St. Paul – Native American Lives Series Book Launch

Come help us celebrate the launch of the first four books in the Native American Lives Series! Written for middle grade readers, this biography series features Dakota and Ojibwe leaders and changemakers pivotal to both Minnesota and the United States, such as Charles Albert Bender, a World-series winning pitcher, and the first Minnesotan to join the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

During the launch event, meet the editors and authors, enjoy live readings, connect with community partners, and be among the first to get your hands on these inspiring books. If you are an educator, we will share about upcoming opportunities to bring the books into classrooms, including book giveaways, mini-grants, and professional development. Visit the Native American Lives Series program page to learn about all 12 titles in the series.

This event is free to attend, and light refreshments will be served. The first 30 guests who register in advance will receive a free book from the series and the first 30 educators to register will receive four free books for their classroom! You must be in attendance to receive a free book and bring a school ID to receive the four classroom books. Complimentary books will also be available for a $10 donation to the Minnesota Humanities Center at the event, and the evening will end with a book signing.

Whether you are an educator, parent, librarian, or lifelong learner, this is your chance to discover a new series that honors Indigenous histories and futures, and to celebrate Native storytelling at its very best. All are welcome!

Published by Lerner Publishing Group, the series is supported by the Minnesota Humanities Center, generously funded through the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) through its Understand Native Minnesota campaign, also funded in part by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund that was created with the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

About the Speakers
Heid E. Erdrich is the author of a dozen books in both poetry and prose. She grew up in North Dakota and is Ojibwe, enrolled at Turtle Mountain. She curates art exhibits, teaches, researches, and collaborates with other artists. In 2024, Heid served as the Inaugural Minneapolis Poet Laureate. She is the 2025 James Welch Visiting Writer at University of Montana Missoula, and a co-editor of the Native American Lives Series

Diane Wilson is a Dakota author, educator, and bog steward. Her novel, The Seed Keeper (2021) and her memoir, Spirit Car: Journey to a Dakota Past (2006), won the Minnesota Book Awards in 2022 and 2007. She has also published a nonfiction book, Beloved Child; and co-authored a picture book—Where We Come From. Her essays have appeared in anthologies including: Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations (2021); We Are Meant to Rise (2021); and A Good Time for the Truth (2016). She is the former Executive Director for Dream of Wild Health and the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance. In addition to this book, she authored the first in the series, Ella Cara Deloria: Dakota Language Protector. Wilson is a Mdewakanton descendant, enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation.

Gwen Nell Westerman is a poet, visual artist, and scholar. Her roots are deep in the landscape of the tallgrass prairie and reveal themselves in her art and writing. She is an enrolled citizen of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and her father’s family is from the Heipa District. Her mother’s family is from the Flint District of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Neither of her parents spoke English when they were sent as small children to boarding schools in Oklahoma and South Dakota. Singing and writing for as long as she can remember, Gwen understands from experience the important ways language and the land shape who we are. She was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Minnesota by Governor Tim Walz in 2021.

Jessica Engelking is the daughter of an enrolled member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. She grew up in Warroad, Minnesota, with her parents and younger sister. After high school, she attended the University of Minnesota–Morris, making use of their American Indian Tuition Waiver. She graduated with a BA in philosophy and went on to study philosophy at the graduate level. She received her MA in philosophy from the University of Iowa. She currently resides in Minnetonka and is isolating in Elkader, Iowa, with her boyfriend, David, and dog, Walden. She is working from home as the social media manager for the Great Plains Action Society, a Native nonprofit. Jessica enjoys running with her dog, spending time on the water, reading, and she’s trying to get better at beading.

Registration

Registration Questions: registrations@mnhum.org

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