As a Native American retired schoolteacher, curriculum writer and researcher, I have long noted that most libraries often have only a few, or dated, or inaccurate materials people can read to learn about the original inhabitants of this country.  Through the years, I have developed a short list of personal favorites that I would highly recommend be in every well-rounded library, both personal and public.  The short list that follows is highly selective and personal, but these books, in my opinion, should be in every home, school, public, college, and university library in this country.

It is also my opinion that every education degree applicant in the nation should be required to read and be familiar with the history and contributions of Native Americans contained in these books as a part of their regular class assignments and discussions before receiving a degree in education.  Even if this does not happen, perhaps they will affect enough homes to cause some questioning and challenges to errors and omissions in class presentations in all academic classrooms.

There are certainly other books out there that would fill the bill well, also, but I have chosen these because of their scholarly readability, and their thoughtful and thorough research, as well as the reliability of their authors.

I have listed these books below, followed by a short synopsis about each book.  This article will be followed by a more complete description of each of the books and its contents at a more or less regular rate of one each month.  As near as possible, I will give further references to other material available on the subject at the end of each of the articles.

Stay tuned for some surprises about holes in your education.  That was the reaction of most of these authors when they started their research on Native Americans.

NOTES:  The rise and fall of many Western hemisphere cultures before the arrival of Europeans and the effects of that contact on those remaining cultures.  Jennings is a respected professor, who, at the time this book was written, was Director Emeritus of the Newberry Library Center for the History of the American Indian in Chicago, and Senior Research Fellow of that institution.  Written for the general public, the excellent chronology and bibliography sections are at the end of the book.

NOTES:  A well written, readable book about how the Native American "cultural, social and political practices transformed the way life is lived throughout the world."  Because of its readability, it has been a watershed book setting the record straight on the contributions of Native American, at least for those who have read and enjoyed it. Dr. Weatherford is a respected well- traveled Professor of (cultural) Anthropology at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.  On Native Americans, a quote from Weatherford on the back of the books says, "Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492, but America has yet to be discovered."   This book should help.

NOTES:  Another excellent book written by Dr. Jack Weatherford (see above).  It is a closer look at the "essential role" Native Americans played in the evolution of the United States, and how their influence "made foreigners into Americans," who "grafted European society, language, and culture onto an ancient stem."  The book also places the Western Hemisphere in its proper place in the world picture before 1492.  Such details as acknowledging Cahokia (near present day St. Louis) ranked as one of the great urban centers of the world at its zenith helps to clarify the misconception that America was a wilderness before European contact.

NOTES:   This jewel of a relatively small book was researched and germinated while Johansen was in route to obtaining his college degrees, and, indeed, became the basis for his PhD thesis.  It is entertainingly written, scholarly, well documented and revolutionary in its subject and scope.  It credits the five (later six) Iroquois nations with forming a powerful union, creating a system of rules and living under an ancient, strong, workable government where leaders were servants of the people and individual freedom was stressed and protected, an existing government which Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson studied up close and personal and promoted in their roles as founders of another American democracy that John Locke, Cato, and Rousseau only theorized and dreamed about in Europe.

NOTES:  An award winning book listing and cross referencing a list of 310 pages of contributions Native Americans have given to the world.  Entries are short but very informative and many entries will surprise most people.  What also makes this a valuable library edition is these pages are followed by 55 appendix pages listing cultural areas, maps, a glossary, chronology, linguistic groups, bibliography, geographical cultural areas, entries by subject, and an excellent index.

NOTES:  This is one of many excellent books on Native American biographies.  I selected this one because of the great number of people it includes, the years it covers and the respected writers.  Entries are short but give good information.  If one is doing in-depth research on an individual, they would need to go to a book with more information (most entries have a For More Information references at the end), but this one is impressive in its overall scope and scholarly entries. Each entry includes the individual's name, English name, tribe, and dates of life.  Entries also include some non-Indians who are, or were, important to Native American history.

NOTES:  With a copyright date of 2005, this new book is a stellar example of a well researched book.  I particularly liked Mann's method of couching his research in the context of how he conducted that research.  It is rich with names of his Native guides, local contacts and people he talked with.  He also has a good appreciation of the impossibility of one person's ability to report all the material because of its sheer volume.  Some of his findings included that, before contact, there were probably more people here than in all of Europe, the earliest cities here were thriving before the pyramids were built, and that the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan "was greater in population than any contemporary city in Europe at that time (and it) had running water, beautiful botanical gardens, and immaculately clean streets," unlike any capital in Europe.   He quotes the journal Science which described the development of corn as "man's first, and perhaps the greatest, feat of genetic engineering." This is a surprising and much welcomed book written in a style that laymen can understand and appreciate and professionals can respect.  Mann is an award-winning writer, including two top awards for scientific writing.