Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present by Adrienne Keene, illustrated by Ciara Sana

Did you know that Billy Frank Jr. was arrested for fishing as an act of civil disobedience?  That tattooing has been part of Inuit culture for millennia?  That Lili’uokalani was the first woman to rule Hawai’i and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom before the US illegally overthrew the monarchy?  That baller Kyrie Irving has been “welcomed home” by the Lakota Sioux?  

This book about 50  “notable natives” interweaves historical context with short sections on topics like “settler colonialism 101,”  “whose land are you on?” and  “who belongs?”   

Highly accessible short biographies of 2-4 paragraphs each,  and portraits of the 50 subjects make this book a good choice for readers at middle school level or above.  Students will likely find something to whet their appetite to learn more,  and the index makes topics,  locations,  as well as biographical subjects easy to find.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Keene, Adrienne.  Illustrated by Ciara Sana.  Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present. New York: Ten Speed Press, 2021.  Print.