By K.E. MacPhie
On August 4th, The Minnesota Humanities Center in St. Paul hosted Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan and a crowd of writers, readers, and other supporters excited to kick off the re-release and expansion of the middle-grade book series collectively referred to as “Native American Lives.”
Three stories had been released previously, but the series announced it would be expanding with nine more stories written by various authors in a similar style to the original trio.
Published by Lerner Publishing Group, the series is supported in part by the Humanities Center, which funds programming and grants for various humanities projects – Native and otherwise – as well as support from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and generous funding from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community as a part of its new “Understand Native Minnesota” campaign.
The kickoff featured giveaways and readings from the first of four books in the series, all of them written by Native authors and all of them that tell the stories of both modern and pastime influential Native people from Minnesota such as Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (1979-); Baseball Hall of Famer, Charles Albert Bender (1884-1954); Dakota language protector, Ella Cara Deloria (1889-1971); and Dakota language teacher Carrie Cavender Schommer (1930-).
Some of the upcoming stories being penned include modern artist, George Morrison (1919-2000); political pathfinder Marie Lousie Bottineau Baldwin (1863-1952); and water walker, Sharon Day (1951-) to be released in 2026.
Each of the book covers features an illustrated version of the titular person as drawn by various artists like Tashia Hart, a Red Lake author and illustrator known for her recipes, essays, poetry, and short stories, or Cole Redhorse Taylor, a graduate of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and citizen of the Prairie Island Indian Community.
The stories are written by a collective of Native writers who served as the panel at the book kickoff event. They included the inaugural Minneapolis poet laureate, Heid E. Erdrich; Seedkeeper author and former executive director of Dream of Wild Health, Diane Wilson; Gwen Nell Westerman; and social media manager of the Great Plains Action Society, Jessica Engelking.
The night celebrated all of those contributions by hosting the panel of authors for a question and answer session, facilitated by Corey China of the Minnesota Humanities Center, about how they made the books, chose the Native American Lives to feature, and what their plans and hopes for the future books would be.
The common theme reiterated by panelists, Humanities staff, and the Lieutenant Governor herself, was the hope that more Native kids would learn the real stories of inspiring Native people that shaped Minnesota history, not just the stereotypes of Indians versus immigrants or using our Tribes as a footnote to the innovation and development of Minnesota. Being able to tell true Native stories from Native writers will allow students across Minnesota to view the impact and expanse of influence that Native people have had through all eras and industries of our shared history.
The night ended with audience question and answer from some academics, some young learners who are the target audience of the books, and other community supporters excited for the launch of what’s to come. All together, it was an inspiring evening of Native storytelling and a glimpse of the potential of what is happening and what is possible, both in writing and historical storytelling.
If you want to be a part of the next event celebrating the series, the Minnesota Humanities Center and Heid E. Erdrich will be hosting a panel of illustrators at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum (800 Riverview Dr. Winona, MN 55987) on Friday, September 19, from 6-9pm. Stay tuned for more books to be released and contact the Corey China at the Minnesota Humanities Center (corey@mnhum.org) to learn how to get the Native American Lives series into your school or library.
