Synopsis
Summary
Too often, Native American history is treated as a finished chapter instead of an ongoing story. This book offers readers everything they never learned in school about Native American people’s past, present, and future. Twelve Native American kids present historical and contemporary laws, policies, struggles, and victories in Native life, each with a powerful refrain: “We are still here!” Important topics are addressed, including forced assimilation, land allotment and Native tribal reorganization, termination, relocation, self-determination, Native civil rights, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), religious freedom, economic development, Native language revival efforts, cultural persistence, and nationhood.
Notable Achievements
2021 Junior Library Guild pick; Robert F. Sibert Award Honor Book; American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor Book; ALA Notable Book; 2022 NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies book; 2022 ILA Social Justice Literature Award winner
Reviews
Kirkus Reviews: "An emphatic, triumphant declaration."
School Library Journal: "The lyrical text and jewel-tone illustrations elegantly work together to stirringly portray the ongoing fight for Native American recognition and rights… An essential purchase for introducing the impact laws and treaties had and continue to have on Native Nations."
Booklist: "The creators of We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga here share important Native American concepts for younger readers... Appended with further information, a timeline, a glossary, and sources, this makes a perfect introduction."
The Horn Book: "This book provides information that is omitted from most curricula in an easy-to-understand manner. Above all, the message is reinforced for all readers: Native people are still here."
Link to Review
Educator Guide
This guide includes discussion questions, a list of fiction and nonfiction books for paired reading, and learning activities that uplift Indigenous voices.
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