Quiet Quail Books' Native American Heritage Month Picks

Black Sun

Between Earth and Sky: Book #1

By: Rebecca Roanhorse
Narrated by: Cara Gee, Nicole Lewis, Kaipo Schwab & Shaun Taylor-Corbett
Length: 12 hours 46 minutes

“Black Sun is so much more than simply a book, it is an experience. An audiobook I've returned to multiple times. Inspired by pre-Columbian Americas, Black Sun is lush, lived in, and full of political intrigue and magical mystery. When I think about Black Sun, I find myself sighing nostalgically for the time I've spent reading it. Xiala and... Read more

In My Own Moccasins

A Memoir of Resilience

By: Helen Knott
Narrated by: Helen Knott
Length: 8 hours 54 minutes

Helen Knott, a highly accomplished Indigenous woman, seems to have it all. But in her memoir, she offers a different perspective. In My Own Moccasins is an unflinching account of addiction, intergenerational trauma, and the wounds brought on by sexual violence. It is also the story of sisterhood, the power of ceremony, the love of family, and... Read more

Our History Is the Future

Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance

By: Nick Estes
Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
Length: 9 hours 12 minutes

How two centuries of Indigenous resistance created the movement proclaiming "Water is life"



In 2016, a small protest encampment at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, initially established to block construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, grew to be the largest Indigenous protest movement in the twenty-first century. Water... Read more

My Heart Is a Chainsaw

By: Stephen Graham Jones
Narrated by: Cara Gee
Length: 13 hours 3 minutes

“I love, love, love Stephen Graham Jones and this latest is no exception. An incredible homage to slasher films, this book is perfect for any horror fan. And the audio is AMAZING! Cara Gee gives voice to Jade in such a way that I honestly can't imagine anyone else reading this now. It's an absolute pleasure to listen to her read this! Read more

The Seed Keeper

A Novel

By: Diane Wilson
Narrated by: Kyla García
Length: 10 hours 42 minutes

“The Seed Keeper shimmers like the horizon in the summer heat—depending on how you look at it, it is a stunning historical novel, a paean to the land and the plants that people it, a prayer to Dakota women wading through generational trauma. It is all of these things, and so much more. Wilson deftly weaves together multiple voices to bring the... Read more

The Language Warrior's Manifesto

How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds

By: Anton Treuer
Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
Length: 5 hours 42 minutes

Across North America, dedicated language warriors are powering an upswell, a resurgence, a revitalization of indigenous languages and cultures. Through deliberate suppression and cultural destruction, the five hundred languages spoken on the continent before contact have dwindled to about 150. Their ongoing survival depends on immediate,... Read more

The Sentence

By: Louise Erdrich
Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
Length: 11 hours 49 minutes

“A heartfelt and occasionally hilarious account of life and work at an independent bookstore through the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. While the reflections on family and pandemic life are cathartic, this book is also about identity and how our history and present shape it. Through encounters with the ghost of a troublesome lifelong customer, and the... Read more

Braiding Sweetgrass

Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
Length: 16 hours 44 minutes

“The hype over this book is real! Consider this your sign to pick it up and give it a listen if you have been thinking about it. Kimmerer narrates her own book with emotion and heart, and I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it! Braiding Sweetgrass will make you see the world differently, and I truly think everyone can relate to a chapter in this... Read more

Postcolonial Love Poem

Poems

By: Natalie Diaz
Narrated by: Natalie Diaz
Length: 1 hour 59 minutes

“Pulitzer Prize-winning Postcolonial Love Poem will make you want Natalie Diaz to write a love poem about you. Here, she writes sensual lesbian poems and warm platonic ones, poems about water and basketball and things lost in translation. Her elegant poetry begs to be studied—add this stunner from a Mexican Mojave poet to your shelf, and eat it... Read more

The Night Watchman

By: Louise Erdrich
Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
Length: 13 hours 32 minutes

“The Night Watchman is an extraordinary book based on the life of Edrich's grandfather who was a night watchman at a jewel bearing plant as well as an activitist against Native dispossession. The other featured protaganist is Patrice Paranteau who you will quickly come to adore. The Night Watchman is one of Edrich's best works and I highly... Read more