Native American Fiction?

Getting in before LJ!

Sherman Alexie, 'The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,' 'The Business of Fancydancing,' (short story and poetry collections respectively); 'Indian Killer' (Native American adopted by a white family cracks under racial identification and turns into a serial killer). 'Reservation Blues' is also good, I've heard, but I haven't yet read it.

Mary Brave Bird, 'Lakota Woman'--Nonfiction. Author grows up in a one-room cabin on the reservation without running water or electricity, joins the counterculture in the '60s and '70s and revives the hitherto outlawed Ghost Dance.

James Dickey, 'To the White Sea'--Alaskan native is stranded in WW2 Tokyo during a bombing raid; must flee the city and hide from the paratrooper sweeps in the country.

N. Scott Momaday, 'House Made of Dawn.'--Navajo WW2 soldier and convicted murderer tries to readjust to society. (Won the Pulitzer in 1969.)

James Welch, 'Fools Crow.'--Blackfoot Tribe, c. 1870 is forced to adapt to the modern world by the whites encroaching on their land; told using Blackfoot terminology.

All of the above authors except Dickey are/were Native American themselves: Alexie is Coeur d'Alene/Spokane; Black Bird is Lakota Sioux; Momaday is Kiowa; Welch was Blackfoot.

Louis L'Amour wrote, The Last of the Breed. A great story about a modern day Native American military pilot that gets stranded in Russia. In order to survive, his "native instincts" come out. Awesome read and would an interesting perspective. He also wrote, Haunted Mesa. It delves into the Native Americans of the Southwest, with an interesting twist which I could not reveal, for it would ruin the story line.

There is a series that starts with Mother Earth, Father Sky. Good series about the early Alaska natives. Velma Wallis books are also good, but are more for young adults (Bird Girl, Two Old Women). These are also about Alaska natives.

Check out oyate.org. They have an EXTENSIVE lists of books by Natives and non-Natives alike--with reviews. They also created a list of books that should probably be tossed out the literary window ;)

In the meantime--pick up some Sherman Alexie and some Momaday. You will not be disappointed :)

Well, Kate S has it nailed down pretty well but Louise Erdrich is another person to look at. I like her a lot and she does a good job with a contemporary view of native life both on and off of the reservations.

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie. It's about an Indian boy who lives on a reservation, but wants more out of life. It's actually a good read. I hope I recommended what you were looking for! :)

The People's books by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear

http://www.tor.com/Gears/index.html

Prehistoric North America based on archaeological and paleontological research.These are fictional stories based on what the authors imagine things were like but also based on evidence collected at actual archaeological sites. Each book covers a different site and a different tribal culture.