Annotated Bibliography
Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. 2. New York: Grove
Press, 2005. This is a collection of short stories by Sherman Alexie about life on a modern-day Indian reservation. Some of the stories have severe language in them and may not be suitable for some students.
Alexie, Sherman. "Why We Play Basketball." College English 58.6 (1996) : 709-712.
This is a poem which connects beautifully to the film, SmokeSignals, and will
resonate with students' love for the game as well. It can be analyzed on many different skill levels.
Cooper, Desiree. "Being Unsettled by Flashy Funerals for the Young." All Things
Considered, National Public Radio, June 26, 2006. This is a disturbing yet intriguing commentary that makes for great discussion about ceremony. The discussion will be timeless because you can take the same issues back to the ancient burial mounds and to the artifacts discovered in them.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5512996
Lourie, Dick. Ghost Radio. 1. Brooklyn, NY: Hanging Loose Press, 1998. This is a book
of poetry. Although Lourie is not an American Indian, he is a contemporary of Sherman Alexie and their works have been published and appear in the same magazines and journals. He is also a Blues musician and writes about that music as well.
Mann, Charles C. 1491: Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. 1. New York:
Knopf, 2005. This book reveals astonishing information about the American Indian before Columbus. This unit focuses mostly on Part III of the book and the landscape of the Americas, specifically the ancient mounds.
Milner, George. The Moundbuilders: Ancient Peoples of Eastern North America. 1.
London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 2005. A good companion to Mann's book, this work offers more specific detail about the mounds in the United States, the dating methods used, along with some striking photographs.
Nelson, G. Lynn. "Warriors with Words: Toward a Post-Columbine Writing
Curriculum." The English Journal. 89.5 (2000) : 42-46. Nelson makes an eloquent and passionate argument for the value of narrative writing and the power she believes it has to end violence. The specific instructions she gives the students for their writing is valuable.
Neihardt, John G. Black Elk Speaks: Being the life story of a holy man of the Oglala
Sioux. Lincoln: The University of Nebraska Press, 1979.
Power, Susan C. Early Art of the Southeastern Indians: Feathered Serpents and Winged
Beings. 1. Athens, GA and London: The University of Georgia Press, 2004. Excellent photographs!
Silko, Leslie. Ceremony. New York: Viking Press, 1977.
Townsend, Richard F., and Robert V. Sharp, eds. Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand. 1. New
Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press, 2004. Excellent photographs! There are several articles in this book worth reading. I used Townsend's the most for his categories of artifacts.
Wilson, Angela Cavender. "American Indian History or Non-Indian Perceptions of
American Indian History?" American Indian Quarterly 20.1 (1996) : 3-5. Wilson brings up profound questions which shouldn't be so profound. It's a great article for teaching tone, author's purpose, point of view, and the bonus of discussing greater societal issues of stereotypes and how history is determined much by the perspective of the historian recording it.
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