Here are 252 books by Native and Indigenous writers that Elissa Washuta thinks you should read.
Elissa Washuta, author of White Magic, My Body Is a Book of Rules, and Starvation Mode, has compiled an “in-progress, reverse-chronological” list of books by Native and Indigenous writers. The list, as Washuta says, is “neither exhaustive or exclusive”; it currently features 252 books, including those by N. Scott Momaday, Zitkála-Sá, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, and Margaret Verble.
Washuta compiled the book list over her years of writing, editing, and teaching. “This list came out of my frustrations with lists of Native American Heritage Months years ago, which didn’t always reflect what was being published,” wrote Washuta, a Cowlitz tribal member, on Twitter. “I wanted a list of our classics, newest books, and out-of-print titles.”
The list of books can be accessed on Bookshop.org; so can Washuta’s in-progress list of children’s and young adult books by Native and Indigenous writers. Washuta encourages readers to purchase from their local independent bookstore, or check books out from their local library.
