Native American Authors & Experiences

Last Updated: June 13, 2025

Shadow of the Solstice by Anne Hillerman

Shadow of the Solstice
by Anne Hillerman

The Navajo Nation police are on high alert when a U.S. Cabinet Secretary schedules an unprecedented trip to the little Navajo town of Shiprock, New Mexico. The visit coincides with a plan to resume uranium mining along the Navajo Nation border. Tensions around the official’s arrival escalate when the body of a stranger is found in an area restricted for the disposal of radioactive uranium waste. Is it coincidence that a cult with a propensity for violence arrives at a private camp group outside Shiprock the same week to celebrate the summer solstice?

Mask of the Deer Woman by Laurie L. Dove

Mask of the Deer Woman
by Laurie L. Dove

At rock bottom following her daughter’s murder, ex-Chicago detective Carrie Starr has nowhere to go but back to her roots. Starr’s father never talked much about the reservation that raised him, but they need a new tribal marshal as much as Starr needs a place to call home. Now, local college student Chenoa Cloud is missing, and Starr falls into an investigation that leaves her drowning in memories of her daughter-the girl she failed to save.

Broken Fields by Marcie R. Rendon

Broken Fields
by Marcie R. Rendon

Cash Blackbear, a young Ojibwe woman, is back on the case after two men are found dead on a rural farm in Minnesota in the next installment of the acclaimed Native crime series.

Big Chief by Jon Hickey

Big Chief
by Jon Hickey

Mitch Caddo, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer, is an outsider in the homeland of his Anishinaabe ancestors. But alongside his childhood friend, Tribal President Mack Beck, he runs the government of the Passage Rouge Nation, and with it, the tribe’s Golden Eagle Casino and Hotel. On the eve of Mack’s reelection, their tenuous grip on power is threatened by a nationally known activist and politician, Gloria Hawkins, and her young aide, Layla Beck, none other than Mack’s estranged sister and Mitch’s former love. In their struggle for control over Passage Rouge, the campaigns resort to bare-knuckle political gamesmanship, testing the limits of how far they will go-and what they will sacrifice-to win it all.

Small Ceremonies by Kyle Edwards

Small Ceremonies
by Kyle Edwards

A poignant coming-of-age story following the friendships, hopes, fears, and struggles of a group of Native high school students from Winnipeg’s North End illuminating what it’s like to grow up forgotten, urban, poor, and Indigenous.