Native American Literature

This guide will help you to find the various locations of Native American literature and language in the Mid-Manhattan Library. When you are looking for literature by or about a specific author, look in the Name file in the Library Catalog, to find the Library's holdings. You may also check the Subject file under the heading American Literature - Indian Authors. Material is usually located on the 3rd floor, except for fiction, which is on the 1st floor. Some material about Native American literature and language is also located in the History and Social Science collection on the 5th floor. In general, non-fiction books written in English by Native American authors are listed under call numbers in the 810s. Works translated from Native American languages (MM does not have works in the original language) are in the 897s.

Selected Biographies and Bibliographies

Tom Colonnese and Louis Owens, American Indian Novelists: An Annotated Critical Bibliography 016.813 C
Daniel Littlefield, A Biobibliography of Native American Writers, 1772-1994 016.973 L
Jack Marken, The American Indian Language and Literature 016.497 M
Roger Rock, The Native American in American Literature: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography 016.8109 R
Kenneth Roemer, ed., Native American Writers of the United States (Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 175)
Andrew Wiget, ed., Handbook of Native American Literature 897 D
Janet Witalec, ed., Native North American Literature: Biographical and Critical Information on Native Writers and Orators from the United States and Canada from Historical Times to the Present 810.992 N

Selected Anthologies

Paula Gunn Allen, ed., Spider Woman's Granddaughters: Traditional Tales and Contemporary Writing by Native American Women 810.8 S
Jerry Blanche, ed., Native American Reader: Stories, Speeches and Poems 398.2089 N
Joseph Bruchac, ed., New Voices from the Longhouse: An Anthology of Contemporary Iroquois Writing 810.8 N
Joseph Bruchac, ed.,  Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back: Contemporary American Indian Poetry 811.54 S
Joy Harjo, ed., Reinventing the Enemy's Language: Contemporary Native Women's Writings of North America 810.8 R
Rayna Green, ed., That's What She Said: Contemporary Poetry and Fiction by Native American Women 810.8 T
Will Roscoe, ed., Living the Spirit: A Gay American Indian Anthology 810.8 L
Thomas Sanders, ed., Literature of the American Indian 897 S
Frederick Turner, The Portable North American Indian Reader 897 P
Alan Velie, American Indian Literature: An Anthology 897 A
Gerald Vizenor, ed., Native American Literature: A Brief Introduction and Anthology 810.8 N

Selected Critical Works

Paula Gunn Allen, ed.,  Studies in American Indian Literature:Critical Essays and Course Designs 810.992 S
Houston Baker, ed., Three American Literatures: Essays in Chicano, Native American, and Asian-American Literature for Teachers of American Literature 810.992 T
Harold Bloom, ed., Native American Writers 810.99 N
Joseph Bruchac, ed., Survival this Way: Interviews with American Indian Poets 811.54 B
Laura Coltelli, Winged Words: American Indian Writers Speak 810.99 C
Helen Howard, American Indian Poetry 811.5 H
Helen Jaskoski, ed., Early Native American Writing 810.9 E
Arnold Krupat, The Voice in the Margin: Native American Literature and the Canon 810.9 K
Charles Larson, American Indian Fiction 813.009 L
Asebrit Sundquist, Pocahontas & Co: The Fictional American Indian Woman in Nineteenth-Century Literature 810.935 S
Alan Velie, Four American Indian Literary Masters: N. Scott Momaday, James Welch, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Gerald Vizenor 810.9 V
Andrew Wiget, ed., Critical Essays on Native American Literature 897 C
Andrew Wiget, Native American Literature 810.99 W

Information on Native American women writers is also located in the staff-complied Women's Index located behind Information desk.

Some Native American writers are Sherman Alexie, Paula Gunn Allen, Beth Brant, Joseph Bruchac, Michael Dorris, Mourning Dove, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, N. Scott Momaday, Simon Ortiz, Wendy Rose, Leslie Marmon Silko, Mary Tallmountain, Gerald Vizenor, and James Welch.

Native American Languages

Books and audiocassettes on Native American languages are generally under the call number 497, located on the 3rd floor. If you want information (for example, on learning a particular language), check under the language. For instance, for books on learning Cherokee, check under the Subject heading Cherokee Language.

Websites

Index of Native American Resources on the Internet

• A large, old (back to 1994),  frequently maintained and searchable site "constructed primarily to provide information resources to the Native American community and only secondarily to the general community. The information is organized, insofar as possible, to make it useful to the Native American community and the education community" [from the introduction].  It includes sections on books, languages, electronic texts, and bibliographies.

If you need assistance in researching your topic, please come to the Information Desk and speak to a librarian.