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?
52 Items found Print
Active Filters: 3rd grade (Ages 8-9), Hardcover
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)
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)
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)
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)
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 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)
$10.00 (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)
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)
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)
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)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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
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)
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)
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 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)
$8.00 (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)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Jingle Dancer
by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Ying-Hwa Hu
6th Printing from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
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)
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)
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)
$14.00 (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)
$5.00 (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)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ride the Crooked Wind
by Dale Fife, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
from Coward McCann
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Sacagawea
by Betty Westrom Skold
from Dillon Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Sea Hunters
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker, illustrated by Althea Karr
1962 Printing from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Seminole Indians
Sonia Bleeker's Tribes of the Americas
by Sonia Bleeker
1967 Printing from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Seminoles
by Tricia Andryszewski
from Millbrook Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sioux Indians
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)
Story of Sitting Bull
by Jill C. Wheeler; illustrated by Liz Dodson
from ABDO Publishing Co.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Story of the Trail of Tears
Cornerstones of Freedom
by R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Talking Leaf
by Weyman Jones
from Dial Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
True Indian Tales from American History
by James Otis
from L. C. Page & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Value of Truth and Trust
by Ann Donegan Johnson
from Value Communications Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Character Building (Location: BIB-CH)
What Indian is It?
by Anna Pistorius
from Follett
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
White Peril
Sequel to The White Calf
by Cliff Faulknor, illustrated by Gerald Tailfeathers
Stated First Edition from Little, Brown & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)