November 2023 Theme Indigenous People

Welcome all! October 9th is Indigenous peoples day, so its a good time to consider books that might serve as an introduction to a rich and diverse heritage of fiction, nonfiction, history, poetry, memoir, and more by and about Indigenous peoples around the globe. Im esp interested in pre columbian history, but current books work too Looking forward to seeing what you all have read or want to read about the subject.

Did you know that library thing had a thread "Native American historic fiction from 2007? its still open. If you want to take a peak at what they were reading go here https://www.librarything.com/topic/6735 Also if you search for Indingenous People on LT youll fine many selections of interest,even more so if you click on tag

One author I discovered recently is Oliver La Farge as a young man he was interesed in studying Ind Peoples esp in the SW. He studied Anthropology in college and wrote many books and stories about the people. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1929 for his book laughing boy which i read and loved.

I will be reading two old women An Alaska Legend of
Betrayal, Courage and Survival

some interesting discussion on this topic from Wikipedia

"Peoples are usually described as "Indigenous" when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with the first inhabitants of a given region. Not all Indigenous peoples share this characteristic, as many have adopted substantial elements of a colonizing culture, such as dress, religion or language. Indigenous peoples may be settled in a given region (sedentary), exhibit a nomadic lifestyle across a large territory, or be resettled, but they are generally historically associated with a specific territory on which they depend. Indigenous societies are found in every inhabited climate zone and continent of the world except Antarctica.There are approximately five thousand Indigenous nations throughout the world.

Indigenous peoples' homelands have historically been colonized by larger ethnic groups, who justified colonization with beliefs of racial and religious superiority, land use or economic opportunity. Thousands of Indigenous nations throughout the world currently live in countries where they are not a majority ethnic group.Indigenous peoples continue to face threats to their sovereignty, economic well-being, languages, ways of knowing, and access to the resources on which their cultures depend. Indigenous rights have been set forth in international law by the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, and the World Bank.In 2007, the UN issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) to guide member-state national policies to the collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including their rights to protect their cultures, identities, languages, ceremonies, and access to employment, health, education and natural resources.12

In the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, Indigenous status is often applied unproblematically to groups descended from the peoples who lived there prior to European settlement. However, In Asia and Africa, definitions of Indigenous status have been either rejected by certain peoples,14 or applied to minorities and or oppressed peoples, who may not be considered "Indigenous" in other contexts.Thus, population figures are less clear and may fluctuate dramatically.The concept of indigenous peoples is rarely used in Europe, where very few indigenous groups are recognized, with the exception of groups such as the Sámi."

Lists of books about and by indigenous people

https://www.bu.edu/articles/2021/books-by-indigenous-authors-to-read-in-honor-of...

https://www.wildrumpusbooks.com/indigenouscreatorsadult

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/indigenous-land-books-and-movies/

https://www.spl.org/books-and-media/books-and-ebooks/staff-picks/native-american...

https://www.powells.com/featured/native-american-heritage-month-recommended-nonf...

This is a difficult topic for me as I have pledged this year to read only from my shelves and except for one quick tumble off the wagon, have managed to do that. I only have 2 selections that came up when I searched my books with terms indigenous peoples, Natives Americans, and Indians (gasp!). They are both works of fiction and I hope they are closely enough related to this topic to work:
Attack of the 50 Foot Indian by Stephen Jones. It is tagged as Blackfeet and Blackfeet author. It's only 49 pages, so I also hope to read: Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland. It is labeled as biographical fiction about artist Emily Carr, who painted scenes from the northwest, specifically Native Americans. I had an indigenous people's reading prompt last year and finished and can recommend: Empire of the Summer Moon, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Hawaii.

I have added this topic to the Wiki which can be found here:

https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Reading_Through_Time_Challenge#Future_To...

I am planning to read Killing Custer by Native American author and poet James Welch. I highly recommend his novel, Fool's Crow.

I'm going to be concentrating on Samoa, perhaps Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa (which I've had on TBR for ages) but definitely a couple of my TBRs by Albert Wendt, one of the most prominent living writers in Oceania. The only book by Wendt that I've so far read is his best-known Leaves of the Banyan Tree (5*****).

>4 Tess_W: ive read several of Vreelands boooks including this one. I think youll enjoy it

getting ahead of myself for once, I just spent the afternoon with a book that I am sure will be on my top ten list for this year, the book is two old women Its the legend from Athabascan tribe Alaska (where the author is from) about a starving tribe leaving two old women to die because there is not enough food. what happens next is not surprising, but is written so well that the ending is indeed a surprise. 5* highly recommended (she has two more books that I plan to read as well)

>8 cindydavid4: I loved Two Old Women!

>8 cindydavid4: Without giving away more, would you consider this novel depressing? Just can't handle that right now.

I also LOVED Two Old Women!

>10 cfk: oh no not at all! very much full of life affirming! there are some sad parts, but not depressing at all!

>12 cindydavid4: Thanks!

I usually try to read nonfiction for this group, but occasionally will do fiction. I am also planning a nonfiction for this, but wanted to also include this fictional one.

The Porcupine Year / Louise Erdrich
3 stars

A continuation of two other books to start this series, also a children’s book, set in the mid-1800s, focusing on a young Anishinaabe/Ojibwe girl, Omakayas (Little Frog). This follows another year in her life. Initially she and her younger brother get caught up in some rapids in their canoe and are not sure where they’ve ended up. They do find their way back to their family (who has found some beads belonging to Omakayas and fear the two have died!), along with a pet baby porcupine! Other happenings include coming across a wildfire (as they travel toward more family living elsewhere) and “adopting” two white children. Later on the group is ambushed and robbed, leaving them to struggle to survive.

I didn’t like this one as much as the first two, though that little porcupine was cute! I hate that had to leave the little guy behind at one point while he slept. *sniff *sniff.. I’m not sure why this one didn’t hold my interest as well as the first two in the series, but I did lose focus a few times. (Note: I was not listening to an audio, so can’t blame it on that.) I will continue the series, however.

I've chosen another slim non-fiction book for this month, Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups, and the State. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this one within the month.

from goodreads: 90 Recent Books to Read This Native American Heritage Month

just starting bird girl and the man who followed the sun

I wasn’t impressed with Euphoria - a fictional novel about anthropologists Margaret Mead’s life in New Guinea stdudying various tribes living on the Sepik River in the 1930s.3

Mead actually studied the Mundugumor, and the Tchambuli tribes. However in the novel the MC (Nell/Mead) studies the fictionalized tribe, “Tam”.

Although the novel is fiction, and much of it concerns a lover triangle, it is worth reading for anyone wanting an idea of Mead’s work. Much of it concerned gender roles and what the author Lily King describes as transvestism. The comparison of how the different tribes organized the roles of men and women was a major part of Mead’s work, and is covered in the novel. Note Mead’s conclusions have been contested as to her (non) scientific methods.

If you want to mix history with romance it’s an easy read.

I wrote about Euphoria HERE.

Carpenteria by writer and activist Alexis Wright is an indigenous Australian’s novel set in a fictional town of Desperance in the far north of the Australian state of Queensland. Wright explores issues such as land-rights, spirituality, community infighting and race relations, and the conflict between aboriginal rights and demands of multi-national mining companies.

The.novel was awarded the prestigious Miles Franklin Award in 2007.

Recommended reading for Australians and those interested in the role of its indigenous people in the 20th century.

I read An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. This was difficult to read, due to the unsparing look at the horrors European settlers and the US army inflicted on the indigenous people living in the Americas, but I think it's a useful and necessary correction to the incomplete history we were taught in school. On the other hand, Dunbar-Ortiz states a lot of things as fact that I had questions about, and many of those statements don't have footnotes where you can follow up on the sources to check the facts for yourself. The book does contain lots of footnotes and a bibliography, but there were enough unfootnoted claims made to be concerning to me. In conclusion, I think it is worth reading just to understand the viewpoint of the indigenous people whose lands were taken/stolen. But you can't necessarily take everything Dunbar-Ortiz says at face value. I've got more thoughts written up at https://www.librarything.com/topic/354062#8285403 for anyone who might be interested.

Interesting; were there any reviews about it or more info from others? Has she written similar books" Youre right, its worth reading for the reasons you state but i do wonder about the claims.

Now reading Bird Girl and the Man Who Followed the Sun by the same author of two old women which I really enjoyed. Enjoying this one as well but its much darker, with tribes from the yukon river area competing and battling for resources. A Gwich'in Athabaskan folk epic, it follows the dual narratives of two rebels: Bird Girl, who prefers male activities like hunting, and who does not wish to be married; and Daagoo, a man who loves to wander, and dreams of finding the Land of the Sun, said to be far to the south...The author does a very good job introducing different traditions of the tribes as she tells her story and how they use the land to make the materials for them to survive.does a wonderful job describing how the tribes lived, how they made use of the land to survive . Learning a lot here

>21 cindydavid4: I had pulled the book to read earlier this year and ran out of time then, but it fit this month's challenge, so I wanted to go ahead and read it. In between the time I originally pulled it and this month, another LTer, ArlieS, had started it, but was put off by some of the same problems that I found and Pearl ruled it. I was curious so I looked for reviews at that time, and almost everything I found was very positive, except for a review at Kirkus Reviews. The book also has "winner of the American Book Award" on the cover, so obviously a good number of people thought highly of the book. So I wanted to go ahead and read it for myself, to see what I thought. As I say, I had a mixed reaction. I feel strongly that it's really important to understand the viewpoint of those different from ourselves, and in the case of US history especially, to see the history from the side of the people who were harmed by the westward expansion of Europeans and European descendants. And the book does that. It's just that the author's point is hurt by stating some things as fact when they can be disputed by looking at other sources. Most of the reviews I found when I checked a couple of months back didn't pick up on those problems.

>20 atozgrl: >21 cindydavid4: >22 atozgrl: I read An Indigenous Peoples' History almost exactly three years ago and 3***'d it. Unfortunately, I didn't bother writing a review and I don't really remember why I didn't rate a little bit higher. I do have a favorable memory of it, but it's been so long.... (My memory isn't always as good today as it was twenty years ago.)

>20 atozgrl:, >22 atozgrl: thanks for that, I was looking at reviews here and found similar reactions to her 'facts' too bad she didn't include good notes on sources. But everyone praised the book for the historical perspective so suspect it worth the read,with caveats

>24 cindydavid4: I would agree with that conclusion. Worth the read, but be aware that not all the claimed facts may be accurate.

my review of bird girl and the man who followed the sun is here https://www.librarything.com/topic/351927#n8284631

I completed The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King. This is a non-fiction read that mainly focuses on how land and resources were stolen from Native Americans/Indians/First Nations/Aboriginals from the 16th century onwards. Mr. King is a bit irreverent, however; I enjoyed that, as well as his dry humor. From the beginning, he explains his choices of using the word Indians and Whites. Also, the author has written a good chapter about authors and Hollywood and how North American Indians have been portrayed. Most of the material about the U.S. I already knew, but I did learn a lot about Canadian First Nations. Mr. King claims to be a "Native Indian", but doesn't allude from where. All in all, a good general read if one is knowledgeable about some Native American history, and almost like a "gentle" history book on the subject, if one is not. 266 pages

Up Ghost River / Edmund Metatawabin
4 stars

8-year old Indigenous boy, Edmund, was forced to go to a residential school in Northern Ontario in the 1950s and ‘60s. He didn’t want to go but his mother insisted. His mother was very Catholic and trusted that they would take good care of him. Of course, while at St. Anne’s school, the nuns and priests were abusive to him and others. I was going to mention some of the abuses, but I’ve decided not to; a couple of things were not things I’d heard previously. And for Ed, it got worse after he left for high school in a bigger city.

He did marry and have children, and get a university degree, but he also became an alcoholic. In this memoir, Ed details all of this and more.

As mentioned in my summary, despite having read quite a bit about residential schools, there were still a couple of surprising things (not good surprising). Of course, when he finished school, he had issues (the alcoholism), but it was good to see how he got himself better and is doing good to help others, as well. I thought this was really good.

I completed Attack of the 50 Foot Indian by Stephen Graham Jones. This was a short story, I believe about pre-conceived prejudices and notions. I really can't say it was anything other than average, somewhat mediocre. 40 pages 3- stars (The author claims to be Blackfeet)

I read Killing Custer by James Welch and while nothing particularly new was brought to the story, it was interesting to see it laid out by an indigenous author.

Interesting article that is appropo here I think

https://quillette.com/2023/11/11/joseph-boyden-isnt-indigenous-but/

>31 cindydavid4: Thank you for that article, Cindy. While I don't believe Boyden can be taught as an indigenous author, he certainly is educated and knowledgeable enough to depict native experiences. I have been defending authors such as this (not fraudulent) for quite some time. Case in point, Pearl S. Buck. Many people won't read her as she isn't indigenous. However, her experience of living in China for 26+ years certainly qualifies her to write about such, IMHO.

>32 Tess_W: And whatever one's opinion is on crossing cultural "boundaries," and whether or not current anthropological theory might criticize Margaret Mead's theories on adolescence today, I don't see how her work in Samoa can be ignored. It's almost like repudiating the cogito, and yet you can't ignore how seminal Descartes is to modern philosophy.

>33 CurrerBell: Interesting about Mead. Her work in Samoa hasn’t attracted the same criticism as her work in New Guinea. Club Read recently had a discussion on a very fictionalized account of Mead’s work in New Guinea (Euphoria). I know Mead’s and her husband Bateson’s work was groundbreaking, but how much Mead really understood the cultures she studied, and the influence of her own relationships upon her conclusions are still up for debate

>32 Tess_W: same here; never understood the dislike for Buck; she isn't saying shes indigenous, shes just writing what she sees by living there. And that book was the seed for me in jr hi to read and learn about Chinese history. I think thats what good books are, seeds. Read them and see what grows

I have read Aztec by Colin Falconer (this novel has been reissued as Feathered Serpent). This is a novel depicting the dramatic and horrific events of Cortes and the Conquistadors' conquest of the race now known as the Aztecs (though this is a 19th century coining for a range of warring ethnic groups living under the domination of the Mexica led by the Emperor Motecuhzoma (Montezuma)). The plot pivots around the Aztec woman Malinali who becomes Cortes's interpreter and eventually lover, betraying the wider civilisation in the end as her own tribal group chafes under Montezuma's domination. Aside from the bloody horrors perpetrated by both sides, the strongest theme to emerge from the story for me is the clash of civilisations and utterly different mindsets. Modern readers will understandably view Cortes's actions in modern terms as the crudest imperialist conquest and subjugation, yet he would have defended his actions in terms of bringing the benefits of Christian civilisation to a race that practised the bloodiest forms of human sacrifice on an industrial scale. So each had their own utterly opposing and utterly mutually incomprehensible conceptions of religion. Notwithstanding these fascinating ideas, this was not a pleasant read, with all the torture and killing - and yes, I know it is historically accurate, but I felt it could have been leavened with some deeper character development. Perhaps one of the most interesting characters was the Spaniard Norte who had lived among the Aztecs for some years, and adopted their customs, married an Aztec wife and had children, and yet still yearned eventually to be accepted again by his former Spanish comrades in arms. Malinali is still a famous and very controversial figure in Mexican history for the ambiguous role she played.

When I looked through my books for something to fit the Indigenous Peoples theme, I came across Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups, and the State. It looked at history in different areas of the world and present day world states (it was published in 2002). The treatment of indigenous groups was covered and, in most cases, it was not a pretty picture but then neither were the conflicts between different ethnic groups.

Just a little earlier today I finished Albert Wendt's The Birth and Death of the Miracle Man 4½****, a short-story anthology that in some stories takes in characters from some of his novels. Wendt is the premier contemporary author of Oceania, German-Samoan ethnically (hailing from Samoa, not the eastern American Samoa) and living most of his adult life as a writer and university professor in New Zealand.

Like most anthologies, some stories are better than others (the title story not that much impressing me, for example). The only book by Wendt that I've previously read is The Banyan 5***** (a/k/a Leaves of the Banyan Tree, depending on the country of publication), with some of that novel's characters appearing here and there in the Miracle Man anthology.

I may do some more of Wendt for the December free-for-all.

thanks to everyone who particpated! Learned about some great books on the subject!