In 2021, close to 20 states and the District of Columbia are celebrating Native American or Indigenous People’s Day, either alongside or in place of Columbus Day.
Vermont, where AuthorPods is currently conducting much of its author outreach, is among those states recognizing the country’s indigent history through commemorating its tribal heritage on this day.
The shift is reflective of an increased awareness of the need to advocate for a more accurate and inclusive history of the United States both in the Northeast and the United States. In New England states, evidence shows that as early as the 12th century, the Abenaki tribes were native to these lands. But the path toward establishing Vermont’s Native American heritage has not been easy. Not until 2010 was tribal recognition in Vermont made possible when a new state law was established to create a process for a Vermont commission to recommend tribal recognition. The following year, four Abenaki communities received it.
One person helping to drive that effort was Vermont author, ethnobotanist, and former Johnson State College professor, Dr. Frederick Wiseman. According to a blog from Johnson State College, Dr. Wiseman was drawn into Abenaki history because he felt very few people were advocating for the Abenaki.
“There were a lot of people who were studying them, working on the Indians but they were never working with the Indians,” he told blogger Jordan Caldon in 2011. “So my grandmother being Abenaki, I was able to join the St. Francis-Sokoki band of the Abenakis and they asked me to start using my experience in the service of Native Americans there.”
Dr. Wiseman is among a growing number of authors who speak to the experiences and history of Native Americans. Below are a few books that cross genres and that we have found particularly interesting when it comes to understanding this country’s Native American heritage.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and The Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Milkweed Editions, 2014)
Notes AuthorPods Assistant Editor Charlotte Peters: “Potawatomi botanist and ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book thoughtfully asserts the importance of a reciprocal relationship with the world using a blend of scientific knowledge and indigenous wisdom passed down through generations.”
Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2018/2021)
Reviews Ibram S. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist: “If we are to escape the insidious hold racism has on our society, we must be intentional about truth and reconciliation. In Decolonizing Wealth, Edgar lays a foundation that not only explains the history of wealth and racism but also provides a pathway to healing that we all need.”
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good (Harper Perennial, 2020)
Winner of four prestigious books awards, finalist for four more, shortlisted for Indigenous Voices award, three best book of the year awards…need we say more?
Genocidal Love: A Life After Residential School by Bevann Fox (University of Regina Press, 2020)
Another highly acclaimed author who received an Indigenous Voices Award for this stunning work that explores that the long-term effects of childhood trauma on those who attended residential school.
Ghost Lake by Nathan Adler (Kegedonce Press, 2020)
Winner of the 2021 Indigenous Voices Award in Published English Fiction, and shortlisted for the 2021 Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye Award in Book Design.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Harper Perennial, 2020).
Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, this latest novel about Erdrich’s grandfather and Chippewa Council member does not disappoint.
There, There by Tommy Orange (Vintage, 2019)
A must read.“An astonishing literary review” says Margaret Atwood of Orange who is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year and winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award. Called wondrous and shattering.
The Voice of The Dawn: An Autohistory of the Abenaki Nation by Frederick Matthew Wiseman (Univ of Chicago Behalf of Upne, 2001)
Another of Wiseman’s many books that explores regional history and archeology as related to Abenaki culture
