Best Native American

David Grann's 'Killers of the Flower Moon' meticulously unravels the shocking story of the Osage Nation murders in 1920s Oklahoma. When oil was discovered on Osage land, the tribe became incredibly wealthy, making them targets for greedy outsiders. Grann's investigative reporting exposes a conspirac...

Ceremony is a 1977 novel by Leslie Marmon Silko, a writer of Laguna Pueblo, Mexican, and Anglo-American heritage. The novel follows Tayo, a Laguna Pueblo World War II veteran who returns home suffering from battle fatigue and alienation from his community. Through a blend of prose and poetry, Silko...

The Great Serpent Mound is an ancient geoglyph located in Ohio. It’s a large earthen mound shaped like a serpent, measuring over one thousand feet long and representing a significant example of Native American earthwork construction. Constructed by the Adena culture around 100 BCE, it offers insight...

Santa Clara Pueblo pottery is a ceramic tradition practiced at Santa Clara Pueblo in northern New Mexico. Potters build vessels by hand from locally gathered clay, then polish, carve, slip, and fire them using techniques transmitted through families and the wider community. The tradition is especial...

Gwynne’s *Empire of the Summer Moon* details the history of the Comanche people, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries. It examines their dominance over the American Southwest through a compelling narrative centered on Quanah Parker, a mixed-race leader who skillfully navigated conflict be...

Acoma Pueblo pottery is a ceramic tradition practiced by potters of Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in North America. Vessels are generally hand-coiled rather than wheel-thrown and are known for thin walls, light-colored surfaces, and finely painted g...

Mary Haas (1910–1996) was an American linguist who spent much of her career at the University of California, Berkeley. She is recognized for her extensive fieldwork and documentation of Native American languages, particularly those of the Southeast such as Creek and Natchez. Additionally, she made s...

Marianne Mithun is an American linguist and professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is known for extensive fieldwork on Native American languages, particularly Iroquoian languages such as Mohawk and Cayuga, and for typological research on morphology, syntax, and discourse. Her...

Scalped is a graphic novel series created by Jason Aaron that presents a dark and complex narrative centered around an Oklahoma tribal police officer investigating criminal activity on a remote Native American reservation. The story delves into themes of corruption, cultural conflict, and the legacy...

The Way to Rainy Mountain is a 1969 book by Native American author N. Scott Momaday that chronicles the history and culture of the Kiowa tribe. The narrative is uniquely structured into three distinct voices: mythological Kiowa oral traditions, historical documentation, and Momaday's own personal me...

Lacrosse, historically known as bagataway, is a field sport rooted in Indigenous traditions, primarily developed by the Ojibwe people. It involves using a stick with a netted pocket to catch and throw a ball. The game’s origins date back centuries and represent an important aspect of Native American...

Hopi pottery is the ceramic tradition of the Hopi people of northeastern Arizona, produced primarily from locally gathered clay and traditionally formed by hand rather than on a potter's wheel. Many vessels have yellow, orange, or buff surfaces decorated with painted geometric, animal, bird, and pla...

The Thunderbird is a legendary creature frequently depicted in the mythology and art of various Indigenous peoples of North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, Plains, and Northeastern Woodlands. It is typically described as an enormous, supernatural bird capable of creating thunder by f...

Dark Winds is an AMC television series that premiered in 2022, adapting Tony Hillerman's mystery novels featuring Navajo Tribal Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Set in the 1970s on the Navajo Nation, the police procedural distinguishes itself through its Indigenous creative team, which inc...

The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is a large geoglyph located in Wyoming, created by Native American peoples. It’s a significant example of ancient geometric design and demonstrates an understanding of astronomy. The site was likely utilized for observing celestial events, particularly the summer solstice,...

The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are a group of eight monumental archaeological sites located in southern Ohio, USA. Constructed by the Indigenous Hopewell culture between approximately 100 BC and AD 500, the complex consists of large geometric enclosures, precise earthen walls, and mounds built u...

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a 2007 semi-autobiographical novel by Sherman Alexie, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Native American author. The story follows Junior (Arnold Spirit Jr.), a teenager from the Spokane Indian Reservation who decides to transfer to an all-white public high sc...

Catawba Indian pottery is the hand-built ceramic tradition of the Catawba Nation, whose homeland is in the Carolinas and whose present reservation is in South Carolina. Potters form local clay without a wheel, commonly using coils, then smooth or burnish the surfaces with stones and fire the vessels...

William Bright was an American linguist who studied Native American and South Asian languages and founded the journal Language in Society in 1972.

Hopi piki bread is a traditional, paper-thin flatbread made by the Hopi people of northeastern Arizona. The batter consists of finely ground blue corn meal mixed with water and ash from native plants, which gives the bread its distinctive color and nutritional value. It is cooked by spreading the ba...

Published in 2020, "The Only Good Indians" is a horror novel written by American author Stephen Graham Jones, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation. The narrative blends psychological and supernatural horror, following four Indigenous American men who are pursued by a vengeful entity years afte...

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Water Protectors mobilized in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline’s construction near their ancestral lands. This sustained activism highlighted concerns about potential water contamination and the infringement of indigenous sovereignty. The movement drew widespread...

A Native American heirloom watermelon cultivated by the Hopi people of the American Southwest, distinguished by yellow flesh and long adaptation to arid, low-water conditions.

The Majorville Medicine Wheel is an ancient archaeological site located in southern Alberta, Canada. Constructed as a stone effigy shaped like a wagon wheel, it consists of a central cairn connected to an outer rim by multiple stone spokes. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the central cairn was bui...

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is a first-person shooter released in 1997 for Nintendo 64 and Microsoft Windows. Based on Valiant Comics’ series, it features Turok, a Native American warrior tasked with preventing the Campaigner from wielding a destructive weapon across the universe. The game was developed...

Reservation Dogs is a groundbreaking comedy-drama that follows a group of Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma. The series offers a unique and authentic perspective on Native American life, blending humor, heart, and social commentary. Its distinctive voice, relatable characters, and poignant stor...

An heirloom watermelon traditionally grown by the Navajo people of the American Southwest, valued for drought tolerance, cultural heritage, and sweet red or yellow flesh.

Zuni Pueblo pottery is a ceramic tradition of the Zuni people of western New Mexico. Vessels are traditionally hand-coiled from local clay, smoothed, slipped, and painted with mineral or vegetal pigments before firing, rather than formed on a potter's wheel. Recognizable designs include geometric ba...

Dances with Wolves (1990) is an American epic Western directed by and starring Kevin Costner, depicting a Union soldier who befriends a Lakota Sioux tribe; it won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.