Graphic Novels

This section contains a number of graphic novels, anthologies and zines centering Indigenous and Native stories. Unless specifically noted, these works have been created by Indigenous and Native persons. 

In the right-hand column, directly to the left of the text, users will find the cover art that corresponds with the work. When patrons click this image, they will be taken to an external page where they can find more information about the book and purchase the product.

• Deforest, Dale. Rez-Luv: Tribal College. West Hollywood: Wacky Productions Unlimited, 2012. 

A short-form comic that focuses on the experiences of six Native Americans on a road trip from New Mexico to Southern California. Story characters are Navajo, Lakota, and Ojibwe. Three issues currently available.

 

• Dillion, Grace. Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction. Tucson: University of Arizona, 2012.

An international anthology of nineteen works featuring Native American, First Nations, Australian Aboriginal and New Zealand Maori creators. Curated by Dillion, an Anishinaabe associate professor in the Indigenous Nations Studies program at Portland State, the works are an assortment of time-travel, alternative realities and apocalyptic tales.

 

• Hill, Gord. 500 Years of Resistance. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2010.

Originally published as a pamphlet in an Indigenous newspaper in 1992, Hill’s extended work details the colonization of North and South America by European Settlers. Hill covers a variety of topics from Manifest Destiny to Deconstruction and Assimilation in America. A full PDF version can be found online.

 

• Marshall, Joseph. In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Bedside Press, 2015.

Aimed at middle-school audiences, Marshall’s book is a historical tale of Tasunke Witko, also known as Crazy Horse. Presented as a dialogue between a grandfather and his grandson, this Lakota historical tale won the American Indian Youth Literature Award from the American Indian Library Association in 2016.

 

• Nicholson, Hope. Love Beyond Body, Space and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Bedside Press, 2016.

*Edited by comics historian Hope Nicholson, who is non-Indigenous.

A collection of science-fiction and fantasy stories by Indigenous writers who identify as LGBTQIA, two-spirit, and/or allies of these communities. Focusing on love, survival, transition, and remembrance, this graphic novel is one of the few to focus on two-spirit people.

 

• Nicholson, Hope. Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection Volume 1. Toronto: Alternate History Comics Inc., 2015.

*Edited by comics historian Hope Nicholson, a non-Indigenous woman. Moonshot was named “Best Book of 2015” by the School Library Journal. This anthology showcases work by twenty-eight illustrators and writers, many of whom utilize the space by retelling or adapting tribal oral histories. The collection includes science fiction, futuristic, and historical origin stories.

 

• Henderson, Scott and Robertson, David A. 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005.

7 Generations is comprised of four separate books: Stone, Scars, Ends/Begins, and The Pact. Written by Robertson, a Swampy Cree, the four books tell the story of an Aboriginal family over seven generations from smallpox epidemics in the prairies to residential schools a hundred years later.

 

• Robertson, David A. Sugar Falls. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005.

Based on the true story of Betty Ross, an Elder from Cross Lake First Nation. This book recounts the experiences of a young girl, Betsy, after she was taken away from her adopted family to live at a residential school.  *Content may be disturbing for younger readers. 

 

• Starr, Arigon. Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers: Volume One. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Native Realities, 2016.

Edited by Starr, Code Talkers is an anthology by all-Indigenous authors and artists detailing the history of the Native American Code Talkers and the role they placed in World Wars I, II, and the Korean War. The book includes a lesson plan for teachers looking to use this information in their classrooms.

 

• Starr, Arigon. Super Indian: Volume One. West Hollywood: Wacky Productions Unlimited, 2012.

Written by a Kickapoo Tribe member, Super Indian came to fruition after Starr was tired of the lack of Native Americans superheroes and how they were portrayed on the rare occasion that they were included. Volume 1 introduces the soon-to-be hero, Hubert Logan, as he embarks on his journey from an average Reservation kid to an unstoppable superhero.

 

• Vermette, Katherena. A Girl Called Echo, Volume 1, Pemmican Wars. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Highwater Press, 2017.

Pemmican Wars is the first book in Vermette’s series A Girl Called Echo. A time-traveling tale, Wars details a teenage Métis girl’s experience of time travelling from the present back to the 1800s during the Pemmican Wars.

 

• Wright-McLeod, Brian. Red Power: A Graphic Novel. Markham, Ontario: Fifth House, 2011.

Wright-McLeod, a Dakota-Anishnabe man, presents a story about fighting for land rights and culture. Told from the point of view of a wolf, Red Power shows how the struggles today’s communities face are directly linked to past events.