American Indian Film Institute, Films of the American Indian Film Festival (1975-2000). 2001, b/w photos, high school-up.

In 1975, when the American Indian Film Institute first began its annual festival, there were not any films to speak of that honestly portrayed a Native point of view, and few of them had Native actors. This reference work of 25 years of the American Indian Film Festival shows what a long way we’ve come. Containing a brief synopsis of the 626 films that the festival has screened—along with detailed information such as country, year, length, director, producer, distribution cost and contact—this volume and its companion CD-ROM are indispensable for anyone interested in the history of American Indian films.
pb 40.00

Champagne, Duane (Ojibwe), Native America: Portrait of the Peoples. 1994, b/w photos and illustrations, maps, grades 7-up.

Beginning with a foreword by activist and American Indian Movement leader Dennis Banks and a comprehensive, well-written chapter on Indian activism in the U.S. and Canada, this volume contains social and political commentary and thought-provoking essays. First chapters are organized by major cultural-geographical areas, each beginning with an historical overview and continuing with biographies of historical and contemporary leaders. Subsequent chapters cover Native North American languages, health, religion, arts, literature, and media, and an afterword by activist Suzan Shown Harjo.
pb 30.00

Champagne, Duane (Ojibwe), ed., The Native North American Almanac: A Reference Work on Native North Americans in the United States and Canada, Second Edition. 2001, b/w photos, maps, charts, high school-up.

This absolutely huge (1,472 pages) comprehensive volume provides historical and contemporary information about the Native peoples of North America. The Almanac’s 17 chapters cover a broad range of topics—including but not limited to culture areas, history and historical landmarks, health, law and legislation, activism, environment, urbanization, education, economy, languages, arts, literatures, media, gender relations, plus a chronology from 11,000 BC through the early 1990s, plus a glossary, general bibliography and 35-page index—makes this highly readable book essential for librarians and teachers, and every middle-school classroom.
hc 175.00

Davis, Mary B., ed., Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia. 1996, b/w photos and illustrations, maps, high school-up.

All classroom teachers who are teaching anything about “Native Americans” should have this single-volume encyclopedia available—and use it frequently. The emphasis is on Indian peoples today, and the involvement of a great many knowledgeable Indian people, close to much of what they describe, contributes greatly to accuracy and coverage of usually ignored matters, and lends energy and interest to the clear and interesting writing.
pb 80.00

From Emory Dean Keoke (Lakota) and Kay Marie Porterfield

Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World: 15,000 Years of Inventions and Innovations. 2003, b/w photos, drawings, maps, grades 7-up.

With entries ranging from anti-asthmatic medication to zoned biodiversity, this meticulously researched one-volume encyclopedia is a comprehensive resource to the numerous inventions and innovations made by the indigenous peoples of North, Meso-, and South America. Containing over 450 entries, alphabetically arranged and fully cross-referenced, this indispensable reference book is a must for every classroom and library.
hc 65.00, pb 25.00

American Indian Contributions to the World. 2005, b/w photos, drawings, maps, charts, grades 4-up.

This five-volume set, with information gleaned from Keoke's and Porterfield's one-volume encyclopedia, is accessible to students from fourth grade through high school. The subjects covered are “Buildings, Clothing, and Art,” “Food, Farming and Hunting,” “Medicine and Health,” Science and Technology,” and “Trade, Transportation and Warfare.”
hc 175.00

500 Años del Pueblo Chicano /500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures. 1991, b/w photos, drawings, grades 7-up.

For a full review click HERE.

Also available to accompany this book:

¡Viva La Causa! 500 Years of Chicano History.

A two-part DVD based on the book. Archival footage, narration, and music ranging from corridos to rap have been added to the photos.
Educational/institutional use 52.50, home use 38.50, book, DVD, and 2 curriculum guides, 120.50

500 Years of Chicana Women’s History/500 Años de la Mujer Chicana. 2008, b/w photos, drawings, grades 7-up.

500 Years of Chicana Women’s History is a giant compendium of female resistance spanning more than 500 years, filled with some 700 photographs, political cartoons, newspaper clippings and short biographies, in Spanish and English. Here area stories of Aztec women who “rained down darts and stones” on the invading Spaniards; Toypurina, who led a revolt against slave labor in the San Gabriel Mission; the women who led the 1692 “corn riot,” during which they burned down the viceroy’s palace and the mayor’s office. And stories of the Mexicanas who fought and died in the War of Independence and Mexicanas who came to the conquered northern territories, surviving a hard life, bringing with them the legacy of resistance. Here are Chicana healers and midwives, migrant workers, cannery workers, laundry workers, garment workers, union activists, anarchists and communists, feminists and lesbian activists, Brown Berets, Raza Unida organizers, storytellers, artists, students and teachers—individually and collectively fighting war and racism and continuing to sabotage the empire.
pb 24.00

For a full review click HERE.

National Museum of the American Indian, Do All Indians Live in Tipis? Questions & Answers from the National Museum of the American Indian. 2007, b/w photos, grades 5-up.

Do all Indians live in tipis? Is it true that Indians sold Manhattan for twenty-four dollars worth of beads and trinkets? Was Tonto a real Indian? Did Indians really use smoke signals? Do they today? Did Indians wear socks? Do Indians have funerals? Apparently, few questions about Indians are too ridiculous to ask; and for the staff at the National Museum of the American Indian—to answer. The answers to the FAQs here are well-researched, thoughtful and informative, and grouped into the following categories: identity; origins and histories; popular myths; clothing, housing, food and health; ceremony and ritual; sovereignty; animals and land; language and education; love and marriage; and art, music, dance and sports. Anyone who wonders if all Indians live in tipis really needs this book. Written at a level that is accessible to upper elementary students, Do All Indians Live in Tipis? is an essential resource for just about all teachers and librarians.
pb 15.00

Nies, Judith, Native American History. 1996, b/w photos, maps and illustrations, grades 5-up.

What makes this chronology special is that it places American Indian history in the context of world events. Through the book’s split-page format with world historical events on the left and Native American historical events on the right, students can read about contemporaneous events such as the victory of the Mohawk and Seneca Nations over the Huron in 1649 against a global backdrop that included the execution of King Charles I in England and the massacre of Irish civilians in Drogheda. Native American History is a breakthrough reference guide and an excellent tool to teach students to think globally.
pb 16.00

Reid, Betty (Diné), and Ben Winton (Pascua Yaqui/Aztec/Crow), Keeping Promises: What Is Sovereignty and other Questions about Indian Country. 2004, b/w and color photos, grades 7-up.

In highly readable language accompanied by beautiful contemporary photographs (no sepia-toned Curtis images here), Reid and Winton describe the complex relationship between Native nations and federal and state governments. From “Who is an Indian?” to “What is a tribe?” to “What is sovereignty?” to “What is the relationship between state governments and tribal governments?” to the ever-present “Why can reservations have gambling if the states they are in don’t allow it?,” the authors discuss Indian identity, the connection of language and story, the people and the land, the reservation system, tribal governments, treaties, reorganization and termination, political activism, and cultural survival. Keeping Promises is a must for all classrooms and libraries containing books about "Indian history" that begin with Columbus and end with Wounded Knee.
pb 9.00

Waldman, Carl, Atlas of the North American Indian. (1985), 2009; b/w photos and illustrations, maps, grades 5-up

The text of this revised Facts-On-File one-volume atlas provides a series of overviews of a great number of Native nations. Organized by subject: “Ancient Indians,” “Ancient Civilizations,” “Indian Lifeways,” “Indians and Explorers,” “Indian Wars,” “Indian Land Cessions,” and “Contemporary Indians,” the atlas is informative, the numerous maps (few pages are without one) are very good, and the appendix—with a 21-page chronology, and an alphabetical list of nations, reservations and place names—is recommended as a general source for ready reference answers and a quick overview.
pb 25.00