Thanksgiving: The Great American Holiday

Everyone in the US celebrates Thanksgiving.  You learned the story when you were younger, right?  The Pilgrims and the Native Americans sat down to a meal of turkey and other North American delicacies, like cranberries and pumpkin.  There are grimmer, grittier, probably more truthful versions of the story.  I don't know all the gory details myself but I trust that Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewen can help you with that.

Instead of telling you the true story of Thanksgiving, I thought I would highlight some Native American/American Indian tales for your reading pleasure.

Trickster: Native American Tales, A Graphic Collection collected by Matt Dembicki
A varied collection of Native American trickster tales.  One of my favorites is "How Wildcat Caught a Turkey," written by Joseph Stands With Many with art by Jon Sperry.  I love the bold, bright, simplistic illustrations that show how a rabbit saves his own life by helping a wildcat catch a turkey for dinner instead.  There are so many different art styles in this book, some I love, some of which I am not too keen on.  But that's the best part of a collection of short stories--you only have to read the ones you want to.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
This is like Diary of a Wimpy Kid all grown up and even funnier. Arnold Spirit AKA Junior lives on the Spokane Indian reservation ALL the time.  And it sucks.  They have no money, but worst of all: they have no hope.  So Junior leaves to go to the all-white high school in a nearby town.  If 22 miles qualifies as "nearby."  As you might guess, this is not a perfect situation either.  Fortunately, Junior is a budding cartoonist with a sense of humor.

The Trap by John Smelcer
I have nothing but love for this book.  It's also on our Short Reads booklist, clocking in at a breezy 170 pages. It starts out fast:Johnny Least-Weasel's grandfather was supposed to be home by now.  In the Alaskan cold, you don't want to be out for too long.  What if his grandfather is caught in one of the traps he's supposed to be checking?  Will Johnny find him in time?

Do All Native Americans Live in Tipis? 101 Questions and Answers from the National Museum of the American Indian
I started us off by talking about myths vs. facts.  The National Museum of the American Indian knows much more than I do and gets some very interesting questions.  For example: What do Indians do for Thanksgiving?  Or why do American Indians run casinos?  Some of the answers might surprise you!

Other great books about Native Americans:
Almost anything by Joseph Bruchac and Louise Erdrich.  Seriously!

Posted by Alexa Hamilton, Librarian