Every year, RedLine hosts exhibitions within a social justice-focused theme. Our 2022-2023 theme titled Roots Radical: An Exploration into Indigenous Ancestry and Experience.

Roots Radical supports Native-led organizations and artists and the deeper exploration of Indigenous communities’ collective ancestry histories across the globe.

Learn more about Roots Radical exhibitions and events >

Included within this theme is our Roots Radical book club, a guided exploration into contemporary Indigenous literature led by local poet and professor Crisosto Apache.

In January and February, we read and discussed Genocide of the Mind: New Native American Writing. On Tuesday, May 23, we’ll meet at RedLine at 6:30pm to discuss the second book in the series: Sovereign Bones: New Native American Writing Vol II.

Beyond our book club pick, we collaborated with Roots Radical book club leader Crisosto Apache to compile a list of impactful contemporary Indigenous voices to add to your bookshelf and bookmarks tab!

From novels to non-fiction, poetry to op-eds, expand your exposure to contemporary and historical Indigenous issues and perspectives with this reading list.

Crisosto’s Recommendations

As a two-spirit author themselves, Crisosto’s picks focus primarily on the queer Indigenous experience. These stories soar with heartbreak, hope, and inspiration for readers from every walk of life.

The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions | Paula Gunn Allen, 1992

A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder | Ma-Nee Chacaby, 2016

Skins | Adrian C. Louis, 1995

Looking for Lost Bird: A Jewish Woman Discovers Her Navajo Roots | Yvette Melanson, 1999

Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir | Deborah A. Miranda, 2013

The Beadworkers | Beth Piatote, 2019

The Queerness of Native American Literature | Lisa Tatonetti, 2014

Sovereign Erotics: A Collection of Two-Spirit Literature | Qwo-Li Driskill ed. et al., 2011

The Ancestors We Were Looking For We Have Become: International Queer Indigenous Voices | Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhrán, 2010

Indigenous Novels, Nonfiction & Poetry

As a place to start, we want to promote this fantastically thorough Goodreads article: 51 New Books to Read for Native American Heritage Month >

From short story collections to memoirs, horror thrillers to poetry, this list is sure to engage, educate, and entertain readers of all varieties!

Our favorite part about this list? It highlights a superstar lineup of Colorado local darlings, including Erika T. Wurth (author of White Horse + many others), Kali Fajardo-Anstine (author of Woman of Light and Sabrina & Corina), Stephen Graham Jones (My Heart is a Chainsaw, The Only Good Indians + many others), and David Heska Wanbli Weiden (author of Winter Counts).

A few others we’d add to the list:

Braiding Sweetgrass | Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2020 | Non-Fiction

God is Red: A Native View of Religion | Vine Deloria Jr., Leslie Marmon Silko, 1972 | Non-Fiction

A Mind Spread Out on the Ground | Alicia Elliott, 2019 | Memoir

Queer Indigenous Studies: Critical Interventions in Theory, Politics, and Literature | Qwo-Li Driskill, 2011 | Essays

A History of Kindness | Linda Hogan, 2020 | Poetry

Indigenous Articles/Op-Eds/Essays

(Recommended by Autumn Fourkiller on Longreads)

“Native American Lives Are Tragic, But Probably Not in the Way You Think” | Terese Mailhot, Mother Jones, November 2018

“Wednesday Addams is Just Another Settler” | Elissa Washuta, Electric Literature, November 2017

“Adrift Between My Parents’ Two Americas” | David Treuer, The New York Times, July 2022

“An Old New World: When One People’s Sci-Fi is Another People’s Past" | Abaki Beck, Bitch Magazine, November 2019

Picturesque California Conceals a Crisis of Missing Indigenous Women | Brandi Morin, National Geographic, March 2022

Thanksgiving Is a Tradition. It’s Also a Lie. | Tommy Orange, Los Angeles Times, November 2017

“Featherweight” | Sterling HolyWhiteMountain, The New Yorker, March 2021

“How Native Tribes Are Taking the Lead on Planning for Climate Change” | Nicola Jones, Yale Environment 360, February 2020

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