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Stacie Shannon Denetsosie’s life on the Navajo Nation is the inspiration for many of her imaginative stories in the collection, The Missing Morningstar And Other Stories. published this year. Ojibwe writer Marcie Rendon’s illustrated children’s book, Stitches of Tradition (Gashkigwaaso Tradition), measures time and culture through the ribbon skirts a grandmother makes through the years. And Danica Nava’s romance novel, The Truth According to Ember, has readers rooting for its Chickasaw protagonist to get the guy. Those are among the books that our expert readers will review in our look back on notable works by Indigenous authors.

GUESTS

Andrea L. Rogers (Cherokee), author, undergraduate professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and a PhD student at the University of Arkansas

Calvin Crosby (Cherokee), owner of King’s English Bookshop and executive director of Brain Food Books

 

Break 1 Music: Ghost [Stripped] (song) Sierra Spirit (artist)

Break 2 Music: The Opening (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

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Halloween is the right time to dive into new spooky books by Native authors. Ramona Emerson’s new sequel, Exposure, checks back in with her character Rita Todacheene, a Navajo forensic photographer introduced in Emerson’s debut novel, Shutter, who continues to be haunted by crime victims. Dark and menacing supernatural entities follow Choctaws along the infamous Trail of Tears to Oklahoma in Devon Mihesuah’s The Bone Picker, a collection of fictional stories set in real-life histories. Nathan Adler co-edited a collection of scary stories along with Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm (Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and Saugeen First Nation) called Zegaajimo: Indigenous Horror Fiction. Hunkpapa Lakota humorist and author Tiffany Midge’s newest collection of poetry, Horns, weaves horror through her creative use of language and satire. These authors join us for a conversation about horror in Native literature.

GUESTS

Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler (Anishinaabe and member of Lac de Mille Lacs First Nation), writer, author, and editor

Devon Mihesuah (Choctaw), writer, historian, and the Cora Lee Beers Price Teaching Professor at the University of Kansas

Ramona Emerson (Diné), writer and filmmaker

Tiffany Midge (Hunkpapa Lakota), poet, humorist, and author

 

Break 1 Music: Halloween (song) Blood Dance (artist) Halloween (album)

Break 2 Music: Ksm Xaayda (song) Saltwater Hank (artist) Siip’nsk (album)

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Native land is the medium Cherokee journalist and writer Rebecca Nagle uses to convey the long fight for justice and accountability. By the Fire We Carry traces a detailed history from before the Trail of Tears to the current arguments in the halls of the U.S. Supreme Court, as Native Americans fight to retain what was always inherently theirs and win back what was taken by force and fraud by the U.S. Government. Nagel is the creator of the acclaimed This Land podcast that found a broad audience for the complex topics of Native sovereignty and jurisdiction, and the forces constantly working to dismantle them.

GUEST

Rebecca Nagle (member of the Cherokee Nation), author of By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-long Fight for Justice on Native Land

 

Break 1 Music: Ghost [Stripped] (song) Sierra Spirit (artist)

Break 2 Music: Creator (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

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The main character in Chickasaw writer Danica Nava’s debut novel gets into trouble for making some questionable claims about her Chickasaw identity to try and get ahead in the working world. Cherokee citizen Christina Berry writes about an Austin woman’s sometimes funny, sometimes heart wrenching desire to start a family. And Karen Kay’s historical novel explores an interracial connection on the mid-1800s Great Plains frontier. What each of these books has in common is the quest for true love. They also have honest, complex, and engaging portrayals of Native characters written by Native authors. We’ll hear from them about their work and Native representation in modern romance literature.

GUESTS

Danica Nava (Chickasaw), author of The Truth According to Ember

Karen Kay (Choctaw), historical romance author

Christina Berry (citizen of the Cherokee Nation), contemporary romance author

Break 1 Music: Death Row Love Affair (song) Tom Wilson (artist)

Break 2 Music: Love Affair (song) Pepper (artist) In with the Old (album)

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As an Ojibwe language teacher and expert on Native American history and issues, Anton Treuer has penned more than a dozen books that are required reading for some Native studies college courses. But Treuer turns to fiction in his newest work, Where Wolves Don’t Die. His first novel is for young readers and focuses on Ezra, a young Ojibwe teen living in Minneapolis. A serious crime prompts his family to move him to live with his grandfather on the Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation. There he encounters new insights into his family and culture as he navigates the consequences of circumstances beyond his control. Treuer joins us as the Native Bookshelf featured author.

Break 1 Music: Little Sunflower (song) Chuck Copenace (artist) Oshki Manitou (album)

Break 2 Music: Our Mother the Earth [Feat. Dr. Duke Redbird] (song) Sultans of String (artist)

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In Métis author Conor Kerr’s new novel, Prairie Edge, a herd of stolen bison get tangled up in a scheme orchestrated by a fiery Indigenous activist and her aimless young companion. The stunt turns dangerous in a hurry. Kerr’s story dives into two very different Indigenous communities in Edmonton, Alberta through protagonists, Grey and Ezzy, who share a drive for positive change and reconnecting with the land. With both satire and sorrow, Prairie Edge builds readers’ understanding of Indigenous resilience and indignation. Kerr joins us for this installment of Native Bookshelf, our feature on current Indigenous books and authors.

Break 1 Music: Blueberry Hill (song) Métis Fiddler Quartet (artist) Northwest Voyage Nord Ouest (album)

Break 2 Music: She’s Got the Rhythm and I Got the Blues (song) Davis Mitchell (artist) Country Road (album)