Ours to Tell: Reclaiming Indigenous Stories

Gr 7 Up–The authors (Sky Wolf’s Call; Turtle Island) partner again to lift Indigenous stories and celebrate the many accomplishments of First Nations people across time. The book is divided into five parts, focusing on several areas of contributions, including language, the arts, anthropology, and activism. Fourteen exemplary figures and an organization are highlighted, such as Gaspar Antonio Chi, a Mayan scribe; anthropologist Ella Cara Deloria; and contemporary author Tommy Orange. The I-Collective is a group of Indigenous cooks, seed keepers, and educators who collaborated on A Gathering Basket, a book that reveals traditional Indigenous knowledge about old-style foodways using modern technology. Subjects come from Canada to Mexico and represent Indigenous peoples from varied ways of life, from cities to reservations. Each biography is told in five to seven pages, just enough to intrigue readers to do more research. More importantly, they are shared without a focus on the white lens. The layout features a mix of color and black-and-white images, such as photos, illustrations, reproductions, and diagrams. The art sometimes crowds the page but is never overwhelming. The afterword explores how Yellowhorn researched and organized the collection as well as how his story fits within the larger telling.