native

The mola is a famous Panamanian handicraft created with intricate reverse-applique handwork made by the Guna, and represent important symbols of their culture. The layers of brightly-colored fabric form animals or geometric shapes, and are used to decorate the blouses of Guna women. The most outstanding designs take hours of complex sewing to complete and can be a source of status, and a display of artistic expression and ethnic identity.

Part of a three-volume collection of Native American biographies and strikingly vivid portraits, this publication contains some of the finest American lithography of the 19th century. Published from 1836 to 1844, Thomas McKenney, US Superintendent of Indian Trade, wanted to preserve "in the archives of the Government whatever of the aboriginal man can be rescued from the destruction which awaits his race." His enlightened view that American Indians ought to be "looked upon as human beings, having bodies and souls like ours" was unfortunately shared by few at that time.

Where the Salmon Run follows the life and activism of Billy Frank, Jr., a member of the Nisqually tribe in Washington state who became one of the most prominent American Indian activists during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and 1970s.  Frank was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 because his activism—Frank hosted fish-ins that were modeled after sit-ins—that led up to 1979 Supreme Court case United States v. Washington, commonly known as the Boldt Decision.

Arctic Memories is an overview of Inuit life written for young people. The stories and illustrations are full of beauty and relay so much about life and culture in the Arctic. Author and illustrator Normee Ekoomiak was one of the the most prolific Inuit artists of the 20th century whose life, as a victim of the residential school system and homelessness, shows both the injustices suffered by Canada’s indigenous peoples and their remarkable resilience against that injustice.

Inuktitut is not just the name for the language of the indigenous peoples of the Eastern Arctic. It also means “like one of the Inuit” in that language, reflecting not only how one speaks, but also the culture, attitudes, lifestyle, and behaviors of Inuit peoples: Inuktitut is a way of life.

Cree, an Algongian language with nine dialects, is the most widely spoken aboriginal language across Canada. It is a written language using traditional syllabics, which is the text in this 1949 hymnal, which also includes a useful syllabarium. Based on shorthand, the Cree syllabic system was constructed in the mid-1800s by a Canadian Methodist missionary. Each symbol represents a consonant that can be ‘written’ four ways by directional placement. Psalms and Hymns compiler, Rev.