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Katie Moench is a librarian, runner, and lover of baked goods. A school librarian in the Upper Midwest, Katie lives with her husband and dog and spends her free time drinking coffee, trying new recipes, and adding to her TBR.

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Looking for nonfiction to read during Native American Heritage month this year? You’re in luck. There is a bevy of new releases from which to choose. As November is traditionally a time to learn about, reflect on, center, and celebrate Native American communities and cultures, nonfiction books by Native American authors are a choice for your reading list this Native American Heritage Month.

From an essay and poetry collection featuring work from Native authors, artists, activists, and athletes, to a cookbook celebrating modern, Indigenous cuisine, there is something here for every reader and every interest.

Medicine River: a Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools by Mary Annette Pember

Pember’s book is a sweeping and sobering history of Native boarding schools in the United States. It explores the system that enabled these schools and encouraged the elimination of Native cultures. This work is personal for Pember, whose mother was put in such a school in Wisconsin. This book provides both a history of boarding schools and the efforts of communities to recover and reestablish themselves in the shadow of their legacy.

My Life: Growing Up Native in America edited by IllumiNative

In essays and poems, 20 contributors share what it means to them to be Native in America today. Athletes, performers, musicians, and activists all highlight their experiences. Among those included are author Angeline Boulley, who wrote Firekeeper’s Daughter and Warrior Girl Unearthed, and composer Mato Wayuhi, who won awards for his work on Reservoir Dogs.

The Indian Card: Who Gets to Be Native in America by Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz

Lowry Schuettpelz is a writer, researcher, and professor, who previously worked on issues of homelessness and Tribal policy for the Obama administration. In her debut book, she explores what it means legally and culturally to be Native American, including the complex sets of laws and regulations that govern tribal enrollment. Combining her own experiences with interviews and archival research, Lowry Schuettpelz shines a light on the process of defining and claiming identity. She also examines the struggles of navigating a process that was designed to eliminate Native Americans and threaten Tribal sovereignty.

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Whiskey Tender: a Memoir by Deborah Jackson Taffa

A finalist for the National Book Award, Taffa’s memoir traces her personal history alongside the history of Native Americans in the United States. Born on the California Yuma reservation and raised in Navajo territory in New Mexico, Taffa grew up hearing her grandparents’ stories of their childhoods in missionary boarding schools, as well as her own parents’ and community’s beliefs about the need to assimilate and blend with the wider American culture to achieve success. Her memoir is a beautifully written account of the crafting of her own identity and a sharply written analysis of both her own life and of history.

The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman

This James Beard Foundation Book Award Winner is more than just a collection of ingredients and instructions. Inspired by his childhood in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Sherman has combined his own award winning recipes with lessons on the history of cultivation, cooking, and access to food, land, and tribal memory in the Dakota and Minnesota territories. This cookbook works to dispel stereotypes of Native American cuisine and its recipes are all made with ingredients that are native to the region. Just some of the delicious dishes in this cookbook include cedar braised bison, griddled wild rice cakes, and roasted corn sorbet.

From the Rez to the Runway: Forging My Path in Fashion by Christian Allaire

Allaire grew up on the Nipissing First Nation reserve in Northern Ontario, dreaming of a career in design and fashion. First inspired by the traditional Ojibwe powwow regalia he grew up with, Allaire pursued a journalism degree and moved to New York City to follow his dream of working in the high-fashion industry. In his memoir, Allaire takes the traditional narrative of the young, dreaming fashion intern and interweaves both his personal challenges and the ways in which his culture impacts his interactions with the world of fashion and design.