Siena Blog

For Native American Heritage Month 2023, Siena is highlighting some artistic and cultural contributions to commemorate during this important month. See below for books, podcasts, and other resources of interest to guide you.

Native American and Indigenous Book Recommendations 

Here are some recent fiction and nonfiction books by Native American and Indigenous authors to explore: 

• Cherie Dimaline (Metis), Empire of Wild
• Tiara Doney (Gros Ventre and Cree), Poems of a Dyslexic Native American
• Louise Erdrich (Chippewa), The Sentence and The Night Watchman
• Ernestine Hayes (Kaagwaantaan), The Tao of Raven
• Tomson Highway (Cree), Permanent Astonishment
• Robin Wall Kimmerer (Citizen Potawatomi), Braiding Sweetgrass
• Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho), There There
• Eden Robinson (Haisla), Son of a Trickster
• David Treuer (Ojibwe), The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee
• Diane Wilson (Mdewakanton), The Seed Keeper

Get more Native American and Indigenous book recommendations from Book Riot, USA Today, Good Housekeeping, and Penguin Random House.

Native American and Indigenous Podcast Recommendations 

Here are some podcasts about various Native American and Indigenous topics to explore: 

• All My Relations
• Let's Talk Native with John Kane
• Matriarch Movement
• Missing & Murdered
• Telling Our Twisted Histories
• The Henceforward
• This Land
• Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild

Get more Native American and Indigenous podcast recommendations here: 

• 8 Informative Indigenous Podcasts
• Listen to Indigenous Podcasts
• Indigenous Storytellers: Podcasts
• 5 Native-Led Podcasts for Media Literacy 

Resources for Native American Heritage Month

November is filled with events celebrating Native American history, culture, and heritage. Here are some resources to start with:

• The homepage of the National Museum of the American Indian has plenty of educational resources, exhibits, and more. See also their calendar for museum-sponsored events in Washington, DC, and New York, as well as online.
• The Smithsonian’s Native American Heritage Month page is full of events, links, and more. The National Archives has ample historical and archival information about Native American culture, including video resources and virtual exhibitions.
• The U.S. National Park Service shares information for educators and children, as well as a Rock Your Mocs photo gallery of Park Service staff wearing traditional Native American footwear in parks. 
• PBS is celebrating Native American Heritage month by offering a lot of video content, such as A People’s History of Native America, What Does Electric Pow Wow Sound Like?, and Awesome Alaskan Kids.
• Mountain Time Arts in Bozeman, MT, is a nonprofit arts organization that highlights the arts, history, culture, and natural environment of the Rocky Mountain West and its Sovereign Nations. Learn more about their mission.

Siena Resources

The Siena School blog has other heritage month spotlights related to innovative dyslexia education, including Chicano muralist Ignacio Gomez, Mexican writer and activist Victor Villaseñor, WNBA stars A’Ja Wilson and Jewell Loyd, NFL star Rashan Gary, poet Amanda Gorman, and others. Learn more about Siena’s commitments and ongoing initiatives for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.

Siena’s mission-focused innovative dyslexia education is designed for students in grades 3-12 with language-based learning differences on campuses in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Oakton, Virginia.