Native studies books are inherently disruptive. They eschew mainstream narratives and center on Indigenous perspectives. This past July, we lost one of Native literature’s earliest literary disrupters. Martin Cruz Smith (Pueblo) was celebrated as “a master of the international thriller” for works such as Gordy Park and Polar Star, but The Indians Won is the novel that should be taught in Native literature classes. Brought back into print last year, this book imagines what could have happened if Indigenous tribes formed an alliance after the victory at Little Big Horn and created their own country. In the 2024 edition’s forward, Institute of American Indian Arts alumnus David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Lakota) writes that the novel was “the first alternative history to be written by a Native author” and that it “presents a unique vision of Indigenous sovereignty and identity, one that’s even more important today than when it was published” in 1970. Great storytelling stands the test of time, and this annual list offers some of the finest works published this past year. Whether for your syllabi, book club, or personal library, the books gathered here all offer rich contemplative points sure to disrupt any reductive conversations both now and well into the future.

Fiction

Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis (Saint Regis Mohawk) follows a middle-aged bookseller Abe Jacobs who leaves Miami for his Mohawk homelands to better contend with the diagnosis of a rare disease. Fearing his time is limited, Abe flees both the open marriage he acquiesced to as well as the stunted literary opportunities that muted his creative alter ego. Trusting his fate to the healing hands of his Great Uncle Budge, Abe reclaims his voice and Mohawk identity in this debut novel, which announces Aaron John Curtis as the latest must-read voice to arrive upon the Native literary scene.   

History

Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools by Mary Annette Pember (Red Cliff Band of Wisconsin Ojibwe) details the national and personal trauma inflicted on both boarding school students and their descendants. A decorated journalist, Pember reexamines her late mother’s educational experiences to critique the policies, institutions, and ramifications of a failed federal education policy enacted by misguided Christian schoolmasters. Highlighting that healing cannot be a one-sided initiative, Pember seeks “jingle dress healing” through traditional cultural practices held in culturally affirming spaces.

Science Fiction

Hole in the Sky by Daniel H. Wilson (Cherokee Nation) is a novel that imagines how NASA, the federal government, and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation would react to the first contact with an alien species. The heart of the novel centers on a recovering alcoholic’s attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter by sharing what he remembers about Cherokee teachings while navigating unimaginable odds. Showcasing the hallmarks of robotics, alternating narrators, and urgent storytelling, the novel is the best entry in Wilson’s impressive oeuvre.

Young Adult Short Story Anthology 

Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Nation) is a collection of works by 17 Indigenous writers that center around a fictional drive-in. Covering topics such as first dates, the bonds of friendship, the teachings of elders, and even the connections built through playing Dungeons and Dragons via group chat, the collection elicits a range of cathartic reactions. Illuminating the connections that bind humans together, this anthology chases the comforts of finding your community and sharing food and comfort with those who claim you as one of their own.

Horror

Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (Blackfeet) is a novel told in three narratives. Dr. Etsy Beaucarne needs to publish a book to earn tenure, and she seizes upon the opportunity to explore her ancestor’s newly discovered 1912 manuscript. That text captures the thoughts of Etsy’s great-great-grandfather, Arthur, a Lutheran pastor in Montana, and the confessions of a Blackfeet man turned vampire named Good Stab. Jones causes readers to wonder how the unatoned sins of a generation can be inherited by its descendants.

Nonfiction

We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning by Julian Brave Noisecat (Canim Lake Band Tsq’secen of the Secwepemc Nation) blends autobiography, journalism, coyote stories, and tribal language and culture to create a truly Indigenous story. Taking its name from the English translation of a morning greeting, the narrative stems from Noisecat’s father being discarded at birth in an unlit trash incinerator at St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in British Columbia. The work explores the reality that while colonization has many fathers, ancestral teachings have endured and are guiding collective healing through cultural reclamation.

Political Fiction

Big Chief by Jon Hickey (Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians) is a novel that dramatizes contested tribal politics of a fictional Wisconsin nation. Political fixer Mitch Caddo narrates Tribal President Mack Beck’s machinations of glad-handing, threats, and outright violence to sway his reelection bid. Hickey’s prose sweeps the story forward towards election day through a succession of scandals involving tribal enrollment, embezzlement, and banishment. It’s a novel that asks readers to ponder the boundaries of personal and national sovereignty. 

Autobiography

Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity by Joseph Lee (Aquinnah Wampanoag) explores what it means to be an Indigenous person living on stolen land. Grounded in the place now known as Martha’s Vineyard, the book is equally about the Aquinnah Wampanoag people’s story as it is about Lee’s journey of self-discovery. The work resonates as a narrative of land and belonging, as well as a summation of how centuries of oppression manifest in the modern world.

Young Adult Novel

Beast by Richard Van Camp (Dogrib [Tłįchǫ] Dene Nation) discusses the lengths a high schooler must travel in order to honor an ancient treaty made between the Dogrib and the Chipewyan. Lawson must honor his ancestors while confronting a bully who surrendered himself to “The Dead One,” an entity that wants the agreement broken. Set in 1986, this coming-of-age novel shares nostalgic references alongside typical teenage angst, yet it’s the cultural ties and affirmation of traditions that affirm Van Camp as one of Canada’s preeminent storytellers. 

Short Story Collection

Waiting for the Long Night Moon by Amanda Peters (Mi’kmaq) is a collection that depicts the gamut of emotions that comprise human existence. The eloquence of Peters’ prose drives narratives grounded in loss, grief, persistence, and redemption. Opening lines such as, “It’s quiet here except for the sounds we were meant to hear,” underscore how listening to the traditional teachings offers a path forward for those waylaid by death, addiction, and colonial impositions. Peters’ characters are tenacious, thoughtful, and introspective and therewithin lies their power. 

***

In his forward to The Indians Won, David Heska Wanbli Weiden writes that Martin Cruz Smith “not only depicts what might have been historically, but what still could be. That is, the novel envisions a world in which Indigenous principles are used to unite Native people.” As much as Native studies books are inherently disruptive to American mainstream narratives, they’re unifying to Native spaces. The books on this list offer building blocks that can help lay the foundation for fruitful conversations.

Ryan Winn, PhD teaches in the Liberal Studies Department at College of Menominee Nation.    

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in the Inquisitive Academic or any other opinion columns published by the Tribal College Journal (TCJ) do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TCJ or the American Indian Higher Education Consortium. 

References

Curtis, A.J. (2025). Old School Indian. New York: Tin House.

Hickey, J. (2025). Big Chief. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Jones, S.G. (2025). The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. New York: Saga Press.

Lee, J. (2025). Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity. New York: One Signal Atria.

Noisecat. J.B. (2025). We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning. New York: Knopf.

Pember, M.A. (2025). Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools. New York: Pantheon.  

Peters, A. (2025). Waiting for the Long Night Moon. New York: Catapult.

Smith, C.L. (Ed.). (2025). Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories. New York: Heartdrum. 

Smith, M.C. (2024). The Indians Won. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 

Van Camp, R. (2025). Beast. Madeira Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.

Wilson, D.H. (2025). Hole in the Sky. New York: Doubleday