nicholas Black Elk
(1863-1950) and his people during the momentous twilight years of the nineteenth
century. Black Elk met the distinguished poet, writer, and critic John G.
Neihardt (1881-1973) in 1930 on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and
chose Neihardt to tell his story.
Bless Me, Ultima,By
Rudolfo A. Anaya, Grand Central Publishing, 1995.
A talent for meaningful storytelling and exquisite
prose has made Rudolfo Anaya a leading exponent of Chicano literature in
English. Anaya's work has won international acclaim, earning him a premier place
in virtually every anthology of Latino writing.
The Blue Between
The Clouds,By Wunderli,
Stephen, Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated, 1996.
Two Moons, an eleven-year-old Navajo boy living in
Utah in 1939 in the home of his schoolmate Matt, becomes best friends with Matt
and helps him pursue his dream of flying.
Codex Tamuanchan: OnBecomingHuman, By Roberto Rodriguez.
Tamuanchan is not intentionally a
follow up to the
X in La Raza, though one can interpret it as such. This book examines the issue
of dehumanization, positing that virtually all human beings -- to one degree or
another -- have been dehumanized by the violent and violating society we live
in.
Crazy
Weather, By McNichols, Charles L. and
Momaday, Scott, University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
In four days of "glory-hunting" with an Indian
comrade, South Boy, who is white, realizes that he must choose between two
cultures.
Drifting Snow: An
Arctic Search, By Houston,
James A.,Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated, 1994.
Having been taken from her Arctic home when a tiny
child, a teenager returns to look for her parents and learn once again about her
Eskimo culture.
Earth & Sky: Visions of the Cosmos in Native American Folklore,By Ray A.
Williamson and Clarie R. Farrer, University of New Mexico Press,
Albuquerque, 1992.
Native
American views of the cosmos, and traditionally recognize an underlying unity in
earth and sky.
Indian Summer,
By Girion, Barbara, Scholastic Incorporated, 1990.
While spending summer vacation on an Indian
reservation, twelve-year-old Joni has a difficult time getting along with Sarah
Birdsong and her friends, who seem to hold her...
A heart-warming tale of the
lesson a girl learns from a Seneca creation story told to her by her
grandfather--a lesson of knowing who you are and staying strong in the face of
hurtful criticism. Elegantly illustrated, Muskrat Will Be Swimming is a treasure
for all who have dealt with the fear of being different.
My Daughter, My Son, the
Eagle, the Dove: An Aztec Chant,By Ana Castillo, Penguin Young Readers Group, 2000.
Both a blessing to a child and a tribute to
parenthood, this superb keepsake book by renowned Chicana poet and author Ana
Castillo was inspired by ancient Aztec chants. It's the ideal gift to
commemorate any of various momentous events in an older child's life--such as
graduation, an important birthday, a quincea-era, or a family occasion.
For those journeying to tribal areas from western Montana to southeastern
Alaska, a book that leads through six different regions of historical and
cultural significance.In addition
to describing important tribal events, sacred places, museums, and galleries,
also on purchasing native art, on understanding tribal history and customs, and
on being respectful visitors.
The
combination of Native gardening and the spiritual way of life it embodies with
tribal tales, family garden projects, and Native recipes.
Nampeyo and
Her Pottery, By Barbara Kramer, University of
New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 1996.
This is a paperbound reprint of a 1996 book (U.
of New Mexico Press), sans color plates (all are in b&w), about which Book News
wrote: A biography of the famous Hopi potter whose work revitalized traditional
pottery by integrating contemporary design into prehistoric ceramics.
With the art of a practiced storyteller,
Ignatia Broker recounts the life of her great-great-grandmother, Night Flying
Woman, who was born in the mid-nineteenth century and lived during a chaotic
time of enormous change, uprooting, and loss for Minnesota's Ojibway.
Owl In The Cedar
Tree,By Momaday Scott, University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
“Details of Navaho culture and religious beliefs and suggestions of the
conflict between traditional ways and the white man’s ways are accurate and
interesting”-Library Journal
Red Hawk's Account Of Custer's Last Battle,.
By Goble, Paul, University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
“Beautifully illustrated and written with verve and authenticity...It all
rings true, with and air of excitement. ..an awareness of the main echoes that
come down to us today.”- NY Times
The
Revolt of the Cockroach People, By Oscar Zeta
Acosta, Marco Acosta, Knopf Publishing Group, 1989.
The further adventures of "Dr. Gonzo" as he
defends the "cucarachas" — the Chicanos of East Los Angeles. Before his
mysterious disappearance and probable death in 1971, Oscar Zeta Acosta was
famous as a Robin Hood Chicano lawyer and notorious as the real-life model for
Hunter S. Thompson's "Dr. Gonzo" a fat, pugnacious attorney with a gargantuan
appetite...
Young Native
Americans speaking to us through poems and essays written over the past hundred
years. A wide range of subjects and emotions, yet they share a common sense of
pride, and a common for the future of tribal culture and values.
Spider Woman's Web:
Traditional Native American Tales about Women's Power,
By Susan Hazen-Hammond, Penguin Group, 1999.
Ancient storytelling meets modern psychology--in
the most unique and inspiring book for women since Women Who Run with the
Wolves.
In the Americas, the oral tradition has created one of the oldest surviving
bodies of literature on earth.
Toughboy And Sister, By Hill,
Kirkpatrick, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1990.
An 11-year-old Indian boy and his younger sister
must fend for themselves alone in an Alaskan wilderness camp when their father
disappears on a drinking binge. "A simply told, well-crafted story . . . Sure to
satisfy survival-story fans."--Kirkus Reviews.
We Will Rise: Rebuilding the Mexikah
Nation,by Kurly Tlapoyawa, Trafford
Publishing, 2002.
A revolutionary and eye opening look at the indigenous
cultural heritage of chicano - Mexicans.
Traditional
myths and legends; descriptions of the basket making process; firsthand accounts
by basket weavers and their families; biographies of important weavers; a wealth
of archival photographs; and carefully researched social, economic, and
ecological analyses.
In this book on Indian cattle ranching, Peter
Iverson describes a way of life that has been both economically viable and
socially and culturally rewarding. Thus an Indian rancher can demonstrate his
generosity and his concern for the well-being of others by giving cattle or beef
to relatives, or by feeding people at a celebration.
Wind in the Blood:
Mayan Healing and Chinese Medicine, By Hernan
Garcia Mendoza, Antonio Sierra, Gilberto Balam, Jeff Conant (Translator),
Antonio Cierra, North Atlantic Books, October 1999.
Comparing Mayan medicine to Chinese traditions,
the authors find many resemblances. This guide looks into the theory and
practice of Mayan medicine.
Woman Who Glows in the Dark:
A Curandera Reveals Traditional Aztec Secrets of Physical and Spiritual Health,
By Elena Avila, Joy Parker, Penguin Group, 2000.
In Women Who Glows in the Dark, Avila addresses
the needs of contemporary readers through this time-honored medicine, and
explores the soul-diminishing forces inherent in modern society. Through her own
compelling story of finding her identity as a healer...
The X in La Raza, By Roberto Rodriguez.
The X in La Raza is about identity. But it is not
a discussion in the same vein as was customary in the 1960s and 1970s. One of
the primary focuses of this work is examining how government, corporate America
and the media have, in effect, conspired to impose upon us an identity.
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