Resources for Combating Anti-Native and Indigenous Racism

In our efforts to address racism in the U.S., it is imperative that we include the voices of Native and Indigenous peoples in that conversation. Native history and current reality relate to the larger picture of how white supremacy works. Whether you are seeking ways to actively promote racial justice in support of friends, neighbors and colleagues, or you identify as Native or Indigenous and seek educational resources, support or wish to report a bias incident, each of us can play a part in stopping anti-Native bias and racism.  

The resources below were compiled in partnership with student affairs staff from across the University. Requests to add additional items can be sent to [email protected].

The resources below include off-campus resources that Columbia is not affiliated with nor explicitly endorses. This list is intended only to inform students of resources available to them in the broader community. 

BOOKS

The books listed below are only a small sample of books available from Columbia Libraries on this topic. Please consult with a Columbia reference librarian for additional resources.

Book descriptions are visible when hovering over book covers.

Book cover for Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism
Silva demonstrates that print media was central to social communication, political organizing, and the perpetuation of Hawaiian language and culture. A powerful critique of colonial historiography, Aloha Betrayed provides a much-needed history of native Hawaiian resistance to American imperialism. (Image courtesy of Duke University Press)
Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism

by Noenoe K. Silva

Book cover for An Indigenous People's History of The United States
The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples. (Image courtesy of Beacon Press)
An Indigenous People's History of The United States

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Book cover for Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings offer us gifts and lessons, even if we've forgotten how to hear their voices. (Image courtesy of Milkweed Editions)
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Book cover for Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land
A powerful, poetic memoir about what it means to exist as an Indigenous woman in America, told in snapshots of the author’s encounters with gun violence. (Image courtesy of Ballantine Group)
Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land

by Toni Jensen

Book cover for Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto
Custer Died for Your Sins was significant in its presentation of Native Americans as a people who were able to retain their tribal society and morality, while existing in the modern world. (Image courtesy of University of Oklahoma Press)
Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto

by Vine Deloria

Book cover for Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask
White/Indian relations are often characterized by guilt and anger. Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask cuts through the emotion and builds a foundation for true understanding and positive action. (Image courtesy of Borealis Books)
Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask

by Anton Treuer

Book cover for From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii
Since its publication in 1993, From a Native Daughter, a provocative, well-reasoned attack against the rampant abuse of Native Hawaiian rights, institutional racism, and gender discrimination, has generated heated debates in Hawai'i and throughout the world. (Image courtesy of Latitude 20)
From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaii

by Haunani-Kay Trask

Book cover for Memory Serves
In this collection, Maracle is reforming her speeches about oratory into written works and by doing so illustrates many aspects of capturing memory in writing. (Image courtesy of NeWest Press)
Memory Serves

by Lee Maracle

Cover for Poet Warrior: A Memoir
Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as U.S. poet laureate, invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her poet-warrior road. (Image courtesy of W.W. Norton)
Poet Warrior: A Memoir

by Joy Harjo

Book cover for Rez Life
Novelist David Treuer examines Native American reservation life--past and present--illuminating misunderstood contemporary issues of sovereignty, treaty rights, and natural-resource conservation while also exploring crime and poverty, casinos and wealth, and the preservation of native language and culture. (Image courtesy of Atlantic Monthly Press)
Rez Life

by David Treuer

Book cover for The Tao of Raven: An Alaska Native Memoir
Hayes artfully weaves Indigenous creation stories and the mischievous trickster figure of Raven, creating a type of magical realism. Her writing style is musical in nature, and when reading her work aloud, the timbre and cadence of the words are like a song. --NAIS Journal (Image courtesy of University of Washington Press)
The Tao of Raven: An Alaska Native Memoir

by Ernestine Hayes

Book cover for The Winona LaDuke Chronicles: Stories From the Front Lines in the Battle for Environmental Justice
A collection of stories of Indigenous communities from the Canadian subarctic to the heart of Dine Bii Kaya, Navajo Nation. (Image courtesy of Spotted Horse Press)
The Winona LaDuke Chronicles: Stories From the Front Lines in the Battle for Environmental Justice

by Winona LaDuke

Book cover for Whereas
WHEREAS confronts the coercive language of the United States government in its responses, treaties, and apologies to Native American peoples and tribes, and reflects that language in its officiousness and duplicity back on its perpetrators. (Image courtesy of Graywolf Press)
Whereas

by Layli Long Soldier

Columbia Resources:

External Resources: