Top Ten American Indian Novels
Popular novels that portray American Indian life and heritage
by Liz Olson
Check out our list of popular novels that portray American
Indian life and heritage. There is something for everyone in these stories
of tradition, love, family, friendship, heartbreak, and death.
- Ceremony
- Leslie Marmon
- Ceremony tells the story of Tayo, a mixed-blood veteran
returning to his reservation from fighting in World War II. Marmon
celebrates the tradition of storytelling in Native American culture, and
delivers a message of healing and reconciliation between races and
people.
- Flight
- Sherman Alexie
- Flight is a comic and tragic contemporary novel steeped in
American history about a Native American boy who travels back and forth
through time in search for his true identity.
- From the River’s Edge
- Elizabeth Cook-Lynn
- Set in the Northern Plains and based on an actual trial concerning
stolen cattle, Cook-Lynn artfully depicts the sorrows and frustrations
experienced by Native Americans in this spare and poignant novel.
- House Made of Dawn
- N. Scott Momaday
- A Pulitzer prize-winning novel that richly describes Native American
life from the author’s first-hand knowledge, House Made of
Dawn chronicles the life of a young Native American boy, Abel, and
his struggles with reservation life after World War II.
- Love Medicine
- Louise Erdrich
- Erdrich writes with wit and tenderness about the lives and
relationships of seven characters from two families, realistically
portraying Native American life and the cultural connection of
individuals.
- Ramona
- Helen Hunt Jackson
- Ramona is a love story between a young orphan girl and Native
American boy that depicts the tragedy of prejudice. Jackson’s
romantic novel is largely based on fact and reveals the condition of
Native American life in 19th-century California.
- Reservation Blues
- Sherman Alexie
- A journey from reservation bars to small-town taverns, from the
cement trails of Seattle to the concrete canyons of Manhattan.
Reservation Blues is a comic tale of power, tragedy, and
redemption among contemporary Native Americans.
- Solar Storms
- Linda Hogan
- Solar Storms is a coming-of-age story about Angela, a
troubled 17-year-old girl who returns to her Native American
family’s homeland. Hogan beautifully describes the land as Angela
discovers herself and her heritage.
- The Painted Drum
- Louise Erdrich
- Erdrich incorporates beautiful imagery and detailed prose in her
story of the multi-generational history surrounding a drum. Intertwining
three stories, The Painted Drum investigates the connection
between the living and the dead.
- Winter in the Blood
- James Welch
- Welch chronicles a few days in the life of a Native American man
living on a reservation in Montana, giving an authentic portrayal of
Native American life in 20th-century America.
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