Books
Publications from the Minnesota Humanities Center
About Our Books
MHC has published numerous books in collaboration with community partners for all levels of readers. From anthologies to bilingual children’s books, we offer resources that celebrate and elevate Minnesota’s rich heritage.
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Anthologies
Edited by Alexs Pate with Coeditors Pamela Fletcher and J. Otis Powell‽
A surprising and compelling anthology that reveals complex realities as described by African American writers in Minnesota over the past century. Co-published with the Minnesota Historical Society Press.
Edited by Marian A. Hassan
“Crossroads: An Anthology of Resilience and Hope by Young Somali Writers” is an anthology of writing by youth and young adult Somali Minnesotans published and presented by the Minnesota Humanities Center (MHC) and our Somali-community partners.
Published in 1991 by the Minnesota Humanities Center in partnership with the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English, Braided Lives is an anthology that brings together vivid stories and poems of Native American, Hispanic American, African American, and Asian American Writers.
Native American Lives Series
The Minnesota Humanities Center is excited to announce an expansion of the Native American Lives Series. In addition to the three original books sharing the life stories of Ella Cara Deloria, Charles Albert Bender, and Peggy Flanagan, an additional nine new stories will be added to the series.
Written by Erin Griffin
Illustrated by Awanigiizhik Bruce
Floyd Red Crow Westerman was born in Dakota homelands and attended Wahpeton Indian School, an off-reservation Indian boarding school. As a young boy, he taught himself how to play guitar, and he went on to become a musician and actor, most famously as Ten Bears in the movie Dances with Wolves. Through his career, he advocated for Indigenous rights and environmental causes. From playing concerts to acting on the big screen, learn all about the life of Westerman.
About the Author
Erin Griffin is enrolled with the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and from the Westerman family. She is the granddaughter of Chris Westerman, Floyd’s older brother. When she got to college, she decided to study anthropology and geology. The irony of being a Native anthropologist with an uncle who sang “here come the anthros” was not lost on her. Her uncle Floyd called her his shining star and was there when she graduated. Today, Griffin works with her other passion, the Dakota language. She earned her PhD in Hawaiian and Indigenous language and culture revitalization in 2023. She now teaches the Dakota language at South Dakota State University. She has worked in Dakota language revitalization efforts since high school and is responsible for establishing the Dakota Language Teaching Certificate and the Voices of Our Ancestors Program at Sisseton Wahpeton College and the Oceti Sakowin language minor at South Dakota State University. Griffin lives in Sisseton, South Dakota, with her partner, Verlyn; her besties, Yeti and Chubbles; and a handful of chickens. When she isn’t learning Dakota and making curriculum, she spends her time gardening, beading, and observing weather patterns.
About the Illustrator
Awanigiizhik Bruce (Mikinaak-Wajiw Anishinaabe, Nehiyaw, Michif) is a Two-Spirit diverse-media artist based on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation. Their artistic practice traverses traditional and ceremonial Nehiyaw-pwat forms, mixed media, and multimedia work. Their primary mediums include ledger art, parfleche, quillwork, beadworking, painting, jewelry-making, and computer-coded LED art. Awanigiizhik brings practices from ancestral traditional revitalization to the exploration of Indigenous futurism. They spend much of the year completing site-specific and collaborative projects around the country, like murals in Duluth, MN and Belcourt, ND.
Written by Lamar Renville
Illustrated by Holly Young and Awanigiizhik Bruce
Josephine Gates Kelly was the granddaughter of Dakota Chief Matho Numpa, or Two Bears. By working in a family store, becoming Deputy County Auditor, and attending national conferences, Gates Kelly represented her people from a political position. She became the first woman elected as Tribal Chairperson for any Native government in 1946. From attending Carlisle Indian Industrial School to leading the Standing Rock Reservation, learn all about the life of Gates Kelly.
About the Author
Lamar Renville (they/them) is a 2-Spirit descendant of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, Omaha, and Cayuga Seneca. They grew up near Billings, Montana, along the Yellowstone River. They have been reconnecting with Dakota relatives in the Twin Cities and Očheti Sakowiŋ territories since the pandemic. They are a writer, musician, poet, photographer, and Dakota language teacher in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
About the Illustrators
Holly Young was born and raised by her grandmother in a rural area of the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. They lived in a small house 7 miles (11 km) from town on a few acres of land. Young understands how being so close to the land in her childhood has influenced her art, her memories of plants and flowers, her relationship with the land, and the healing properties that come from those. Just as the natural world is intertwined with life cycles and relationships are dependent on survival, so is her art. She leans on her community and their traditions to inspire her. She is unable to flourish as an artist without them. She believes that the natural world has the power to regenerate itself, just like our communities. And as artists, we have the power to regenerate our traditions.
Awanigiizhik Bruce (Mikinaak-Wajiw Anishinaabe, Nehiyaw, Michif) is a Two-Spirit diverse-media artist based on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation. Their artistic practice traverses traditional and ceremonial Nehiyaw-pwat forms, mixed media, and multimedia work. Their primary mediums include ledger art, parfleche, quillwork, beadworking, painting, jewelry-making, and computer-coded LED art. Awanigiizhik brings practices from ancestral traditional revitalization to the exploration of Indigenous futurism. They spend much of the year completing site-specific and collaborative projects around the country, like murals in Duluth, MN and Belcourt, ND.
Written by Tashia Hart
Illustrated by Robert DesJarlait
Patrick DesJarlait grew up on the Red Lake Reservation in Minnesota, and from early childhood enjoyed drawing his relatives and neighbors. He enlisted with the US Navy during World War II, creating animated films to aid the military. After his time with the US Navy, he began working as a commercial artist, drawing advertisements. From painting and military service to influencing the commercial art world, learn all about the creative life of DesJarlait.
About the Author
Tashia Hart is an author and illustrator; her works include Native Love Jams (2023), The Good Berry Cookbook: Harvesting and Cooking Wild Rice and Other Wild Foods (2021), Gidjie and the Wolves (2020), and Girl Unreserved (2015). She was assistant illustrator for Gaa-pi-izhiwebak (2021) and illustrator for Gidjie and the Wolves (2020). Her short works include recipes, essays, poetry, and short stories for various publications. In addition to this title, she has also illustrated several of the books in this series. She is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation and resides in Duluth, Minnesota.
About the Illustrator
Robert DesJarlait (Endaso-Giizhik) is from the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation and belongs to the Noka (Bear) Clan. He is a visual artist, writer, historian, and educator. His career spans over four decades. His work focuses on Ojibwe family life, cultural traditions, and origin stories. DesJarlait’s paintings have appeared in numerous solo, group, and juried exhibitions. Robert has taught Native art and art history in tribal colleges and schools. His illustrations are featured in children’s books, and curricula and literature for American Indian education programs, agencies, and organizations. DesJarlait’s work is in private and public collections.
Awanigiizhik Bruce (Mikinaak-Wajiw Anishinaabe, Nehiyaw, Michif) is a Two-Spirit diverse-media artist based on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation. Their artistic practice traverses traditional and ceremonial Nehiyaw-pwat forms, mixed media, and multimedia work. Their primary mediums include ledger art, parfleche, quillwork, beadworking, painting, jewelry-making, and computer-coded LED art. Awanigiizhik brings practices from ancestral traditional revitalization to the exploration of Indigenous futurism. They spend much of the year completing site-specific and collaborative projects around the country, like murals in Duluth, MN and Belcourt, ND.
Written by Diane Wilson
Illustrated by Tashia Hart
Ella Cara Deloria loved to listen to her family tell stories in the Dakota language. She recorded many American Indian peoples’ stories and languages and shared them with everyone. She helped protect her people’s language for future generations. She also wrote stories of her own.
About the Author
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.
About the Illustrator
Tashia Hart is an author and illustrator; her works include Native Love Jams (2023), The GoodberryCookbook: Harvesting and Cooking Wild Rice and Other Wild Foods (2021), Gidjie and the Wolves (2020) and Girl Unreserved (2015). She was assistant illustrator for Gaa-pi-izhiwebak (2021) and illustrator for Gidjie and the Wolves (2020). Her short works include recipes, essays, poetry, and short stories for various publications. In addition to this title, she has also illustrated several of the books in this series. She is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation and resides in Duluth, MN.
Written by Kade Ferris
Illustrated by Tashia Hart
Charles Albert Bender invented the slider. He was a World Series-winning pitcher and the first Minnesotan inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He grew up poor on a farm where he worked in the fields. He lived far away from his home and family while attending an Indian boarding school in Pennsylvania. Charles Albert Bender worked hard all his life and defined his success by the amount of effort he put into something.
About the Author
Bio coming soon!
About the Illustrator
Tashia Hart is an author and illustrator; her works include Native Love Jams (2023), The GoodberryCookbook: Harvesting and Cooking Wild Rice and Other Wild Foods (2021), Gidjie and the Wolves (2020) and Girl Unreserved (2015). She was assistant illustrator for Gaa-pi-izhiwebak (2021) and illustrator for Gidjie and the Wolves (2020). Her short works include recipes, essays, poetry, and short stories for various publications. In addition to this title, she has also illustrated several of the books in this series. She is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation and resides in Duluth, MN.
Written by Jessica Engelking
Illustrated by Tashia Hart
Peggy Flanagan is the Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota. This is the second highest office in the state. She is the first Native woman to hold such a high elected statewide office in the United States. Peggy is working hard to make life better for all Minnesotans.
About the Author
Bio coming soon!
About the Illustrator
Tashia Hart is a writer and artist from the Red Lake Nation of Anishinnabe in northern Minnesota. Her literary works include fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. In addition to her illustrative work, she is a jewelry maker working in beads and birch bark and some metal work. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota with her husband, son, and a turtle.
Written by Diane Wilson
Illustrated by Cole Redhorse Taylor
Carrie Cavender Schommer grew up in a home where Dakota was spoken, but going to school where everyone spoke English kept her from sharing her love of her Indigenous language. As an adult, Schommer spent decades teaching Dakota language and culture at the University of Minnesota and in her home community. From her childhood to her achievements as an educator, explore the inspiring life of Schommer.
About the Author
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.
About the Illustrator
Cole Redhorse Taylor is a Mdewakanton Dakota , enrolled with the Prairie Island Indian Community. He lives and works on his reservation community located within the traditional boundaries of Dakota homelands in Minnesota. He is a multidisciplinary artist, with a BFA in Fine Arts Studio with an emphasis in Drawing and Painting, from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His works include traditional forms of drawing, painting, beadwork, quillwork, and textile work in traditional regalia. He works towards celebrating his people as thriving conduits of his ancestor’s legacies and to solidify their presence.
Written by Staci Lola Drouillard
Illustrated by Tashia Hart
George Morrison, a skilled Ojibwe artist, grew up on the shores of Lake Superior, and by the age of nine was known for his drawing and creative talents. He graduated from the Minneapolis College of Art and went on to create paintings and sculptures that were exhibited in galleries nationally. One of his sculptures was installed at the White House. From painting to traveling and teaching other artists, learn all about the life of modernist artist Morrison.
About the Author
Staci Lola Drouillard is a Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe direct descendant. She lives and works in her hometown of Kitchibitobig—Grand Marais, on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her first book Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe (UMP, 2019) won the Hamlin Garland Prize in Popular History, the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award for nonfiction and was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. Her second book Seven Aunts (UMP, 2022) won the 2023 Minnesota Book Award for Memoir and Creative nonfiction, the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award and was a “Minnesota Reads” selection at the Library of Congress National Book Festival. A Family Tree, is her first children’s book and was illustrated by Kate Gardiner (Harper Collins, 2024). Staci is an award-winning radio producer for WTIP North Shore Community Radio and authors the monthly column Nibi Chronicles for Great Lakes Now, a branch of Detroit Public Media.
About the Illustrator
Tashia Hart is a writer and artist from the Red Lake Nation of Anishinnabe in northern Minnesota. Her literary works include fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. In addition to her illustrative work, she is a jewelry maker working in beads and birch bark and some metal work. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota with her husband, son, and a turtle.
Written by Hema Patel
Illustrated by Awanigiizhik Bruce
Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin grew up in North Dakota and Minnesota speaking seven languages and watching her father, Jean Baptiste Bottineau, fight for the rights of his communities as a lawyer. Bottineau Baldwin followed in his footsteps, becoming an activist, lawyer, and the first Native American woman to graduate from the Washington College of Law. From marching with suffragists to advocating for the rights of Native Americans, learn all about the life of Bottineau Baldwin.
About the Author
Hema Liesel Erdrich Patel is a writer, artist, dog lover, and lifelong student. She comes from a beautiful blend of cultures – on her mother’s side, mixed German and Turtle Mountain Ojibwe, and on her father’s side, Gujarati Indian. She was raised in both Belcourt, ND and Sisseton, SD, and has called Minneapolis, Minnesota home for most of her years. She is a recent graduate from Yale University with a BA in the History of Science, Health and Medicine and an Education Studies Certificate. Her most recent artistic adventure consisted of a three month bharatanatyam intensive in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. Outside of her writing, she is pursuing a path towards medicine as a future pediatrician!
About the Illustrator
Awanigiizhik Bruce (Mikinaak-Wajiw Anishinaabe, Nehiyaw, Michif) is a Two-Spirit diverse-media artist based on the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Reservation. Their artistic practice traverses traditional and ceremonial Nehiyaw-pwat forms, mixed media, and multimedia work. Their primary mediums include ledger art, parfleche, quillwork, beadworking, painting, jewelry-making, and computer-coded LED art. Awanigiizhik brings practices from ancestral traditional revitalization to the exploration of Indigenous futurism. They spend much of the year completing site-specific and collaborative projects around the country, like murals in Duluth, MN and Belcourt, ND.
Written by Pauline Danforth
Illustrated by Tashia Hart
Sharon Day is the founder and executive director of the Indigenous Peoples Task Force. She grew up with her brothers and sisters on the Bois Forte Indian Reservation, and early on learned of the importance and meaning of water for herself and her community. From her water protector walks to her other work as an Ojibwe activist, learn all about the life of Day.
About the Author
Pauline Brunette Danforth, spent her early years living with her grandmother in the Pine Point community on the White Earth Reservation where she received her Ojibwe name Kewetah-benais-equay, translating to Thunderbird Flying in a Circle. Her family moved to the Cities in the 1950s for economic reasons. She graduated from Bemidji State University with a degree in Mass Communications. She then edited the Leech Lake Reservation tribal newspaper before investigating Ojibwe land claims and doing probate research for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She returned to the Cities to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota earning a Ph.D. in American Studies.
Over the span of her decades-long higher education career, she advised and taught at both the University of Minnesota and Metropolitan State University while serving on the boards of various American Indian non-profit organizations. In addition to publishing creative non-fiction, memoir and poetry, she has published historical articles about the Minneapolis urban Indian community.
She is a devoted traveler having visited many U.S. states and Canadian provinces plus Mexico, Guatemala, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland and several other European countries. Now retired, she travels, meets regularly with her writing group while also teaching Native Studies at Metropolitan State University.
About the Illustrator
Tashia Hart is an author and illustrator; her works include Native Love Jams (2023), The GoodberryCookbook: Harvesting and Cooking Wild Rice and Other Wild Foods (2021), Gidjie and the Wolves (2020) and Girl Unreserved (2015). She was assistant illustrator for Gaa-pi-izhiwebak (2021) and illustrator for Gidjie and the Wolves (2020). Her short works include recipes, essays, poetry, and short stories for various publications. In addition to this title, she has also illustrated several of the books in this series. She is a citizen of the Red Lake Nation and resides in Duluth, MN.
Check back for updates on titles, authors, and illustrators of books being published in January 2027!
Reading Together Book Project
The Reading Together Book Project addresses the lack of children’s books that speak to the experience of being an Asian Pacific Islander (API) child and supports the development of English literacy skills.
Written by Diane Tran
Illustrated by Alex Patrick Shimkus
The lunar new year is here, and Linh wants to help her mom prepare for the big celebration. There is much to do around the house before the family reunion dinner. Try as she might to help her mom with the traditional customs that bring good luck in the new year, Linh keeps making mistakes.
Written by Mai Kou Xiong
Illustrated by Vang Lee
Phengxue was always too busy with soccer and friends to take an interest in the ancient Hmong qeej (“keng”), until his two best friends encounter the instrument during a visit. Their curiosity brings them to Grandfather, whose wisdom teaches the three boys the importance of the qeej during Hmong funerals. Not only does this instrument play beautiful melodies, it also guides a loved one’s soul back to the land of the ancestors. Phengxue’s heart is pulled by its soft music, as if the qeej is speaking to him, nudging him to learn this special instrument.
Written by Stephen Wright
Illustrated by Ilhwa Gloria Kim
Ian loves to gaze at the night sky and longs to discover the mystery of his birth story and adoption from the Philippines. Who is his birth mother, and why did she leave him at an orphanage when Ian was a newborn?
Ian discovers that the stars may contain answers that will point him home so that he can take his place among the stars.
Written by Chay Douangphouxay
Illustrated by Alex Kuno
Before a Lao child is born, the child’s parents spend endless nights trying to think of the perfect name. Once the name is carefully and lovingly chosen, the child must strive to live up to that name. If the child is successful, it will bring great honor and joy to the family. But if the child fails, it can bring much sadness and misfortune.
Each of the characters in Tawan: The Sun Girl has been given a special and meaningful name. Their names were given as a guide to help them become better people. But when the true test of life comes knocking on their door, will Tawan, Din, Nom, and Prince Jaiboun choose to live up to their names?
Written by May Lee Yang
Illustrated by Anne Sawyer-Aitch
On the first day of summer break, twin brothers, Tou Bee and Tou Cher are bummed when their mom takes away their video games. She makes the crazy suggestion that they use their imaginations instead! Determined to find their video games, the boys go on a quest that includes ninjas, dungeons, wild dogs, and even a dragon!
Written by Ka Vang
Illustrated by Aimee Hagerty Johnson
2012 Midwest Book Award Finalist for Children’s Fiction
Quiet and shy Shoua is heart-broken when she is not allowed to go on a camping trip with her grandfather, father, and two brothers, simply because she is a girl. When Shoua’s mother has a special dream about a falling star in the forest her grandfather mysteriously allows Shoua to come along and camp in the north Minnesota woods. While camping a star falls and a wounded dragon is found. Shoua becomes determined to save the dragon in order to prove her place in the family. In the process, she discovers her own voice and magical power!
Somali Bilingual Book Project
The Somali Bilingual Book Project provides authentic resources that promote and preserve heritage languages and increase English literacy skills of refugee and immigrant families through four traditional Somali folktales in both English and Somali.
Retold by Said Salah Ahmed
Illustrated by Kelly Dupre
This traditional Somali folktale tells an animal fable about working together toward a common good. The animals all work together to kill a camel, but then the lion comes and demands that they give him a share. Although he did none of the work, he ends up with most of the camel, prompting the other animals to say, “The lion’s share is not fair.”
Retold by Marian A. Hassan
Illustrated by Betsy Bowen
In this hair-raising cautionary tale from Somalia, the Hargega Valley is plagued by the monstrous Dhegdheer, a witch who gobbles up anyone unlucky enough to cross her path. A widow and her young son try to escape her. Will they be Dhegdheer’s next meal or will their virtue save them and help bring an end to Dhegdheer’s reign of terror?
Retold by Kathleen Moriarty
Illustrated by Amin Amir
When a wise Somali leader asks the men in his province to bring him the part of a sheep that best symbolizes what can divide men or unite them as one, most present him with prime cuts of meat. But one very poor man’s daughter has a different idea. In this clever folktale, a father reluctantly follows his daughter’s advice and has astonishing results.
Retold by Kelly Dupree
Illustrated by Amin Amir
Long ago, Igal Shidad lived in Somalia. Like many Somali people, he and his family were nomadic herders of camel and sheep. They traveled the land in search of water and grass for their animals. Thousands of funny stories were told of Igal because even though he was a wise man, he was also known as a coward. Igal’s unreasonable fears caused him much trouble, but with cleverness and faith, he always managed to find solutions to his problems. This tale of Igal is still told to every Somali child.
