Indigenous Authors | Briana, Christy, Shan, & Stephanie

November is National Native American Heritage Month. It's a time to celebrate the rich traditions and tales of Native American communities. While some stories have been lost to time, many continue to endure through current literature. In today's conversation, Christy will speak with Briana, Stephanie, and Shan to discuss the works of their favorite Indigenous authors. They'll share how these stories have impacted their understanding of the past and the present. As an added bonus, you'll also hear from Kaitlin Dattilo, the playwright of A Christmas Carol, which will be performed here at Russell Library. Buy your tickets today! 

https://russelllibrary.librarycalendar.com/event/christmas-caaol-7065

Book Recommendations

There There by Tommy Orange

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina

In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall III

Intro Music by nikitsan

Transcript

Indigenous Authors 11-25

Christy: [00:00:00] Cheers. Welcome to Top Shelf with the Live Brains of Russell Library. I'm Christy Billings, and I'm joined by 

Shannon: Shannon Bele. 

Christy: Stephanie Rush 

Briana: and Brianna Gagnan. 

Christy: Thank you for joining us today. On Top Shelf, you'll hear about compelling reads from the people who know books best. Our librarians will share titles that connect to a unique theme each episode.

Christy: This show will also invite you to learn more about the many services offered here at Russell Library. If you're not local, no worries because chances are high that your local library will have similar gifts to offer. We are very excited to turn the page with you. The focus of today's show is indigenous authors.

Christy: We've decided to cover this topic because November's, native American Heritage Month. Native American Heritage Month celebrates the history, [00:01:00] culture, traditions, and contributions of native people here in the United States. It is also time to educate and bring awareness to the challenges native people encounter.

Christy: Historically and currently, native American literature begins with the traditional oral and written literature of the indigenous people of the Americas. Traditional Native American literature includes ancient pictographic writings an extensive set of. Folktales myths and oral histories. The written Native American literary tradition, including European literary genres such as poetry and fiction, begin in early 18th century as Native Americans begin to publish historical and cultural accounts of their peoples during the 19th century from the 1960s onward.

Christy: The production of many new Native American literary texts created an era of awakening that created a new voice and a new place for [00:02:00] Native American writers in the American imagination. This era is called the Native American Renaissance by literary. So let's start today with Shan. 

Shannon: Hey guys. Can 

Christy: you tell us what book you brought along today with a, a brief description of your book?

Shannon: Yeah. Before I start though. Did everything happen in the sixties? 

Briana: The sixties was just the turning point for a lot of things to start the sixties and seventies. Like it was really like the taking of, um, that prison in California. 

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. 

Briana: What is that prison? 

Stephanie: Alcatraz. 

Briana: Alcatraz, yeah. Like that was a huge movement they had.

Briana: Taken that, and that was a, what was the movement called? But there was a big movement in the sixties and seventies. Yeah. And they reclaimed a lot and like made a lot of stands against the man. It's 

Stephanie: so interesting you said that. I just finished a book a while ago, not the book I'm gonna talk about today.

Stephanie: Yeah. But um, they lived in, they lived San Francisco. Yep. And they would. Go to Alcatraz mm-hmm. And celebrate with the indigenous people on Thanksgiving. Mm-hmm. As part of their cultural tradition. I was like, that's cool. Yeah. And I never realized how connected they were. 

Kaitlin: [00:03:00] Mm-hmm. 

Shannon: Wow. That's really cool. Yeah.

Shannon: That's cool. Yeah. Okay, so now I have to delve a little deeper because this is like a history that I do not know. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Shannon: Personally, but I was just saying literally every ha, everything happened in the sixties. Yeah. You got the civil rights movement. Yep. You got like the, and then it like, like things turned into other movements in the seventies.

Shannon: Yeah. So it was like the Kickstarter for so many things. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But I feel like, and I'm gonna get to this later when I talk about my book. So that was the Native American Renaissance by critics. But I think there's always like a resurgence. Yeah. With like a new age of people. A new age of like writers and people.

Shannon: So that's pretty cool. 

Stephanie: Changes in publishing. 

Shannon: A hundred percent. That's 

Stephanie: huge for, 

Shannon: that's like a topic for a totally different day day. 

Stephanie: Absolutely. 

Christy: I feel like after George Floyd that Yes. Also this helped push forward, uh, indigenous voices as 

Stephanie: well. Yeah, yeah, 

Shannon: yeah. It totally did. 

Stephanie: And then we're starting to see that kind of.

Stephanie: Backtrack, unfortunately. But yeah, no, I think it's all kind of rooted in that, like you were saying, periods of [00:04:00] change. Mm-hmm. Periods of social change. They all kind of coincide. Yeah. They're all connected. 

Shannon: Well, my book was published before George Floyd. 

Stephanie: Yeah. What? I read it in 2019. So 

Shannon: it was actually published in 2018.

Shannon: Okay. And it's the debut novel of Tommy Oranges. They're there. So I was very excited when this book came out, but let me just tell you guys about it first. Um, it is the story of 12 characters who are traveling to the big. Oakland powwow for their own reason or another. The 12 characters bring to life the voices and stories of urban indigenous Americans exploring the complexity of beauty, spirituality, recovery, and identity in the backbone of a painful shared history.

Shannon: It is truly an unforgettable novel and a critical voice for indigenous authors. So this was Tommy Orange's. First book. Oh my God. Mm-hmm. This book was amazing for a debut. So amazing. Have you read it too, Brianna? Yeah, I've 

Stephanie: read it too. 

Shannon: Have 

Stephanie: you read this? Yeah, I've 

Shannon: read it. Oh, 

Stephanie: we've read it. Read it. That's, that's fun.

Stephanie: I feel like that [00:05:00] hasn't happened in a while. No, 

Shannon: we're gonna do 

Christy: it for books and bruises. 

Stephanie: Awesome. So we've all read this book. Yay. 

Shannon: But I loved this book and I was like, when we decided to do this, I'm like, this is the book I'm going to do. Yeah. 

Christy: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Shannon: Because it resonated with me so, so much. So 

Christy: I feel like this is the kind of book that people sort of are trying to get around to reading.

Christy: Mm-hmm. 

Shannon: Yeah. 

Christy: I'm glad that we're talking about it a little bit more today. 

Shannon: Yeah, 

Christy: it's really cool. 

Shannon: Me 

Christy: too. Me too. What drew you to the book? 

Shannon: I was drawn to this book because it was an indigenous author writing it, um, about a truth that was not normally shared. So in 2018, and we kind of discussed this earlier today.

Shannon: Oh, we discussed these things before the podcast 

Stephanie: too. Yeah. We don't just talk about this on mic, we're talking about these things all the time. All the time. 

Shannon: This was like another resurgence. Mm-hmm. I feel like of indigenous authors at that time, like you had the television show on Hulu reservation dogs.

Shannon: That show was so good. The show 

Stephanie: is so good. 

Shannon: So this drew me to it. Um, 

Stephanie: Rutherford Falls came on after that as well, which was another indigenous show. 

Shannon: Oh, [00:06:00] I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah, 

Stephanie: yeah. We had the, the, for like two or three years there were, there was all this native tv and I was like, this is exciting.

Stephanie: This is amazing. Mm-hmm. 

Shannon: Yes. And then, yeah, so, but that was happening. And then Sherman Alexi, who we all know, he was leaving the stage at the moment, 

Christy: so just do a quick, in case people haven't heard about him, the quick background. 

Shannon: Oh, he's a famous indigenous author. Um, he wrote the novel, A Diary of a Part-Time Indian.

Briana: Absolutely True. Diary of a Part-Time. 

Shannon: I'm so sorry. 

Briana: I only know because I 

Shannon: you love that 

Briana: book. That book was like a hyper fixation for me in 10th grade. 

Shannon: It's also 

Stephanie: a highly banned book 

Briana: and it's highly banned, but I controversial very soon. The author's controversial book. The book itself is really, really good.

Shannon: I was gonna say author's 

Stephanie: problematic, but I dunno why in this moment, so I can't share that information. Yeah, 

Shannon: I think we can allude to the fact it was the Me Too movement. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Shannon: Mm-hmm. And I think we can allude to other facts that there were, uh, conflict amongst 

Christy: some exaggerations. 

Shannon: Exaggerations were [00:07:00] played on their part.

Shannon: Um. 

Christy: And that, yeah, that works. 

Shannon: I think that's the best way to Perfect. That's good. If you need to find out more, do um, there's 

Christy: plenty of deep dives. 

Shannon: Yes. Yeah. You can totally find out. So he was leaving the stage and now I was like, now it's Tommy orange's time to shine. Yeah. So, and I was working actually at East Hartford Public Library and this was like the book I was helping with collection development.

Shannon: I said, we're gonna get this book. I want this book. 'cause it was an indigenous author and I, you weren't really seeing it except the ones that I knew it was. Sherman Alexi. And I was kind of like, that's pretty 

Stephanie: much it. 

Shannon: It seemed like it. 

Stephanie: Yeah. Yeah. 

Shannon: So I was over and I was ready for a new voice, 

Stephanie: so, and Louis Ridge right.

Stephanie: Is also a native. She's like the only other one people knew. She's 

Shannon: amazing. Have 

Stephanie: you read her stuff? I have not. She, she great. She's like the only other really big indigenous author that we really, we as a general society knew at the time. 

Shannon: Mm-hmm. 

Yeah. 

Shannon: No, I've read a lot. She's 

Stephanie: got great books. Yeah, 

Shannon: she 

Stephanie: does.

Stephanie: So wait, I have read her. I had reader in school, I completely forgot. Yeah. So how did this book resonate [00:08:00] with you? 

Shannon: Oh God, this book resonated with me. I think I even said it earlier that it how much it, well, in an emphasis, the stories and the characters that Tommy tells in this poetic voice, it was dramatic.

Shannon: It was trembling, it was raw, it was emotional, it was honest, it was real, it was rage, it was love, it was everything. Mm-hmm. You are feeling it all. 'cause they all are bringing something different to the table and. Telling their tale, so I suggest anyone to read this book. It was received so well by people across the board, and it gives insight what the modern day native American indigenous person is facing in America.

Christy: It felt so authentic. 

Shannon: Yes. 

Christy: I mean, I, I don't like books that. But play on trauma. But I felt this was much more authentic and like a true telling, a amusing, like we're really uplifting, true voices here. 

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Hmm. And I would say this is a character driven novel, which is a shame book. Yes. [00:09:00] Yes. And I think that's why that's, and so I want readers to know that because it wasn't as big of a hit for me personally.

Stephanie: Yeah. But I think it's because it was very character driven. 

Shannon: Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie: And at that time, I wasn't really understanding that certain books were not for me. 

Shannon: Oh, you were finding your reading? 

Stephanie: Yeah, I was still finding my, my reading taste at that time. And so I did like, I did like this, but I didn't love it the way you did.

Stephanie: And I think that's because character driven was not really what I wanted at the time. Yeah. So I think it's important for readers to know that like, this is a great book and maybe it's not gonna be the perfect book for everyone, but still worth the rate. 

Christy: Um, Kelsey and I were talking about Stars today and, and she was saying that she gives two stars for a book that she may not have enjoyed, but still is a good book.

Stephanie: Oh, 

Christy: see that's a 

Stephanie: three star for me. 

Christy: That's ing, that's 

Briana: a three star for 

Stephanie: me. Right? Yeah. Two is 

Briana: like, I barely got through it. 

Stephanie: Two is like, I probably should have quit. 

Briana: Yeah. I 

Stephanie: don't 

Shannon: star 

books. 

Stephanie: You do not. We're gonna do have to do a whole episode on, we haven't, right? I don't think we done. We. We need 

Christy: to because 

Stephanie: Is that a good, 

Briana: does.

Briana: It's a general, like 

Stephanie: some 

Briana: readers, it mostly stem from Good Reads, mostly good reads. But you can do it on story graph, you can [00:10:00] do it on Fable, like all of these other platforms 

Christy: sort of out at a five, I feel like. Right? Mostly it's at one. Yeah, it's usually at a five. Yeah. So I'll say like this, this book was a 10 star out of five for 

Stephanie: me '

Christy: cause I really loved it.

Stephanie: Yeah. But like if someone said something was a three star book, I'm like, yeah, that was fine. 

Briana: Yeah. 

Shannon: That's solid. Interesting. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Christy: Yeah. 

Stephanie: No, that's cool. Or sometimes I'll read a review and someone says, three stars loved it. I'm like, what? 

Shannon: Yeah. 

Stephanie: That doesn't compute. 

Shannon: Yeah, it's like a four star pluses that I, you get the love?

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Shannon: Okay. The three star. It's like, I enjoyed it and I can see how this is somebody else's taste. 

Stephanie: Right. Like Kelsey. 

Shannon: Yes. But versus a two like you for this. 

Stephanie: But it was not for me. Not for me. I gave this book three stars. 'cause I was like, good, but not a Stephanie book and that's 

Shannon: fair. Exactly. That's 

Christy: fair.

Christy: No, that's very fair. 

Stephanie: Yeah, 

Shannon: that's fair. So our wild 

Christy: card question is, what have you learned about indigenous culture through the book that you brought today? 

Shannon: So I read this book years ago, so in preparing for today, I re, I reviewed people's reviews and one review I was reading is that this book is like a kaleidoscope into the indigenous culture of Oakland, California.

Briana: I like that. Oh man, that's [00:11:00]

Shannon: good. Like, I'm like, that is a perfect way to frame it. It truly is. It depicts how. Fractured. Their culture is from so many colliding factors, um, through various points of view and all different kinds of people. And it's not just fractured for Native Americans, it's America is fractured.

Shannon: Mm-hmm. And they brought up, and I think Tommy brings an up in their book as well, um, a quote of James Baldwin, and it's, what was it? It brings light to people that they can be trapped in their history, that history has trapped them. Oh, and this book is filled with so many things, but that is kind of an underlining theme.

Shannon: And these are, the characters in this book are not just one identity because they, they, they're multifaceted. Mm-hmm. They're so much more, so I think what this does is. It, it truly is a kaleidoscope. So you're like getting a view that [00:12:00] I don't know. 

Briana: Mm-hmm. 

Shannon: Like, I know myself and my world. Um, and that's where that authenticity comes in.

Shannon: And what's really awesome, um, and they put it in the book jacket, is that it states it should be a required reading to all schools and universities. Mm-hmm. And I, I completely agree. Mm-hmm. This is a modern classic. It is. Mm-hmm. It really 

Christy: is. So that's great. Yeah. And I know you kind of said that you would recommend this, but, um, say somebody's gonna read it for books and Brews, what would you recommend?

Christy: How would you recommend it to them? If they've not really ever read an indigenous culture book before, 

Shannon: I would say, um, oh, Christie, that looks good. Yeah. That's why she runs a book club. Yeah, she's the book club. I would would say this is a, I kind of wanna do put the character driven, um, because you're getting a totally.

Shannon: Vast group of people together. Mm-hmm. Um, with different reading pathways, if that's what we wanna call it. Yeah. It's a character driven novel that is transparent [00:13:00] into a new culture, a new identity, and to be ready for the open ride. Oh yeah. 

Christy: Love 

Shannon: that. 

Christy: I'm going, I'm 

Shannon: gonna 

Christy: steal that. 

Shannon: Love. Do it. Love that.

Briana: You read there, there Wandering Stars as the companion novel that came out. Oh, it was a past year. That was a, I did. It was beautiful. So it's like a prequel. Oh, and a sequel. So didn't know that. And what I think a lot of what you hinted at is this like intergenerational trauma that's very. Common theme I've noticed in indigenous literature of what I've read.

Briana: Mm-hmm. 

Kaitlin: Mm-hmm. 

Briana: And the second book really shows you how a lot of these characters got to be where they are because of a massacre that was done. Yeah. And imprisonment in the 18 hundreds. And that leads to the now of mm-hmm. Everything that happens in there there. Mm. So highly recommend reading Wandering stars if you love their their ones.

Briana: Do you read it? Or If you've already read it, 

Stephanie: great. 

Christy: Thanks. Not read that one. So that will definitely be on 

Stephanie: the cover's. Gorgeous it on 

Christy: that phone. Yeah. 

Shannon: Is it TBR? 

Stephanie: Is that the term? Yeah. 

Shannon: Did I do [00:14:00] the term right? The 

Stephanie: acronym? Yeah. On t on the br on my tv. You got it. You got it. You got it. 

Christy: I love that. Yeah.

Stephanie: You've been doing this show long enough. Shannon is happy dancing. Guys, you've been, 

Christy: you've been hanging around us too long. 

Stephanie: Picking up. So Steph, 

Christy: can you tell us. Book you brought along today, brought today along with a brief description of the 

Stephanie: book. Yeah. I brought something totally different. Um, so today I brought Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina.

Stephanie: And we don't normally tell each other the books we're gonna talk about ahead of time, but I'm glad we did this time. Mm-hmm. Because Brianna was gonna pick this book, and I was like, no, hold on. I, I call it. 'cause I, you've read more than I have. I would've 

Briana: picked one of his books. 

Stephanie: So I was like, all right, let me pick one of the ones I've read.

Stephanie: So this is part thriller, part mythological horror. 

Briana: Ooh. 

Stephanie: Yeah. And I had a hard time summarizing it, so I just used the summary from the internet. Um, so this book is about Anna Anna Horn, and she's always looking over her shoulder for the bullies who torment her, the entitled visitors at the Reservations Casino, and for the nameless [00:15:00] disembodied entity that stalks her every step, an ancient tribal myth come to life, one that's intent on devouring her whole, and women begin going missing in her community.

Stephanie: She lives on the reservation and when her sister goes missing, it is, uh, the top priority for her to figure out what's going on. So this is a, a missing, murdered, indigenous, women centered story. Mm-hmm. Um, but it also has life on the res and it has life in the casino and it also has myth tied into it as well.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. 

Shannon: I know this book. 

Stephanie: Do you? 

Shannon: No. 'cause I wanted to read it. It's 

Stephanie: great. 

Shannon: I remember it now. Yeah. Once you did the, um. The synopsis. 

Stephanie: Synopsis, yeah. 

Shannon: Yes. 

Stephanie: Yeah. It was hard to summarize, so I was like, I'm just pulling it from the internet. Yeah. That's hard. Yeah. 

Christy: I'm so glad that this is being like now centered, the missing indigenous women.

Christy: Yeah. And this is just something that seems to have been glossed over and it's. Being put to the forefront. 

Stephanie: I'm not sure if it's named in the book, but it's definitely a central theme. Yeah. Yeah. 

Briana: I know. I don't think it's 

Stephanie: necessarily, don't think name it named. Don't name it. But I know that that's what this is about.

Stephanie: Yeah. Okay. 

Christy: Yeah. 

Stephanie: If you've seen that [00:16:00] terminology. Mm I, yeah. If you've seen that online or if you've seen the red hand print, that's the, that's the terminology in the themeing here. 

Christy: And we were talking about horror. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Christy: A lot of indigenous or bipoc. Mm-hmm. Um, books talk about horror. Yes. Because it is real life.

Stephanie: It is horrifying to be a person of color. Yeah, 

Christy: yeah. 

Stephanie: In many instances. Yeah. 

Christy: Yeah. 

Stephanie: And I do think that authors of color write better horror books. I will go on record and say that. Yeah, I do. I do think they do, honestly, and I usually am drawn to them more often. 

Christy: So what drew you to this book? 

Stephanie: I was looking for an indigenous horror book and this had been on my radar.

Stephanie: And the cover is great. 

Christy: Cover is great, 

Stephanie: yeah. The cover you'll, you'll see the cover in our pictures, but yeah, the cover's great. 

Christy: I love that. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Christy: I, I, we always say you don't judge a book by its cover, but we all do. We 

Stephanie: do. 

Christy: Sometimes we do. His 

Briana: covers are all fantastic. 

Stephanie: They are. They are. 

Christy: I'm reading one of his now and it's just, are you reading The Whistler?

Christy: Um, are you 

Stephanie: reading Indian Bar Ground? You're reading 

Christy: Indian Bar Ground? Yeah, I just started it. Yeah. And it's just like a red cover, but it's very eye catching. It is, yeah. Alright. White and red. Yeah. Yeah. So how did this book resonate with you? 

Stephanie: [00:17:00] So, a couple things about this stuck out to me. The myth of the rolling head in this book is so chilling.

Briana: Yeah, it's creepy. 

Stephanie: It's so chilling. Ooh, 

Christy: tell us more. 

Stephanie: So, um, in the beginning of the book, Anna's uncle tells her a story from their tribal lore about a rolling head that like follows you home. 

Christy: Oh man. 

Stephanie: And every time you turn, it's not there, but when you turn your back, you can hear it rolling towards you.

Stephanie: Creepy. I am getting chill. It's creepy and it takes a lot for a book to creep me out. But this particular piece of lore really got me, I think about the rolling head in this book all the time. So that's like a thread through the story. The rest of the story is realistic, but there's this one mythological piece of her always looking over her shoulder because she thinks something mythological and like Supernatural is following her.

Stephanie: And I just, I think about that all the time. When I think about indigenous horror, I'm like, this book, this lore the rolling head, it gets me. It's so good. I also like that this is one of those rare incoming, it's more, it's less rare than it used to be, but those rare books where it's an adult book but it's centered on a [00:18:00] teenager.

Stephanie: It doesn't happen often, but every time it happens, I'm like, yes, I love this. I love when an adult fiction book has a teenage protagonist because it's not written in that young adult style where it's like really highly emotional and dysfunctional and messy. It's like. This is a story about a teenager, but it's not written from a teenage lens, if that makes sense.

Shannon: It's like a Stephen King 

Stephanie: kind of. Yeah. So it's not written necessarily for teens, but it's about a teenager. 

Christy: Like, stand by me. 

Stephanie: Yeah, because 

Shannon: Stephen King can execute that so well as 

Stephanie: an author. 'cause he's writing 

Shannon: through an adult lens of. A child or a teenager or whatever, 

Stephanie: and also Gordon, that kind of thing.

Stephanie: This character is also like, she's a teenager, but she works at the casino, so she's also kind of living an adult life, so it fits that. Yeah. She's only maybe 16 or 17, but the book is written for an adult audience and I like that. And every time I find a book like that, I just snap it. You cheer? Yeah. I just started another one, and then I just finished one [00:19:00] a couple weeks ago.

Stephanie: The girls who grew big. That is an adult book, but all the main characters are teenagers. That's, that's great. And I love that. I don't know, I just, it's something about it gets me. 

Shannon: Do you think they're doing that for the millennial? Maybe, maybe we all have not really grown up yet because 

Stephanie: I feel like millennial reader.

Stephanie: Yes. No, no, that makes sense because I'm like, why do I love these so much? 'cause I still 

Shannon: read ya. But think about it too, like the summer I turned pretty, sorry, total like swaying off. But it was a phenomenon and it's like, oh. That's why it resonates. 

Stephanie: I 

Shannon: think it resonates because like I'm watching this and I'm like 30 

Stephanie: and I think it's for the millennials who've who've grown out of reading ya.

Stephanie: I'm not one of them, but I, I think you're right. I don't know if it's a marketing thing or if it's just like a nostalgia thing, but yeah, I think 

Shannon: it's more of a nostalgia thing than anything. 

Stephanie: And I wouldn't call this a new adult book 'cause it doesn't have that vibe. 

Shannon: Yeah. 

Stephanie: But yeah, it's definitely written for millennials who are looking to read adult books.

Stephanie: No. Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah. Yeah. 

Christy: That's cool. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Christy: So what have you learned about indigenous culture through the book that you brought today? 

Stephanie: So I thought about this, and I'm [00:20:00] trying not to sound like a cliche, but this is how I feel. I feel like this book helps exemplify that indigenous people are not a monolith.

Stephanie: And I feel like when we talk about marginalized groups a lot, we talk about this idea a lot, but I think that for indigenous people in America, the general assumption is that they're all old fashioned or have the same stereotyped traditions or that they're just a group of people that existed in the past, which we know to not be true.

Stephanie: But I still think there's this idea that, um, native Americans and indigenous people are historical only. And they don't exist and live and thrive in 2025. And I love reading literature that every person in every tribal group has their own set of habits. And while they're similar to other indigenous groups, they're unique and they're strong.

Stephanie: And it's so easy to fall into that trap that, oh, native people are in the past. But we know that indigenous communities are continuing to live and thrive in 2025, even if there's a large group of people that ignore that. 

Christy: Right. They're not two [00:21:00] dimensional. Correct. They, they are fully, there's a full piece and that's being, um, sort of addressed in this book.

Stephanie: Exactly. 

Christy: I love that. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Christy: Who would you recommend this book to? 

Stephanie: I would recommend it. I will say it's dark because it does focus on the real and intense reality of murdered and missing indigenous women. Um, but it's worth the read, I think if you're interested in learning more about how native communities are affected by the loss of their people and if you like, myth woven into otherwise realistic storytelling, which I do.

Stephanie: 'cause I find that a lot of Native American and indigenous literature is fantasy. Which is great, but I'm not really a fantasy reader, so it's harder for me to find indigenous stories that I'm drawn to. So this one, I was like, it's set in the real world, but it has a little bit of mythology and a little bit of horror, and so like that I can handle because it's woven into an otherwise realistic setting.

Christy: Right. 

Stephanie: Does that sense? Yeah. 

Christy: Yeah. 

Stephanie: I don't have to learn a whole new society. Right? You just drop me in and you tell me a little ghost story and I'm in. 

Christy: Yeah. Yeah. No, that's, that sounds like a Stephanie book entirely. 

Stephanie: Right, right. 

Christy: I love 

Stephanie: that. I was [00:22:00] like, I don't have the brain space to learn about a whole society.

Stephanie: Like avatar, like world, world building is not, not your thing. No, no. Since 2020 World building hurts my brain, but I'm like, you tell me that this is happening in the United States on a reservation. Current 

Christy: times 

Stephanie: at current times. I have an idea of what that looks like, and then you tell me a scary story.

Stephanie: Okay. That goes along with it. Yeah. Yeah. 

Christy: I love that. So, Brianna, tell us what book you brought today along with a little bit of a description of it. 

Briana: I brought with me today in the Footsteps of Crazy Horse by Joseph Marshall II with illustrations by Jim Yellowhawk. Hmm. Uh, Joseph Marshall III is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

Briana: And then Jim Yellowhawk is an enrolled member of the, I'm gonna butcher this. I'm so sorry. 

Stephanie: Try your best 

Briana: edit a zip co band of Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and also the Onaga Iroquois. 

Stephanie: Oh, you did a good job. Thank you. That's local Onaga iOS. Local. Right? That's 

Briana: local, 

Stephanie: yeah. 

Briana: Yep. 

Stephanie: Has a beautiful cover, 

Briana: beautiful cover.

Stephanie: Yeah. All of these do. 

Briana: Yeah, so this is a middle grade book too, which [00:23:00] is not normally what I would bring, but I will explain more about why I picked this. Yay. Give a little summary of it. 

Christy: Okay. Well that's amazing. 

Briana: Jimmy McLean. Sure. How do you, I dunno. 

Christy: MacLean, can you, AAN 

Briana: is a Lakota boy, though you wouldn't guess it by his name.

Briana: His father is part white and part Lakota, and his mother is Lakota. When he embarks on a journey with his grandfather, Nile's High Eagle, he learns more and more about his Lakota heritage. In particular, the story of Crazy Horse, one of the most important figures in Lakota and American history. Drawing references and inspiration from the oral stories of the Lakota tradition.

Briana: Celebrated author Joseph Marshall III Juxtaposes the contemporary story of Jimmy with an insider's perspective on the Life of Crazy Horse. The book follows the heroic deeds of the Lakota leader. Who took up arms against the US Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and ways of life of the Lakota people, including leading a war party to the victory at the battle of little Bitcoin, which was a huge battle.

Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Briana: Along with Sitting Bull Crazy Horse was the [00:24:00] last Lakota to surrender his people to the US Army. Through his grandfather's tales about the famous warrior, Jimmy learns more about his Lakota heritage and ultimately himself. So this is basically a road trip story with a grandfather and Jimmy, who's a young boy, basically retracing the steps of Crazy Horse who is a distant relative of theirs.

Stephanie: Oh, this is cool. 

Briana: Yep. 

Stephanie: I've like, 'cause this, we have this in YFL in our children's department and I will put it on display or I'll go to shelve it. So many times I've seen the cover and just never picked it up. Well 

Briana: now 

Shannon: you need to, 

Stephanie: now we need to. Yeah. That's 

Briana: actually how I found it. 

Stephanie: Yay. It was on display, wasn't it?

Briana: Yeah, 

Stephanie: it was on display. It was on the top and an easel. What, what drew you to this book? 

Briana: So, as I was, I was just saying, I noticed this was on display back when I was an intern here in the summer of 2021. Wow. And I was in a hyper fixation of. Indigenous, like Native American literature at the time. And you were, was 'cause 

Stephanie: you were recommending books to me left and right and we had literally just met and I was like, well, Brianna [00:25:00] reads indigenous books so I know where to get my 

recommendations.

Briana: I was popping off those recommendations. You were, so I saw this on display in YFL, I must have been shelving. And I was like, oh, I really wanna read that. And it, I love a book with like a really young character and an old character. Mm-hmm. Like specifically like the road trip vibe. Yeah. It was just really fun to read.

Briana: And you get like, Jimmy's. Kind of more modern young perspective. Mm-hmm. And then you get his grandfather telling this basically oral history of, um, crazy horse from the perspective of an indigenous person and as someone related to them 

Christy: and had 

Briana: lived it and lived it. Yeah. So it was, I just loved it so much, even as adult, like I was.

Briana: I must have been like 23 at the time when I was reading this. 

Christy: Yeah. 

Briana: But there's a lot of really great middle grade indigenous literature out there. Mm-hmm. 

Stephanie: There really is. 

Christy: That's awesome. Yeah. My brain is like already categorizing like road trip books? Yes. For like a 

Briana: future episode. Love 

Christy: A Road trip. Road 

Briana: trip.

Briana: Oh, 

Christy: we love a 

Stephanie: road 

Christy: trip book 

Shannon: on the road. Of course. I would say Kara 

Stephanie: Whack. [00:26:00] Yes. Well, I was all wanted 

Shannon: to 

Stephanie: be 

Shannon: who I am. 

Stephanie: I'm thinking of that book that you and I both read. Something, miles to Graceland, which was also a road trip book that had an, an older and a younger character. And I'm like, oh yeah, that tracks, that 

Briana: was a really good 

Stephanie: book.

Stephanie: That was, yeah. 

Christy: That really takes it places that it might not. Yeah, because you're now, you're both in the car. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Christy: And you're having these discussions on these tracks. Yeah. And, and that's the best. 

Stephanie: The other one too, the story of somebody and somebody 

Briana: I know. I see the cover 

Stephanie: in my head. I, but I don't remember it.

Stephanie: I can see the cover. And that was a, that was a grouchy road trip. Yeah, that was like a unwanted road trip book, which was fun. Colleen Oaks is the author. I just can't remember the title. 

Briana: Yeah, 

Christy: yeah. We'll have to look. 

Stephanie: Yeah. How did this book resonate with you? 

Briana: So I loved kind of seeing this. Oral history still alive in the grandfather telling Jimmy these stories because as we might have already touched on like oral history was how a lot of stories were passed down and at one point was the only way they could pass these histories and stories down before things were written.

Briana: Um, so that was cool to read and imagine in my head. [00:27:00] 'cause I feel like everyone's probably had a grandparent tell them some sort of family lore. 

Shannon: Mm-hmm. 

Briana: So I just, that really stuck with me. And the book also has illustrations at the start of every chapter that kind of help move the road trip part along and they're beautiful.

Briana: Yeah. 

Shannon: I love when there's art in books. It doesn't even have to be like a children's book, be an adult. Like I love it. Just like the chapter heading A little picture. 

Briana: Yeah. Okay, 

Christy: great. A little bit of illustration goes a long way. 

Briana: Yeah. I also liked that we get, again, this authenticity of the narration coming from.

Briana: A indigenous writer himself who I'm, if I'm not mistaken, in his author's note, is kind of basing this on his own kind of admiration of Crazy Horse, and I think he is related to him distantly as well. So this story kind of basis on that. But you get to see Crazy Horse as not this like villain outlaw in history as he's been painted by.

Briana: White people. You get to see like this person who cares about his people, his land, his family, and he did not want [00:28:00] to give up that, but inevitably had to. 

Kaitlin: Mm-hmm. 

Briana: So that's a part of history that I like, that they're, they're telling it, I think, as it really was, and not as we've might have been taught in school, 

Christy: in, in the history.

Briana: Yeah. 

Christy: So I'm sure you knew a lot about this piece of indigenous culture going in, but did you learn anything new, uh, through the book that you brought today? So. 

Briana: Not necessarily through this book. I will touch on that though. I had something happen to me last November. I was making a display. And I picked a book by an author that is problematic and was not aware of it, and a patron actually emailed to basically say, why was this on display?

Briana: Like, this is a very offensive book. So I had to sit with that and realize, oh, I thought I knew what I was picking, but I didn't. 

Stephanie: Yeah. 

Briana: So I grew from that. As a person, it was, I felt so guilty over it, but it taught me a lot about. Really looking into the books that I'm picking for [00:29:00] displays. Mm-hmm. Um, and what this book in particular kind of taught me is that there's so much we aren't taught, especially in school.

Kaitlin: Mm-hmm. 

Briana: And I feel like until I took Native American literature in college, I was so unexposed to like everything. So I was reading like there's the classics, like there's Mama Day. There is Lee Marmon Silko. So Leslie Marmon Silko and Scott Ade, who passed away a year or two are kind of the quintessential classics that I read and beautiful, beautiful books that touch on like the mythology and the realistic life of an indigenous person.

Briana: So it's, I feel like it's our job in a way to teach ourselves about like these, like the own voices, own experiences of. Indigenous people and really people of color. Um, and not what we're taught in school 'cause we're not really taught anything. So 

mm-hmm. 

Christy: In, on that, [00:30:00] in a little tiny piece, after 2020, I was on a discord mm-hmm.

Christy: Um, book discussion group with a woman that was really helping us do a deep dive into indigenous books. Yeah. And I learned that the word Eskimo was. An offensive term, and I was very shocked because I didn't know that. 

Shannon: Mm-hmm. 

Christy: So it's like, okay, good. This is where we educate ourselves mm-hmm. And we learn about these kinds of things.

Shannon: Yeah. 

Christy: Because certainly that had been celebrated as a, as a term 

Shannon: Yes. 

Christy: Um, in my schooling. So. It's, um, this is what we do. Mm-hmm. And this is what libraries do. We help people 

Briana: learn, 

Christy: learning and helping people learn. Yep. Absolutely. And I'm going to assume you're going to recommend 

this 

Briana: book. Yes. Yes. Like, I think we touched on this with there, there, but I feel like this should be some form of required, required reading.

Christy: Mm-hmm. 

Briana: Because again, it's learning about a historical figure that's often painted as this villain, but you're really learning about like the Battle of Big Horn, what a horrendous person Guster was, um, and just kind of [00:31:00] educating yourself on history that you were not necessarily taught. And actually, if you love watching things, the History Channel did a really good series on a lot of.

Briana: Uh, native American leaders like Sitting Bull, crazy horse. Oh. Uh, TEMSA, like a lot of people. And it was fan. Fantastic. That's good. They were doing it because America is turning two 50. Two 50. 

Shannon: Oh yeah. Two 

Briana: 50. Two 50. So they're, what I really appreciated is that they're talking about parts of history that I have not seen documentaries that well done on.

Briana: And there were actors in it that I knew. So I was very excited. Hey. Oh, that's good. But if you're more of a visual person, I recommend watching. That. I don't remember what it's called though, but it's on the History Channel. We put it in, we'll find it. 

Christy: We'll put it in the notes. We'll put it in the show notes.

Christy: Hundred percent. I love that libraries are so much more than books, so we want you to know what's happening off the shelf this month at Russell Library. So today we have a special guest, Caitlyn Ello. Welcome to Top Shelf. Thank you. We [00:32:00] understand that you are the playwright for the special presentation of the live production of the Christmas Carol that will be held at Russell Library in December.

Christy: Can you tell us a little bit about this, uh, how the special performance came about? 

Kaitlin: Well, it came about with several ways, um, started with me as the playwright, where, um, I've always loved the story of a Christmas Carol. Ever since I was a kid, I loved watching movie adaptations of it. Um, love seeing it performed, and I also love the theater.

Kaitlin: I go to the theater a lot. I've also worked in theater many times over the years, so I decided why not write my own a adaptation. And, uh, so I did, but that's just one part of it. Uh, the second part of it, I love it. It comes from the East Adam stage company who is doing the show. They're producing it. Um, candy Carl is the director and they are, or she especially specializes in theater in unique spaces.

Kaitlin: Not traditional [00:33:00] stages, but like in historic buildings. Mm-hmm. Like, which it leads me to the third thing, a Russell Library providing a really cool historic space. 

Shannon: Yeah. 

Christy: I love that. So, can you tell us a little bit about being a playwright and how you adapted this play to be performed at Russell Library?

Kaitlin: Well, adapting, it was very fun. 'cause as I said, I love the story. I tried to stay very true to the book. Mm-hmm. I kept like the dialogue, the events, actions, scenes and the overall spirit. I kept very true to Dickens original. And, um, I also, I included a narrator in my version. 

Christy: Oh 

Kaitlin: fun. 'cause the book actually does have a narrator.

Christy: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Nice. And I love, oh, it's spirited. Yeah. Because Russell Library is spirited. 

Kaitlin: Oh yes. And um, I also have a scene that I put in that is inspired by some scenes in the book, which don't usually make it to adaptation, so I'm very excited about that. 

Stephanie: Cool. Oh, fun. 

Kaitlin: Oh yeah. We'll 

Stephanie: have to see it to [00:34:00] find out.

Stephanie: Exactly. 

Kaitlin: Oh yeah. Uh, I'm looking forward to that one. And, um, and for adapting it for Russell, uh, was having a lot of fun with that because that reading room is so cool. It's got balconies and ramps and like staircases and lovely stained glass windows. Got all the bookshelves, like actors are going to be.

Kaitlin: Everywhere. They're gonna be all over that room. They're gonna be on both balconies. They're gonna be coming in and out of the shelves on the ranch that you never know where the next actor's going to appear. From 

Shannon: your 

Kaitlin: head just 

Shannon: gonna keep turning. 

Kaitlin: Yeah, 

Christy: basically. You're just gonna keep turning. Yeah. So it's not like a traditional stage where you're just gonna be focused to the front.

Christy: You're gonna be looking all around you. Looking up looking. Yes. It's 

Stephanie: almost like a theater in the round in that 

Kaitlin: way. Yeah. It's very similar. To that. 

Christy: Cool. 

Kaitlin: Very cool. It's gonna be like immersive theater too. The audience is kind of part of the show. 

Christy: Oh, fun. 

Stephanie: That's Christmas. Carol lends itself 

Kaitlin: so well 

Stephanie: to that.

Stephanie: Yes, I know. When I've seen it, I'm always like, okay, where are the ghosts? Are they near me? Are they over there? Are they coming from the [00:35:00] wings? And it's like exciting 'cause it's a little nerve wracking to not know. Mm-hmm. I think that'll be cool. 

Kaitlin: Yeah, it's, we have several points in the show where the actors are like directly acknowledging the audience.

Kaitlin: Mm-hmm. And like welcoming them into the scene. Um, but we, the audience isn't gonna be like, you know, doing anything too much so they can just relax and enjoy the show, but they're still a part of it. 

Christy: Cool. Cool. So is there any reason that people should not miss this performance of the Christmas Carol at Russell Library?

Kaitlin: Well, it is a classic ghost story that will be performed in the most haunted library in Connecticut. It who I think that alone should, uh, that sells it. 

Christy: Yeah, 

Kaitlin: that should sell 

Christy: it. That's fabulous. Uh, we are very excited that this is gonna be coming, and you can find your tickets@russelllibrary.org. Pick a date and time for your show and purchase your tickets online because they are selling out very quickly.

Christy: This is a fundraiser for Russell Library, and we really appreciate people who attend this fun event. So more than likely, your local library will also hold fundraisers, and we encourage you [00:36:00] to support them. It's time to close the book on today's episode. If you like what you've heard here, please subscribe to the show.

Christy: This ensures that you won't miss any episodes. And if you have a moment, kindly rate and review the podcast. This helps other bookish people like yourself find the show. Tune in next month to find out what else is on the shelf. Goodbye. Bye bye. Bye. 

Stephanie: Brianna. Loves to do the last word, like when you said byes.

Woo.