There are likely thousands of books which are dedicated to the subject of Native Americans. Some are historical in nature, while others may be focused on more modern facets of Native American life today.
Below is a list of books, sorted by the overall theme and focus of the book.
HISTORICAL / NON-FICTION
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fallof the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
Author: S.C Gwynne (2011)
The author details the fierce struggle of the Comanche Nation to stop encroachment on their lands, first from the Spanish and later the French from Louisiana and white settlers moving into Texas. This is a gripping account of the Comanche’s most famous white captive, Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah Parker, the last chief of the tribe.
HISTORICAL / NON-FICTION
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Author: Dee Brown (1970)
Dee Brown begins with the discovery of American in 1492 and the Native American reactions to the European invasion that ensued. The author primarily focuses on events after 1860 in the American West which dealt with the eradication of the Native Americans. Brown describes many of the atrocities that occurred in the western expansion of the US by Americans. This is a classic which has never been out of print.
HISTORICAL / NON-FICTION
The Deaths of Sybil Bolton: An American History
Author: Dennis McAuliffe Jr. (1994)
This book about the death of the author’s grandmother in 1925 in Pawhuska, OK. Sybil Bolton was a young Osage Indian who died in 1925 of kidney disease. Or so he thought. The author traveled to Pawhuska and found many discrepancies in her death and found the death was ruled a suicide. Further research convinced the author that his grandmother was murdered for her headrights. This book is similar in nature to the more famous “Killers of the Flower Moon” but predates it by nearly 30 years.
HISTORICAL / NON-FICTION
And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes
Author: Angie Debo (1940)
Angie Debo who lived in Oklahoma for many years is said to be “Oklahoma’s Greatest Historian”. Her many works on Native American history is without equal. Debo writes about the loss of tribal homelands for each of the Five Civilized Tribes and their removal to Indian Territory. She also discusses the Dawes Act of 1887 which broke up many reservations and forced the Indians to take land allotments. Most of these land allotments were purchased by swindlers and land developers who took advantage of the Native Americans after the Dawes Act. This is also a classic and a must read for anyone who does not understand the Dawes Act.
HISTORICAL / NON-FICTION
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Author: David Grann (2017)
This book covers the Osage murders in the 1920’s in and around Pawhuska, Oklahoma. This is a story of the multitude of crimes against the Osage tribal members who happened to become wealthy due to oil being found on their reservation. It also covers some of the first work done by the newly formed Federal Bureau of Investigation.
HISTORICAL / NON-FICTION
Indian Removal: The Emigration of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indians
Author: Grant Foreman (1932)
Grant Foreman was the most influential Native American history writer of his time. An Oklahoman who wrote many books about the trials and tribulations of Native Americans. Foreman researched thousands of documents and journals about the Indian Removal and painted an un-biased day to day picture of these events. One of the best books dealing with this subject.
HISTORICAL NOVEL
“I Am A Man”: Chief Standing Bear’s Journey for Justice
Author: Joe Starita (2010)
The author describes the struggle of Ponca Chief Standing Bear as he fights the US Government to allow him to bury his on their ancestral homeland of Nebraska. The Ponca Tribe endured countless cases of removal, starvation, neglect and humiliation at the hands of the Federal Government. In 1879, Standing Bear took the Federal Government to court and won a monumental. decision for Native Americans giving them full rights as US Citizens. A little-known persona in a small Oklahoma Tribe which created a new chapter in Native American history.
HISTORICAL / NON-FICTION
Blue Jacket: Warrior of the Shawnees
Author: John Sugden (2000)
John Sugden is a celebrated historian and biographer having written numerous works on both American and British notables. Sugden’s biography of Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket describes the culture of the Shawnee people and their struggle against the Euro-American colonizers up through the War of 1812. The biography focuses on Blue Jacket’s rise to prominence within the Shawnee society, as well as his successes on the battlefield at St. Claire’s Defeat and his antagonistic relationship with Tecumseh and the Prophet.
HISTORICAL NOVEL
The Frontiersman: A Narrative
Author: Allan W. Eckert (2001)
This is one of the best narratives covering the fight for the expansion of Kentucky and the Northwest Territory of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. The book centers around Simon Kenton a frontiersman during the 1750’s through the war of 1812. The author used actual period records and journals to create an historically accurate picture of the struggle to take this territory, and the remarkable defense put up by Shawnee, Potawatomie, Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas and others. Many of the events are accurate and in great detail. A must read for anyone interested in this time-period and location.
HISTORICAL NOVEL
Warrior Woman: The Exceptional Life Story of Nonhelema, Shawnee Indian Woman Chief
Author: James Aleander Thom (2004)
Warrior Woman is an historical fiction novel based on period journals and records which the author painstakingly used to paint a picture of the most famous Shawnee woman. Filled with drama and heartbreak for the Shawnee and this famed leader, it covers the plight of the Shawnee to retain their homelands in Kentucky and Ohio during the mid 1700’s. Nonhelema was the sister of Chief Cornstalk, one of the most influential leaders of the day. An excellent and significantly accurate novel of this time period.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Mankiller: A Chief and Her People
Author: Wilma Mankiller (1993)
Wilma Mankiller was the first female Cherokee Chief elected in 1987 and 1991 after serving for many years as deputy Chief and other lesser roles. This autobiography recounts her own life and struggles as well as the history of the Cherokee people and their struggles throughout history. Mankiller was a well-known activist for Native American rights and culture and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.