Kid Librarian - November 2025

Informed & Inspired

It’s Native American Heritage Month!

In November, we honor the contributions, achievements, and sacrifices of the original inhabitants of the United States and their descendants.

The website learningforjustice.org explains Native American Heritage Month this way: “Native American Heritage Month provides an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of Native cultures and communities. To honor Native peoples, we uplift their honest histories, significant contributions, and contemporary experiences.”

The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs website states: “This November and every month, we celebrate the culture and heritage of these remarkable Americans who deeply enrich the quality and character of our Nation. We celebrate Indian Country with its remarkable diversity of American Indian and Alaska Native cultures and peoples while remembering and honoring our veterans who have sacrificed so much to defend our Nation.”

You can celebrate by finding out about diverse Native American traditions and by seeking out stories and histories of Indigenous and native people. Keep reading to learn more!

Note: You’ll see the words indigenous and native in these pages. Both words refer to people who lived on this land before colonists arrived from Europe They also refer to the descendants of these first Americans

Notable Native Americans

There have been many influential Native American people in American history. Have you heard of any of these important people? If you want to learn more, click on the photo!

First Indigenous d Omaha

Chief, Warrior, & Advocate

Oglala Lakota

First female chief of a major Native tribe Cherokee

First Native American Cabinet Secretary in Congress

Laguna Pueblo

Native American to Go to Space Chickasaw

Native American Cultures

What Is Native American Culture?

People often use the term “Native American” and think it describes all indigenous Americans. But there is no single American Indian culture or language. There are many different traditions and ways of life among the different native nations Did you notice the word under each person’s name on the previous page? That is the name of the nation (or nations) that person belongs to. Each of them is from a different nation, and there are many more!

National Geographic Kids has information about different tribal nations. Click the picture above to learn more about Indigenous cultures in each region of the United States.

Oral History and Storytelling

Many cultures use storytelling to pass information to the younger generations Long ago, before Native American people had a way to write down important events and spiritual beliefs, they used storytelling as a way to share this information with others and pass their history down to their children.

When someone shares information like this, in the form of a story, that’s called an oral history Oral histories can be shared through words and physical movement or through song. Do you know any songs that tell a story?

To learn more about oral history and storytelling, click the image on the left. There is also a link on the next page where you can listen to some stories about the stars from various Native American nations

Native Americans in Iowa

Did you know that Iowa is named after a Native American nation? The Ioway people lived here long before settlers built their first log cabins Indigenous people have lived in Iowa for thousands of years! Many native nations have called this land home, including the Ioway, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Missouria, Otoe, Omaha, Osage, Ponca, Hidatsa, Mandan, and Dakota

Today, the only federally recognized tribal nation with headquarters in Iowa is the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, also known as the Meskwaki Nation. Click the image on the right to learn more!

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month

Everyone can celebrate Native American Heritage Month by learning more about Indigenous people and cultures These resources are a great place to start!

Learn more about Native American Heritage Month in this short video by PBS Kids.

Celebrate Native American heritage by learning about Native American women who made history with this Crash Course video

Check out this blog post from Boys & Girls Club of America for ideas about celebrating Native American Heritage Month

Molly of Denali is a PBS Kids show about an Alaska Native girl. Check out this playlist of videos to learn more about Alaska Native culture.

This map allows you to search for your address or city to see which Indigenous people have lived there before

Storytelling is an important part of how many Native American communities share their beliefs and histories Click the bear picture to hear stories from various Indigenous cultures

Read about it!

There are plenty of books in the library by Native American authors. Here are just a few. Each Native American author’s native nation is listed after their name. Click on the picture to see the book in our online catalog.