Native Americans

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples. They are often also referred to as Native Americans, First Nations and by Christopher Columbus' historical mistake Indians, modernly disambiguated as the American Indian race, American Indians, Amerindians, Amerinds or Red Indians. It's now considered racially insensitive to call this race "Red Indians".

According to the still-debated New World migration model, a migration of humans from Eurasia to the Americas took place via Beringia, a land bridge which formerly connected the two continents across what is now the Bering Strait. These early Paleoamericans soon spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. According to the oral histories of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, they have been living there since their genesis, described by a wide range of traditional creation accounts.

Application of the term "Indian" originated with Christopher Columbus, who thought that he had reached India (his original destination). This served to imagine a kind of racial or cultural unity for the aboriginal peoples of the Americas. Once created, the unified "Indian" was codified in law, religion, and politics. The unitary idea of "Indians" was not originally shared by indigenous peoples, but many now embrace the identity.

While some indigenous peoples of the Americas were historically hunter-gatherers, many practiced aquaculture and agriculture. The impact of their agricultural endowment to the world is a testament to their time and work in reshaping, taming, and cultivating the flora indigenous to the Americas. Some societies depended heavily on agriculture while others practiced a mix of farming, hunting, and gathering. In some regions the indigenous peoples created monumental architecture, large-scale organized cities, chiefdoms, states, and massive empires.

**********

We fill this section primarily with vintage titles, which can be very interesting, but at times inaccurate, and often frustrating to modern sensibilities. While we would love to expand it, lack of space and demand keeps it relatively small. Therefore, separating it out by tribe or region doesn't make a lot of sense for us yet. We'd like to point you to a resource we find quite informative, though you'll need to subscribe to the service for full benefits. Check out this page at Biblioguides.com

Did you find this review helpful?
142 Items found Print
Active Filters: Hardcover
500 Nations
by Alvin M. Josephy, Jr.
1st edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
$28.00 (1 in stock)
America's Fascinating Indian Heritage
by James A. Maxwell
from Reader's Digest
for 7th-10th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 6th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Indian Dances
by John L. Squires & Robert E. McLean
from The Ronald Press Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
American Indian Story
by May McNeer, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from Ariel Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
American Indian Tales and Legends
by Vladimir Hulpach, illustrated by Miloslav Troup
from Paul Hamlyn
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Apache Indians
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Althea Karr
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Apache Land
by Ross Santee
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Art of the Southeastern Indians
by Shirley Glubok
from Macmillan
for 3rd-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Aztec
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Kisa Sasaki
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Bad River Boys
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Birchbark House
by Louise Erdrich
from Hyperion/Madison Press
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
National Book Award Finalist
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Black Elk's Vision
by S. D. Nelson
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Indians
by Holling C. Holling
1st edition from Platt and Munk Publishers
for 3rd-8th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Book of Indians
by Holling C. Holling
from Platt and Munk Publishers
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Book of the American Indians
Brown Paper School USKids History
by Marlene Smith-Baranzini & Howard Egger-Bovet
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Bright Path
by Don Brown
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky
by Chief Seattle, illustrated by Susan Jeffers
1st edition from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Buffalo Bill's Great Wild West Show
Landmark #73
by Walter Havighurst, illustrated by John C. Wonsetler
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
by Dee Brown
from Holt McDougal
for 9th-Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$20.00
Captain Cortés Conquers Mexico
World Landmark #45
by William Johnson
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
Cherokee
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Althea Karr
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Chief Joseph Country
by Bill Gulick
from Caxton Press
for 8th-Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces
by Shannon Garst, illustrated by Douglas Gorsline
from Julian Messner
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Chief Seattle
by Elizabeth Rider Montgomery
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Chippewa Indians
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Patricia Boodell
1968 Printing from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Circle of Seasons
by Ann Nolan Clark; illustrated by W. T. Mars
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Complete Book of Indian Crafts and Lore
by W. Ben Hunt
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Cortez & the Conquest of Mexico
by Bernal Diaz del Castillo
from William R. Scott Inc.
for 9th-12th grade
in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17)
Crimsoned Prairie
by S. L. A. Marshall
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Crow Indians
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Althea Karr
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Cry from the Earth
by John Bierhorst
from Four Winds Press
for 6th-Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Crying for a Vision
by Walter Wangerin Jr.
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for 9th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Delaware Indians
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Patricia Boodell
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
DK Eyewitness: North American Indian
DK Eyewitness Series
by David Murdoch
from DK Publishing
HIstory Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Drawing America: Sacajawea
Drawing America
by Elaine Raphael & Don Bolognese
from Scholastic Inc.
Biography for 1st-3rd grade
in Lewis & Clark (Location: HISA-19L&C)
Fear in the Forest
by Cateau de Leeuw
from T. Nelson & Sons
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Fighting Indian Warriors
by E. A. Brininstool
from Stackpole Books
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Fire Stealer
by William Toye; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver
from Oxford University
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
First Houses: Native American Homes and Sacred Structures
by Jean Guard Monroe, Ray A. Williamson, illustrated by Susan Johnston Carlson
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-12th grade
in Houses & Homes (Location: HISMC-HH)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Fishermen
by Daniel Jacobson, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
from Franklin Watts
for 4th-8th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Foods of the Americas
from Ten Speed Press
for Adult
in Food & Farming Around the World (Location: HISMC-FOOD)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Fry Bread
by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
from Roaring Brook Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
2020 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Geronimo: The Last Apache War Chief
by Edgar Wyatt, illustrated by Allan Houser
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Geronimo: Wolf of the Warpath
Landmark #81
by Ralph Moody, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow
Dear America
by Ann Turner
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th Grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Maya
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Holiday House
for 1st-4th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
Hiawatha and the Peacemaker - Book and CD
by Robbie Robertson, Illustrated by David Shannon
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.95
Horsecatcher, The
by Mari Sandoz
from Westminster Press
for 6th-10th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Horsemen of the Western Plateaus
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Patricia Boodell
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Houses of Bark
by Bonnie Shemie
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 4th-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Houses of Snow, Skin and Bones
Native Dwellings: the Far North
by Bonnie Shemie
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 4th-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
by Margaret Craven
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
If You Lived With the Sioux Indians
If You Were There
by Ann McGovern, illustrated by Bob Levering
from Four Winds Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
In My Mother's House
by Ann Nolan Clark
from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1942 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
In the Hands of the Cave Dwellers
by G. A. Henty
from Robinson Curriculum
for 6th-10th grade
in G. A. Henty Books (Location: FIC-HEN)
Inca
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Patricia Boodell
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Indian Boyhood
by Charles A. Eastman, illustrated by E.L. Blumenschein
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Indian Chiefs
by Russell Freedman
from Holiday House
for 4th-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Indian Crafts
by Janet & Alex D'Amato
from The Lion Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Indian Hill
by Clyde Robert Bulla, illustrated by James Spanfeller
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Indian Sleep-Man Tales
by Bernice Anderson, illustrated by Sears Frank
from Bramhall House
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Indian Warriors and Their Weapons
Gray-Wolf's Indian Culture series
by Robert Hofsinde
from William Morrow & Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Indian Wars and Warriors (East)
North Star Books #10
by Paul I. Wellman, illustrated by Lorence F. Bjorklund
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Indians
by Edwin Tunis
Revised Edition from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Indians and Cowboys
by Sanford Tousey
1951 Edition from Rand McNally
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Indians and the Strangers
by Johanna Johnston, illustrated by Rocco Negri
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Indians of the Longhouse
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Althea Karr
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Indians of the Plains
by Eugene Rachlis & John C. Ewers
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for 4th-8th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Indians of the Woodlands
by George E. Hyde
from University of Oklahoma Press
for 10th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Indians of Western Oregon
by Stephen Dow Beckham, illustrated by Christina Romano
from Arago Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Ishi: Last of His Tribe
by Theodora Kroeber
from California State Department of Education
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Island of the Blue Dolphins
by Scott O'Dell
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fictio for 5th-8th grade
1961 Newbery Medal Winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
James Fenimore Cooper
by Isabel Proudfit
from Julian Messner
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
James Fenimore Cooper
by Donald A. Ringe
from Twayne Publishers
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Jamestown, John Smith, and Pocahontas
by Judith Edwards
from Enslow
for 4th-6th grade
in Jamestown Colony (Location: HISA-17JA)
Jingle Dancer
by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Ying-Hwa Hu
6th Printing from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Joseph, Chief of the Nez Perce
by Dean Pollock
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 5th-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Kaiulani
Royal Diaries
by Ellen Emerson White
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Royal Diaries (Location: SER-ROYAL)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Key to the Indian (hardcover)
by Lynne Banks, illustrated by James Watling
from Avon Books
Fantasy for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Kit Carson
A Discovery Book
by Nardi Reeder Campion, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Knots on a Counting Rope
by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault
Reprint from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Lone Bull's Horse Raid
by Paul and Dorothy Goble, Illustrated by Paul Goble
from Bradbury Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost Colony
by Jean Bothwell, illustrated by Edward F. Cortese
from John C. Winston
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Make It Work! North American Indians
by Alexandra Parsons & Andrew Haslam
from Thomson Learning
for 4th-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman
A Discovery Book
by Marian T. Place
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Maya
by Jerome Martin
from Usborne
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$2.70 (1 in stock)
Maya: Indians of Central America
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Kisa Sasaki
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Mission Indians of California
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Althea Karr
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
My Heart is on the Ground
Dear America
by Ann Rinaldi
from Scholastic Inc.
Fictional historical journal for 3rd-6th grade
in Dear America Books (Location: SER-DEAR)
Navajo
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Patricia Boodell
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Nkwala
by Edith Lambert Sharp, illustrated by William Winter
from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Ojibway Drums
by Marian Magoon, illustrated by Larry Toschik
from Longmans, Green & Co.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Om-kas-toe of the Blackfeet
by Kenneth Thomasma
Later Printing from Baker Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Peacemaker
by Joseph Bruchac
from Dial Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Plains Warrior
First Edition from Atheneum
for 7th-12th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
Potlatch Family
by Evelyn Sibley Lampman
1st edition from Atheneum
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Pueblo Indians
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Patricia Boodell
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Real Book About Indians
by Michael Gorham, illustrated by Fred Collins
from Garden City Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Real Books series (Location: VIN-RBA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Red Hawk's Account of Custer's Last Battle
by Paul and Dorothy Goble
from Pantheon Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
12