Native American Historical Fiction?

Hi, I've always had a huge interest in American Indians, and I wondered if there were any good HF novels anybody knows about featuring tribes in the early Americas? I'd even love to hear about any South/Central American Indian novels, or US colonial era novels wherein they interact with Native Americans.

I've had a terrible time trying to find anything even close to this on Amazon, so I was hoping someone here could recommend something to me.

Thanks so much.

Two that I've heard are very good (but have not yet had the opportunity to read myself) from a historical perspective and in the telling are Black Robe by Brian Moore and White Rising by Zane Kotker. The former takes place in the New France region of Canada in the 1640s; the latter concerns King Philip's War in the 1670s. Since I haven't read them myself I can't offer a full recommendation, but I've heard good things.

Other than that, there is a great deal of excellent non-fiction out there, but I can't think offhand of any other recent novels.

A great novel on the topic is Fathers and Crows by William T. Vollman ... the book is, in theory, part of a long series of his books, but each stands alone just fine.

For a more modern take on things, you could check out Sherman Alexie's books ... he's a native american writer who has had some recentish critical success ...

James Fenimore Cooper. Of course, you must then read Mark Twain's essay on "James Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses", which will have you rolling on the floor laughing hysterically.

Hmm, touchstones seem not to be working . . .

Yes, I was intentionally omitting Cooper not because it's bad writing (I quite like his work), but because my impression was that bystander was interested in fiction that had some semblance of historical accuracy (and was also more recent). But yes, Cooper too.

A long time ago, I read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, which was nonfiction, and remember that it was amazing and so very sad. I also read Creek Mary's Blood, a novel by the same author, but I don't remember it as well except that I think I enjoyed it too. If you click on the touchstone for the novel, you'll see a number of other works on native Americans, and you might find something that way. Good luck and let us know what you find.

I liked The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter...an oldy but a goody.

Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge, The Man Who Killed the Deer (same author?), Crazy Horse by Mari Sandoz.

Isn't Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz nonfiction? Or not? I'm not sure, but according to Wikipedia it is nonfiction.

Elizabeth George Speare wrote a couple of children's/YA books about colonial youths coming into contact with Native Americans. They're not strictly told from a Native American perspective, as I recall, though.

The Sign of the Beaver is set in Maine. A young boy is left alone at his homestead and is befriended by a Native American boy and his family.

Calico Captive is about a New Hampshire girl who is taken captive by Native Americans.

I haven't read either one in a long time, but they came to mind when I read this thread.

dougwood, Crazy Horse by Sandoz is definitely a novel. All the historical facts may be true, but it's a novel. And a very good one. Another of Sandoz' books, Old Jules, reads as a novel too, though it's a novelized telling of her father's life. And a rather unpleasant character he was too.

Also, don't miss the books by Native American N. Scott Momaday. The Way to Rainy Mountain is the only title I can think of now, but I'm pretty sure there are others.

How about River Thieves by Michael Crummey? It's Canadian but it does tell the unfortunate and regretable story of the extinction of one group of native North Americans. The entire book was an eyeopener for me because even though I was surprised at the chain of events that led to the destruction of this band of Natives, I was more surprised to read of the living conditions of a man with fishing and trapping rights and making a decent living were like. I expected the first - maltreatment of Natives is well known, but I didn't know the merchants in the early days survived on a diet of mostly lard!! Amazing the hardships people would endure for a life in the "New World" where they don't have to bow down to a landlord or fight for a tiny piece of property.

Three Day Road by Joseph Croydon is set in Ontario and involves the Cree. It currently is on the Impac/Dublin Award longlist, recommended by many Canadian libraries.

There is an older (1953) YA book about settlers and Indians. It was re-issued in 2004. The Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter. Also The Forest and the Fort by Hervey Allen (1943, 1967). Is also about Indians and settlers. I read these a long time ago, so I don't remember much about them. They were my parents' books to begin with.

The first one deals with racial and religious differences I think, but since they were written so long ago they may not be up to modern PC standards.

There is also an older non-fiction book written by an Indian, about the plight of modern Indians (1960s-1970s) and the AIM movement. Custer Died for Your Sins by Vine Deloria Jr. It is very angry and says some not so nice stuff about whites.

Louise Erdrich writes most of her books with Indians in them and often from their perspective. I think they are mostly set in the modern day, but may have historical flashbacks. They never grabbed me, but plenty of people like them, and she wins awards. The one I tried is The Antelope Wife. She has many others.

For South/Central American Indians:

Gary Jennings has 3 books out in paper:

Aztec
Aztec Autumn
Aztec Blood

There may be 2 others in HC still. One that was almost done when he died, and his wife finished, and another that was given to someone else to write.

Blood & Jade, a Mayan Saga by Sally Kohonoski. It may have been self-published, but was very good. I saw an ad for it in Locus magazine.

Two books in a series about the Maya that was never finished, by Marella Sands. They are mysteries and the publisher pulled the plug.

Sky Knife
Serpent & Storm

For the Inca:

Inca the Scarlet Fringe by Suzanne Alles Blom
The Incas by Daniel Peters

A series that is written in France by a couple people I think, and published in the US under the pseudonym of A.B. Daniel

The Puma's Shadow
The Gold of Cuzco
The Light of Machu Picchu

Help me remember --

i read a book that came out in the last 5-10 years. It was a slim volume that was a series of journal entries made by a white settler during the colonial period. He travelled often and crossed between Native American and white areas. i think Johnny Appleseed may have shown up in the novel. One other piece of info -- the author is not Native American himself.

For the life of me, i can't remember the title or author . . .

A really good book that deals with Native American historical fiction is Streams To The River, River To The Sea by Scott O'Dell. It's based on the life of Sacagawea, and I thought it was very well-written and rich.

Message 13 Three Day Road by Joseph Croydon is set in Ontario and involves the Cree.

Three Day Road is an excellent book, but it doesn't take place in the Early Americas - it's about WWI. Still definitely worth reading, though. And the author is Joseph Boyden, not Croydon. :)

Scott O'Dell's The Serpent Never Sleeps takes place in 1610s Jamestown, VA and features Pocahontas.

The two most well-known Native American fiction writers (writers who are actually Native American and who also write stories about native american life) are N. Scott Momaday and Louise Erdrich ... well, and Sherman Alexie, of course, but he deals, as was earlier pointed out, with modern characters. He's right on the money, though! If you want to know what it's like to be an Indian today, read his books.

I think Aztec by Gary Jennings is just the thing for you. Also, believe it or not, Texas by James Michener is really good regarding early relations between Indian tribes and American settlers.

Bystander, I have just the ticket for you, a novel I wrote called "What Goes Around" about an American jazz musician who goes to Paris, meets a girl, ends up in 15th century Mexico, meets his girlfriend's doppleganger/ancestor, gets back to normal, with a nice afterglow. For a longer synopsis, check out http://www.myspace.com/crustayshis Better yet, e-mail me at kevin.carey@pason.com, and I'll shoot an e-copy of it over to you for free. What a deal!

James Michener for all your historical fiction needs. Chesapeake deals with the first encounters between Europeans and Native Americans in the Chesapeake area (of all places). Another good one, Centennial, presents the same theme but occurs later and further west in (what would later be called) Colorodo. Although the plots extend for many centuries, if not eons, Michener provides thorough perspectives from both the native and "visitor" point of view in just a few chapters. I've never read Texas, as aforementioned, but if it's anything like any other of Michener's works, it should be just as relevant.

There's a young adult historical fiction novel called Sorceress by Celia Rees. It's the sequel to Witch Child and features a young woman who is run out of her Puritanical village and is taken in by Native Americans, where her gifts are appreciated and she is elevated to the position of Medicine Woman. It's an excellent read (as is the first book).

If you want a rattling good read, that isn't outstandingly politically correct (but knows it, and has fun with the whole idea), I recommend Flashman and the Redskins. There are lots of historical footnotes - and they're fun too.

Thanks for the link, perodicticus!

You will find a lot of books on this subject. I have been finding that the later "People series books" written by Michael and Kathleen O'Neil Gear are now getting into the early American Peoples.
They have web site on there books.. at www.gear-gear.com

Also Don Coldsmith's Spanish Bit Saga series (31 books in all) is another one you may look into.

To Native Roses msg.#15
The book you may be thinking of is The tree of life by Hugh Nissenson. It is in journal form w/very authentic language . It is set at the time of Tecumsah & the settling of mansfield OH. The author won the Ohioana library fiction award, at the award dinner he told about wearing buckskins clothing & mocassins & eating the diet of the pioneers. John Chapman appears in the novel, as do other little known historical people. The book received a lot of local attention as some of the action took place in our area, on Sandusky bay north of Mansefield.

Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo......EXCELLENT.....she was the indian guide for Lewis and Clark. You get a lot of background on various indian tribes and american history. BIG BOOK....about 1300 pages but a great read.

How about Little Big Man by Thomas Berger, filmed with Dustin Hoffmann?

I'd second or third Aztec and Sacajawea.
For some great fiction on the Anasazi, I'd recommend Linda Lay Shuler's She Who Remembers, Voice of the Eagle and Let the Drum Speak.
I love, love Lucia St. Clair Robson's Ride the Wind, a fictional account of the life of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped by the Comanches as a child and lived among them. It is an excellent novel.

MarianV, that was it ~ thank you so much!

A good book is
A sorrow in our heart : the life of Tecumseh by Allan Eckert

Just joined LT. Try James Alexander Thom. for what I think is really good Native American/Colonial HF reading. His wife is Dark Rain of the Shawnee Nation. They are hard to find except through Amazon. Hope you check into him.

I’m not sure if this is what you are looking for. It’s more Alternate Historical Fiction. One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd By Jim Fergus is based on an event in history when one Native American Chief proposed to the U.S. President a trade: 1000 horses for 1000 white women in the hopes that later generations of Native Americans could be genetically assimilated into the White population.

Historically, the President says no but this book plays off the premise that the trade was accepted. I very much enjoyed it.

A lot of great books have already been mentioned. The Gears have great books out, as does Lucia St.Clair Robson, Barbara Wood just wrote a book on the Aztec's I believe (just checked, it is on the Toltecs and the Anasazi), (I own it but haven't gotten around to reading it yet, Daughter of the Sun). She also wrote Sacred Ground which deals with Indian burials and archaeology conflicts. Check out Penina Keen Spinka also.

That is all i can think of right now, lol.

Another impressive one is Hanta Yo by Ruth Beebe Hill, about a group of Sioux before the coming of European settlers. She did a lot of scholarly research on the Lakota/Dakota people before writing it, and it was praised by critics. It generated controversy because Hill is white and some Native Americans objected to certain aspects of the portrayal of their ancestors, but Hill defended her research vigorously.

Waterlily by Ella Cara Deloria. She is related to Vine Deloria who is an ethnologist & part Sioux. They both write about the Sioux before their lands were invaded by the whites. In
waterlily, Ms. Deloria gives a fictional account of the daily life of a Sioux woman in the early 1840's.

I also enjoyed Sacajawea.

The White by Deborah Larsen is a lovely captivity story. Unlike some others, this one presents the Native Americans in a very positive light.

Leslie Marmon Silko is another fine Native American writer (who focuses more on contemporary than historical, however).

I read Fools Crow by for a Native American Studies class. It is sort of North Midwest U.S/Canadian border setting, interaction pretty much exclusively between tribes. Jack Weatherford wrote some interesting, accessible non-fiction about Native Americans (from ALL of the Americas, not just the U.S.).

#39 I also enjoyed The White by Deborah Larsen

I would also recommend Fools Crow. Iwould also recommend Louise Erdrich's Tracks and her other novels set in and around the fictional town of Argus and the Anishinaabe nearby: Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse.

She has also written some kids/YA books (kind of a native "answer" to the Little House Books by Ingalls). My daughter liked them a lot The Birchbark House and The Game of Silence - which appear to take place in the late 19th or very early 20th century.

The Incas by Peters and the Aztec series by Jennings rate highest but Apalachee by Hudson may fit you better. I rated it with four stars because I have read some very bad books about Native Americans and I gave it an extra star because I graded on a curve. Apalachee has some decent research. Easy read. You rated 1984 with only 4 stars so, our rating system does not match. Caribbean or Mexico by Michener would follow Jennings and Peters in my ratings. If you want poor research and pure fantasy then there is a guy named Conley.

There's a lengthy list of novels about Native Americans on my Historical Novels website, on the "Old West" page. Robert Conley's series "Westerns" featuring a Cherokee sheriff look really intriguing, although I haven't read any of them yet. Novels set in Mexico and southward during pre-Columbian times are on the "Latin America" page.

I recently read Hundred in the Hand by Joseph Marshall III. It's supposed to be the first in an historical fiction series. The book was excellent, and provided a perspective of the Fetterman Massacre of 1866, which was also called Hundred in the Hand by the Lakota. I can't wait to continue the series. The next book in the series is called The Long Knives are Crying and is due out Sept 2008. Sorry, can't get any of the touchstones to work.

The Spanish Bit series by Don Coldsmith. There are a number of them - following the adventures of a Spanish soldier who becomes separated from his fellows back in the days when the Spanish first visited the Americas. He becomes integrated into the Plains Indian tribes and I found it fascinating finding out about the nomadic tribal life where survival often depended on the huge herds of bison.

I have found very interesting "Manituana" by Wu Ming but the author is italian and i don't know if the book has been traslated.
It is the story of the last days of the Five Nations people.

I haven't started it yet, but I just checked out The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland from my local library. It involves Native Americans in British Columbia. It sounds like a good read. I'll report back once I've actually started it.

I'm not sure it is historical fiction, but Hadley Irwin and Craig Kee Strete write about Native Americans.

There are a few that I really enjoyed. Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson is based on Cynthia Ann Parker who was kidnapped by the Comanche. Walk in my Soul is about the Cherokee people and Sam Houston also by Lucia St. Clair Robson. She Who Remembers by Linda Lay Shuler is about a spritual/medicine woman and the legend of Kokopelli.

I just finished Ride the Wind and wow, it was really good. I have now found a new author that I love. I'm currently reading Shadow Patriots by Lucia St. Clair Robson and am enjoying that. I have Walk in my Soul on my TBR list.

Enjoy!

Reporting back on The Forest Lover by Susan Vreeland. I enjoyed the book, and it was a good read although it didn't pull me in as much as other books have. The main character Emily Carr, is not a Native American, but she was a real person, and interacted with Native Americans, some more closely than others. According to the author's note at the end of the book much of this story is true or only embellished a bit. I had never heard of Emily Carr before, and I found it very interesting to look at online pictures of her work that I'd read about. The Native Americans she writes about aren't technically American; they're Canadian. There is also one part of the story (very short) where Emily leaves Canada and goes to France to study. I would recommend this book though. As I said, I enjoyed it.

If you ever get to BC check out their collection of her art in the museum in Victoria. Could have been Vancouver, but I'm thinking Victoria. They've got almost an entire floor devoted to her. She's fabulous. Lots of trees and nobody does trees quite like she does.

Hi, bystander! I've been looking on this thread to see if there's anything on Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear's "First North Americans" Series. There's a ton that this husband and wife team have co-written together, such as "People of the Masks" and "People of the Sea". I think their newest is "People of the Weeping Eye". I know you can check these out on LibraryThing's website. btw these are set during the Pre-Columbian era, (or before the Europeans came to explore and make settlements.) I've also read "The White" by Deborah Larsen, and I really enjoyed it. Also there are books by Lucia St. Clair Robson, such as "Ride the Wind" about Cynthia Ann Parker and her time with the Comanches, and also by Robson are "Walk In My Soul" about Sam Houston's early days with the Cherokee, and his Native American love Tiana, and "Lozen: Ghost Warrior of the Apaches" (also by Robson.) I think "Lozen" is about the title character female Apache shaman who helps her people fight the white settlers' encroachment. I hope this helps you in your search.

best,
Amy :-)

Diane Glancey who is part Cherokee wrote a book about the Trail of Tears. It is called Pushing the Bear it is told in the voice of a Cherokee woman who with all her family & relatives are forced from their home in th Appalachian foothills & made to walk all the way to Oklahoma in bitter cold weather.

James Welch, James Welch, James Welch! Winter in the Blood is incredible. D'Arcy McNickle is also good. They're both older writers. Their works generally cover early to mid-20th century, though Welch has written historical novels, too. Both fantastic writers!

I would recommend Luther Standing Bear's "My People, the Sioux". This is more of a nonfiction biography but it reads like a novel. Luther was born in the 1830 or 40s and it tells of his whole life - Removal Act, Integration, etc..

The Yemassee a Romance of Carolina and a couple of other works by the author may be of interest.

Hi,
I went thru the entire list of messages and didn't see Mari Oakley Medawar mentioned, so I would like to tell you about her books. She wrote 4 books of mystery involving the Kiowa , during the 1880's. During the time of Custer? There is a main character Taybodal, who is a medicine man/ healer - a bumbler/fumbler kind of on the nerdish side who manages to become the beloved of the best catch in the tribe. Other characters are also prototypes of people we all know - jocks, powerful executive types,mousy house wives etc. Wonderful, humorous, easy reading- the books should be read in order as they are developmental. The author wrote only 4 books in the series in the 1990's, but she had other mysteries ( modern) involving native american people.

I would highly recommend books by Allan W. Eckert. He writes historical narrative, not fiction, but his work is fabulous. Some of my favorites were The Frontiersman, about Simon Kenton; A Sorrow In Our Heart: The Life of Tecumseh; and Blue Jacket: War Chief of the Shawnees. Try them- you will not be sorry.

If you're not opposed to YA fiction about Native Americans, Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison is a very well written and interesting account, I still love to read it even though I'm pretty certain I don't count as YA any more.

Hi Everyone,
I'm new here, and think I will really enjoy the site.
I have another suggestion for you, bystander. Check out Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier. It's about a young boy who grows up on his own on the prarie under the wing of an indian chief and becomes a lawyer for the indians as their land is slowly taken from them. A pretty good read.

James Houston's Ghost Fox and Running West are excellent.

I can recommend two authors of Pre-Columbian historical novels. Linda Lay Shuler has written a series of books taking place in the Southwest. I have, and enjoyed, She Who Remembers, Voice of the Eagle, and Let the Drums Speak. Penina Keen Spinka has written of the Northeast. The two I've read are Picture Maker and Dream Weaver.

I believe that both these series give a good feel for their times and cultures. In fact, it occurs to me that I should be looking for newer installments in each.

#63 Thank you tomofthegreen..............I read Ghost Fox many years ago and had been trying to remember the exact title name and author. I agree wholeheartedly, the book was excellent.

The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penny is excellent ... but it is 19th Century Candian frontier, so Native Canadian, not American (or U.S. North American anyway). But it's great as far as historical fiction goes, in a place/time/way I had not yet encountered. There is also an well drawn plot, interesting characters ... and Penny is a beautiful writer. Highly recommended.

Wow, a huge thank you everyone for all your contributions...I certainly didn't expect such a huge response. I knew I had asked for recommendations a while back, and sure enough, the first result on my google search for "Native American Historical Fiction" was my own thread!

For now, I'm going to be going with Pre-Columbian era fics, as I can't imagine any modern or post-Columbian novels ending any way except poorly for the Native Americans, and knowing that would just make me too sad to even give the book a proper chance.

I've looked over (I think!) every single suggestion on this thread, and I've picked out the following to start with:

Ghost Fox
She Who Remembers
One Thousand White Women
Ride the Wind
Sacajawea
Aztec

I will let you know how they go!

Walk in my Soul is very good, as is Ride the Wind. I greatly enjoyed both! I would also recommend She Who Remembers. All are historical fiction. I read the biography Crazy Horse by Larry McMurtry but found it a bit weird; it wasn't really that in depth or fact based. It was NOT what I was expecting at all. I'm still looking for a good biography for Crazy Horse.

From where the sun now stands is one of my favourites, also Bury my heart at Wounded Knee and Killdeer Mountain - some others are listed in my library

I will post another message after this one about South/Central American Indians....
Here are my suggestions on Native American Indian HF books. :)

A Circle Unbroken - YA. A white girl is captured by Sioux Indians and rescued.

Arrow Over the Door - YA. Abenaki Indians during the time of the Revolutionary War.

Bear Dancer - YA. A Ute Indian girl is captured by another Indian tribe.

Between Two Worlds - Children's. A Paiute Indian girl tries to adjust to life with English people when she must go to a white school.

Blood on the River - YA. Early Indian's reactions to Jamestown settlers.

Calico Captive - YA. An amazing book! A girl is captured by an Indian tribe.

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce - A sad, beautiful poem about the battle of Nez Perce Indians for their homelands.

Code Talker - YA. Maybe this is too late in history for you to be interested, but it's a good book. About the Navajo Indians who helped with codes during World War II.

Crooked River - YA. A Chippewa Indian is falsely accused of murder.

Crossing the Panther's Path - YA. Amazing Book!! About the War of 1812, and a half Indian, half white young man with divided loyalties.

Dawn Rider - YA. A Blackfoot Indian girl and her horse save their tribe.

Echohawk - YA. A Mohican Indian boy is sent to a white school.

I Am Apache - YA. About an Apache Indian girl.

I Am Regina - YA. Amazing Book!!! About a girl captured by Allegheny Indians.

I Heard the Owl Call My Name - A classic story about Kwakiutl Indians, and how their way of life was disintegrated by white settlers.

Indian Captive - Children's. A white girl is captured by Seneca Indians.

Indio - YA. Pueblo Indians and the Conquistadors.

Island of the Blue Dolphins - YA. An amazing book!

Jenny of the Tetons - YA. A girl who is prejudiced against Indians must go and live with her uncle, who is now married to a Shoshone Indian woman.

Last Child - YA. How the Mandan Indians were affected by smallpox.

Minuk: Ashes on the Pathway - Children's. About Eskimos in Alaska.

Moccasin Trail - YA. A young man, who was adopted by Crow Indians as a boy, is reunited with his white brother and sister, and must choose which life he wants to lead.

My Heart is On the Ground - YA/Children's. The diary of a Sioux girl sent to an English school.

My Lady, Pocahontas - YA. Amazing Book about a friend of Pocahontas, who travels with her from Jamestown to England.

Naya Nuki - Children's. About a girl who, after being kidnapped by a rival tribe, escapes and tries to survive in the wilderness.

James Printer - An Indian man among white men.

Pocahontas - YA. By Joseph Bruchac. About, obviously, Pocahontas.

Redemption - YA. An English girl sails to the New World and is captured by an Indian tribe.

Remember My Name - Children's. About a half Indian, half white girl during the Cherokee Trail of Tears.

Roanoke - YA. About the mysterious settler of the lost Roanoke colony, including some contact with Indians.

Saturnalia - YA. A book with a gothic feel to it. A young Indian boy is living by day as a normal printer's apprentice in a white colony.

Sing Down the Moon - YA. An amazing, amazing book! About a Navajo Indian girl kidnapped by Spaniards and sold as an indentured servant.

Soaring Eagle - YA. A Mexican boy is adopted into a tribe of Cheyenne Indians.

Spirited - YA. An unusual re-telling of Beauty & the Beast. A beautiful English girl falls in love with a Mohican Indian warrior during the French & Indian War.

Standing in the Light - YA. An amazing diary of a girl kidnapped by Leni Lenape Indians.

Streams to the River, River to the Sea - YA. Sacajawea tells her story, starting long before she meets Lewis & Clark.

Sweetgrass - YA. About a Blackfoot Indian girl.

Sweetgrass Basket - Children's. Written in verse. Two Mohican Indian girls are sent to a white school.

The Beaded Moccasins - YA. One of my favorite books!! This book is amazing! A girl is captured by Delaware Indians.

The Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow - YA/Children's. The diary of a Navajo Indian girl.

Last of the Mohicans - A classic book about the French & Indian War.

The Light in the Forest - YA. A great book about a white boy who has lived with the Leni Lenape Indians since birth. A recent treaty requires that the Indians give all of their captives back, so he is forced to go and live with a family he has never met before.

The Primrose Way - YA. A white girl falls in love with an Indian brave.

The Ransom of Mercy Carter - YA. Amazing book!!! Another of my favorites!! A girl is captured by Indians. A great book.

The Second Bend in the River - YA. About the War of 1812 and before, told by an English girl who falls in love with the war's leading figure, Tecumseh.

The Sign of the Beaver - Children's. Classic story of a white boy who befriends an Indian.

The Winter People - YA. About an Abenaki Indian.

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains - YA. A sad story about the daughter of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, and the destruction of her people.

Wait For Me, Watch For Me, Eula Bee - YA. A boy and his younger sister are kidnapped by Comanche Indians.

Waiting for Deliverance - YA. A bitter white girl falls in love with a Seneca Indian against her better judgment.

Weetamoo: Heart of the Pocasetts - YA/Children's. The diary of an Indian chieftan's daughter.

Zia - YA. An Indian girl in a Spanish catholic settlement.

Trouble's Daughter - YA. A clairvoyant white girl, daughter of a woman accused of being a witch due to skills as a doctor, is captured by Leni Lenape Indians.

I enjoyed The Loon Feather by Iola Fuller

http://www.oyate.org/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&ca...

has a great list of books by Native authors.

Both The Indian Lawyer by James Welch and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie were good.

I have just released a new epic historical novel that includes Jamestown and other settlements in the Chesapeake. There are also references to the lost Roanoke colony and the natives of New Spain. The book is titled "Destiny Comes on the Wind - The Legend of Opechancanough"

Check out the listings at:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007H1TRSQ
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/138932

The Premise

This account is partly based on actual historical events, myths, and legends surrounding the life of Paramount Chief Opechancanough of the Powhatan Confederation of Tribes. I was inspired to write this novel when I learned that I was a direct descendant of Opechancanough some twelve generations ago. This fictional account is given from the perspective of Opechancanough and the natives of the New World. This strong leader influenced and was involved in many historical events over his long lifetime. More than anything else, it is the story of one man’s determined efforts to stop the relentless encroachment of those that would seek to dominate his people and change forever their way of life. Many Europeans and Native inhabitants would perish in the inevitable struggle for domination.

The personal journal of this complex character is the solution to several unexplained mysteries. The elements of this tale include: high adventure, war, drama, deception, hate, bigotry, love, supernatural spirits, superstition, and religion. Although much of the story is pure fiction, it is wrapped so tightly with true historical events it will seem entirely plausible to the reader.

The primary character's Algonquian speaking people are believed to be the descendants of hunter-gatherers that crossed an ancient land bridge from Asia thousands of years ago. There is some evidence that additional genetics may have come from early Viking explorers. The Viking physical traits of reddish hair, taller stature, and paler skin set these northeastern coastal tribes apart from the other indigenous people of North and South America.

This story begins early in the year 1561 with the abduction of a chief's son by Spanish mariners. It was a time of exploration before there were any European settlements in the Chesapeake Bay. It would be 46 years before the English founded the nearby Jamestown colony. The European sovereigns were attempting to expand their empires and religions into this part of the New World. Much of the exploration and colonization was driven by the search for a shorter trade passage to the Orient. The prospects of incalculable wealth, free land, and religious freedom would drive men to commit horrid atrocities against each other in the name of an empire, individual greed, and the often brutal perception of their God’s will.

Armed only with his great strength, unique knowledge, and powerful longbow, an enigmatic warrior rose up to lead his people against the inevitable European invasion that he knew was destined to come on the wind.

>33 usnmm2:, I haven't read that non-fictional accuont, but Panther in the Sky is a great fictional take on the life of Tecumseh.

Has anyone mentioned the Gears' First North Americans series?
http://www.librarything.com/series/The+First+North+Americans

People of the Lakes, People of the Lightning, etc etc etc? There's something like twenty books, each of them focussed on a different group. I only read one of them and wasn't overly impressed, but for a while they were popular.

Orson Scott Card's alternate history/fantasy series The Tales of Alvin Maker takes place in pre-Revolutionary War United States.

I second the suggestion about the work of Michael & Kathleen Gear. Some of his most recent work is a series called Contact: The Battle for America. The first book is called Coming of the Storm. I've only read this first book in the series so far but I do plan to read them all. It was quite good.

I just wrote a work of historical fiction about the Tainan Indians several years ago when I was living in Germany, and it was immediately used to teach a Caribbean history class at the University of Toronto for several years. However, I am in the process of having it re-edited because of some grammatical errors (I was very ill when it was published and was nearly blind, but that has since been corrected). I have since re-named it, because it attracted more readers with a different title and although it is already available as a Kindle e-book, I am having it re-done because of the errors I had missed.

The original title of my book is called "Sons of Yocahu: A Saga of the Tainos' Devastation on Hispaniola." My daughter who is a chemist, lawyer and best selling novelist (and goes by a pseudonym) has re-named it as "Stolen Peace: The Untold Story of the Spanish Conquest" and had it created for the Kindle. This version will soon be replaced with a corrected one and a hard copy will also soon be available.

Does my book count?

I will join the chorus for Sacajawea by Anna L. Waldo She was an amazing lady who guided the Lewis and Clarke expedition...without her they would not have had a chance of success. I liked the way the author gave snippets from the diary of the expedition to set the framework of the chapter and then built a plausible story around the snippet.

81> You should at least admit that you're pushing your own book.

82> Agree with you....this is not a thread for self-promotion...especially from an author whose sole purpose is to promote his book and not add to the collections of the site...

>84 HenryDuggan: Don't you get the message.....self-promotion does not belong in this message area ....there are other areas of LibraryThing where authors can talk about their books...

http://www.librarything.com/groups/authorchat

go there and leave this thread alone

84> When you post in these threads, you only aggravate and alienate the readers, leaving them LESS likely to bother looking up your book. And you are risking getting banned from LT.

>85 Lynxear:

Good point, but wrong group link. Author Chat is for chats specifically scheduled between the site and the author (see the group description).

Hobnob with Authors is the legit place for authors to casually promote their books.

.

Good reference links for authors: http://www.librarything.com/about_authors.php

I'm new...I have not read all of the previous posts....Allan Eckert's Winning America Series are worth a read...A Historical narrative, but reads like good HF....Covers F&I War, Pontiac's Uprising, Revolutionary War, through 1812-1830's ...Very good Native American perspective....Some controversy about his Research Methodology....Quite a prolific writer...Extremely interest Early/Colonial HF.....Very interested in your recommendations.....Peace

Are thinking about Conrad Speiser?....There was a HF written about him....He definitely crossed the Two Cultures....

Mr. Rasmussen...you library consists of 3 books all authored by yourself....in addition the one review you wrote is on one of your books.

That is not the spirit of LT threads with the exception of ones devoted to authors that wish to directly talk about their works. as pointed out in earlier post...your self-promotion here is annoying to us and not allowed. To do so makes us less likely that we would even consider reading your books.

I just finished The Orenda by Joseph Boyden. It is a very rich historical and cultural story. An incredible piece of Canadian history. I was in a different world when I was reading this.

Hi! I'm new to this thread. I'm constantly researching this topic, so thanks for all the posts. I highly recommend two books by Joseph M. Marshall III: Hundred in the Hand: A Novel and The Long Knives are Crying (both in the Lakota Western series). Joseph M. Marshall III was born and raised on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.

I also recommend these books by Mardi Oakley Medawar. The Tay-Bodal series is a sort of native American mystery. For a more traditional approach, try her novel listed below.

Tay-Bodal
Death at Rainy Mountain (1996)
Witch of the Palo Duros (1997)
Murder at Medicine Lodge (1999)
The Ft. Larned Incident (2000)


Novels
People of the Whistling Waters (1993)

And, as already mentioned, please try James Alexander Thom. Excellent writer. Uses historical documents and facts to create wonderful fiction.

Novels

Long Knife (1979) (George Rogers Clark)
Follow the River (1981) (Indian captive Mary Ingles)
From Sea to Shining Sea (1984) (The Clark Family including Lewis and Clark Expedition)
Panther in the Sky (1989) (Tecumseh)
The Children of First Man (1994)
The Red Heart (1997)
Sign-Talker: The Adventure of George Drouillard on the Lewis and Clark Expedition (2000)

I've heard good things about Two Rivers (The Peacemaker Trilogy, book 1) by Zoe Saadia, which I have in my library and hope to get to soon. There's a good review about it here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1050927062

>95 HCDuggan: This is not goodreads, author spam is not allowed on this site.

Just wondering if anyone knows what the name of this book is... i read a bit of it in the back of a book that i no longer have its basically a white girl who was raised with native americans ( ithink it was sioux) falls in love with a young brave she then gets kidnapped by i believe her father and his friends (?) And he goes in search of her i think its called Black Horse or Dark Horse but nothings coming up

>97 Amz1996: I've read a number of books similar to that. One is The White by Deborah Larsen. Another more recent one is The Flight of the Sparrow by Amy Belding Brown.

I recommend Sherman Alexie

There is a newer series: North America's Forgotten Past. The first book in the series is People of the Wolf. I have read the first 3 books and they are very good.

Though this list was started 9 years ago it was a great find for me. Thank you all and I hope recommendations continue.

The Gears' books are great. Other authors include William Sarabande (First Americans series), Amanda Cockrell (Horse Catchers and Deer Dancers trilogies) and Sue Harrison (Ivory Carver and Storyteller trilogies).

Request for Native American Children's novel. Post moved (please see reply below)

>103 Kiri:, The Name that Book group is the place to ask. Be sure to read the Posting Tips, especially about using a helpful subject line, because everyone there is looking for a book.

Thank you. I tried here first as this was focused on Native American books - which this is. I thought this offered the best option knowlege-wise. I'll move the post.

>105 Kiri:, nothing wrong with trying it here per se, but you won't get the higher profile effort that you will there. Better results for you, I'd expect.

I have acquired a 1926 copy of "Under The Sun" by Dane Coolidge. It is a Grosset & Dunlap published book so though the book was written in 1926 I don't believe it is a first edition.

Coolidge wrote many American West books and this one from the table of contents appears to be about the American Indian. I cannot find an obvious date on when the story takes place but it seems to be in the 1800's somewhere or perhaps 1700's. I am sure the book will have the attitude of the Indian race being vicious savages... It will be interesting to read that point of view that was certainly prevalent in the early 1900's.

I finished "Under The Sun" by Dane Coolidge and the book is essentially the Navajo Indian set in about 1840 - 1848. I thought it presented an interesting perspective of the times. I expected a constant derisive writing against the indigenous cultures but was pleasantly surprised at the attitude toward the Navajo. I thought it projected a reasonable depiction of their way of life and the reasons why they were ultimately rounded up and put on reservation.

The treatment of the American soldiers is a bit of a stretch for me. They seemed soooo helpful and tolerant and it was only after the Navajo had broken treaty after treaty by the young Navajo warrior constantly raiding, that finally enough was enough. I don't find that a credible attitude.

The book is loosely a love story between an American captive and the daughter of the chief. But this is not the real thrust of the story which read like a history book at times... the love story was just a vehicle to move the plot along.

All the Allan Eckert's are on my shelves...including "that Dark and Bloody River", where one may pickout the real story of Louis Wietzel, the hero of Zane Grey, and "A Sorrow In Our Heart" a great biography of Tecumseh!

Self promotion is not allowed here.... there is an author's section here if you want to do that

September 2019

This may be a good time to refresh/update this dormant topic.

I'll help.
The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami.
Several historical novels by Larry McMurtry
Little Big Man by Thomas Berger
Thirteen Moons: A Novel by Charles Frazier
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

>113 Limelite:

Thanks!

The final one in your list interests me because I live in Mass.

Cloud of Bone by Bernice Morgan tells the story of the last of the Boethuks, the native people of Newfoundland who were hunted to extinction.

I enjoyed listening to this book several years ago ~

https://www.amazon.com/Kaya-An-American-Girl/dp/B004G932S8/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?...

Kaya: An American Girl by Janet Beeler Shaw

American Girl Collection/1764/a Nez Perce girl growing up before America became a country)

Bone Rattler and Eye of the Raven by Eliot Pattison -- mysteries in Colonial America

I believe there are additional similar novels by him, just haven't read them, nor do I know the titles. Check it out!

Between Two Shores by Jocelyn Green

The protagonist is the daughter of a French-Canadian trader and a Mohawk woman. It's set in French Canada during the French and Indian wars. Despite the blurbs attached to it, it isn't a romance novel, although a key character is her British former fiance. There is some inspirational content, but it is in no way preachy.

Green's historical research has impressed me in all her novels.

Almost any book by Louise Erdrich: Round House, Plague of Doves, The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, to name a few.

A novel not yet mentioned in the thread and that I would recommend is Fig Tree John (1935) by Edwin Corle.

The introduction by Walter James Miller in the 1971 Liveright reissue that I have, describes the aims of the author in this amazing first novel of depth and authenticity far better than I could, so here's a snippet—

Fig Tree John is not only one of our greatest novels about the predicament of the American Indian, it is also one of the best studies of the white man's weaknesses as perceived by the red man. Hence Edwin Corle's little classic is far more "relevant" for us today than when it first appeared in the 1930s. For now the white man, somewhat humbled by his own follies, is almost willing to learn something from other ways of life, almost ready to see himself as the "ofay-watchers" have always seen him.

Agocho—the Apache brave who is the main character in Fig Tree John—is shocked by the white man's low regard for the terrain he lives on, by his reckless efforts to bend Nature to his immediate needs, by his willingness to make love in ugly, "unnatural" structures. Datilye, Apache wise man, regards the whites as doomed—and not even aware of it—because each one is "trying to get more than the others" and cannot "see beyond his own covetous desire and learn that this very desire is making him do everything wrong." And N'Chai Chidn, or Juanitio, or Johnny—his three names symbolize the cultural collisions Corle is concerned with—winces at the white man's obscene need to verbalize every experience. The Indian characters, by contrast with their white "superiors," strive for communion with themselves, for inner balance, and they feel much more at home in the Cosmos.

...Corle is never blind to the weaknesses and faults of Apache life. For one thing, we easily infer that for the woman, in Fig Tree's time at least, it was better to be born white than red. Maria exerts greater control over her own life with Johnny than his mother Kai-a could exert in her relationship with Agocho. Conversely, Johnny probably will enjoy a greater challenge from his white wife than Agocho could have expected from his red woman; for Agocho's male-supremacism makes him a lonely creature in his own kowa, while Johnny can hope for intimacy in his domestic situation.

...Portraying both cultures at their best and their worst, Corle makes no judgments at all...Corle simply makes us regret that these two great peoples never meshed their talents while both of them were still in their prime. How many such chances do we have?

>120 absurdeist: have taken that as a BB!

Don Coldsmith has a book called Runestone (attempted to add touchstone but it leads to the wrong book) that starts out as Norse exploration of North America but contains an interesting account of an assorted group of North American natives from different tribes taking one or two of the Norsemen on a journey into what appears to be Central America and possibly South America. It's been quite a few years since I read it but that was the feature of the story that stuck in my mind. The book was apparently inspired by a runestone found in eastern Oklahoma that predated the move of the Choctaw tribe into that area.

Please be aware that Forrest Carter was uncovered as a fraud, he pretended to be a Native American writer, but was white. you can read about him here. https://aferrostudios.org/2019/02/12/racist-fraud-asa-forrest-carter/

>6 Storeetllr: Bury my heart at wounded knee is really captivating, I agree.

>1 bystander: So from the view of the Native Americans, then, yes?