Jingle Dancer -by Cynthia Leitich Smith 32 pgs

"Jenna, a contemporary Muscogee (Creek) girl in Oklahoma, wants to honor a family tradition by jingle dancing at the next powwow. But where will she find enough jingles for her dress?  Jenna dreams of having a dress with jingles for the upcoming powwow, but as her grandmother notes, there aren't any extras and there isn't enough time to make them. Jenna is undeterred; she only needs four rows of jingles to make the proper sound. She visits family and friends and finally gets enough jingles to complete her regalia for the dance."  *Contemporary native character*
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*although this isn't set in MN it does center around the jingle dress which, according to tradition, originated from Minnesota (click here for info)

Author created teaching guide (click here!)

Shannon: An Ojibway Dancer-by Sandra King 48 pgs

"A twelve-year-old Ojibwa Indian living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, learns about her tribe's traditional costumes from her grandmother and gets ready to dance at a powwow"
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*Although this book is almost 20 years old (with outdated information: ie -schools and stores which no longer exist) it is a good resource for students to understand the preparation before powwow dancing*

The Soul of an Indian and other writings from Ohiyesa - edited by Kent Nerburn 96 pgs

"Ohiyesa, a Dakota Indian also known as Charles Alexander Eastman, is one of America’s most fascinating and overlooked individuals. Born in Minnesota in 1858, he obtained postgraduate degrees (attending Dartmouth College and medical school at Boston University), and advised U.S. presidents. This beautifully packaged reissue contains Ohiyesa’s insights on spirit, the human experience, and white culture’s impact on Native American culture."
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*This book contains excerpts of Ohiyesa's (Charles Alexander Eastman) several books.  Could work for older elementary students as well.  This is a wonderful and thought provoking book by a Native person. Be sure to read about his accomplishments outside of being a writer!

A Life in Two Worlds -Betty Powell Skoog 113 pgs

"Betty Powell Skoog was raised in the traditional ways of her Ojibwe grandmother in northern MN and Canada.  As white settlers moved into the area, their growing influence changed Betty's way of life.  Her tales represent how the Indian people lived and adapted their way of life during the first half of the 20th century."
Amazon.com

North Country: The Making of Minnesota- by Mary Lethert Wingerd 448 pgs

"In North Country: The Making of Minnesota, Mary Lethert Wingerd unlocks the complex origins of the state—origins that have often been ignored in favor of legend and a far more benign narrative of immigration, settlement, and cultural exchange. Moving from the earliest years of contact between Europeans and the indigenous peoples of the western Great Lakes region to the era of French and British influence during the fur trade and beyond, Wingerd charts how for two centuries prior to official statehood Native people and Europeans in the region maintained a hesitant, largely cobeneficial relationship."
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*at over 400+ pages this text would be a helpful reference to accompany other books by native authors on MN history.  Many MN standards could use this text as a compare/contrast-many primary sources.

Lana's Lakota Moons -by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve 127 pgs

"This contemporary story about two Lakota girls and their Laotian friend illuminates for children and adults the Lakota meaning of family, friendship, life, and death. In the Lakota way, Lana and her cousin Lori are like sisters, growing up together under the caring eyes of an extended family of parents and grandparents. Also like sisters, they have their share of squabbles and fights, but when they meet a new girl at school who has recently arrived from Laos, they are drawn closer by their shared friendship, their discoveries about cultural differences, and their experience with loss. Throughout the book, the grandparents teach the "sisters" Lakota traditions (click here to see MN history of Lakota) and beliefs while explaining the meaning of them to the reader."

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Children of the Indian Boarding Schools- by Holly Littlefield (Picture the American Past series) 48 pgs

"In this book that is part of the "Picture the American Past" series, Littlefield describes the physical, emotional and cultural horrors these relocated children faced, the strategies they used to survive and how today's schools are working to preserve the culture. Each page is filled with monochromatic historical pictures and few words. Though simple in sentence structure, these books don't ignore harsh facts and they choose poignant quotes from children to illustrate situations.
In 1879, the United States government began to take Indian children from their families and reservations and place them in boarding schools where they would learn English and Christianity. In many cases, the parents of these children had no choice but to comply with the government officials"
Indian Boarding schools in MN include: Pipestone and Morris.
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**this is a developementally appropriate book for younger elementary kids, however, it does not delve deep enough into the true sadness of these Native children being separated from their homes, families, and ultimately their culture.  A good place to start teaching about boarding schools, but please be sure to focus on these realities mentioned**


MN Lang Art standard 4.2.6.6    use these naratives of the childrens' experience of Indian Boarding schools with another text-one written by a Native person.  Show, through compare/contrast the language and word choice, that this text seems to gloss over the pain and trauma of boarding schools.

The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering- by Gordon Regguinti 48 pgs

Glen Jackson, Jr., an eleven-year-old Ojibway Indian in northern Minnesota, goes with his father to harvest wild rice, the sacred food of his people
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Ininatig's Gift of Sugar: Traditional Native Sugarmaking- by Laura Waterman Wittstock 44 pgs

Describes how Indians have relied on the sugar maple tree for food and tells how an Anishinabe Indian in Minnesota continues his people's traditions by teaching students to tap the trees and make maple sugar.

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Through Dakota Eyes: Narrative Accounts of the Minnesota Indian War of 1862- by Gary Clayton Anderson (Editors) G. Anderson, Alan R. Woolworth 328 pgs

This collection of thirty-six narratives presents the Dakota Indians' experiences during a conflict previously known chiefly from the viewpoints of non-Indians.

A good resource for the 1862 US -Dakota War.  SO MUCH information here!  Great for Social Studies teachers to use!

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