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We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should KnowBy: Traci Sorell / Illustrated by: Fran LessacNative Nations say: We are still here!Too often, Native American history is treated as a finished chapter instead of an ongoing story. This companio
We Are Still Here!
Native American Truths Everyone Should Know
By: Traci Sorell / Illustrated by: Fran Lessac
Too often, Native American history is treated as a finished chapter instead of an ongoing story. This companion book to the award-winning We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga offers readers everything they never learned in school about Native American people’s past, present, and future.
Twelve Native American kids present historical and contemporary laws, policies, struggles, and victories in Native life, each with a powerful refrain: We are still here! Precise, lyrical writing presents topics including forced assimilation, land allotment and Native tribal reorganization, termination, relocation, self-determination, Native civil rights, the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), religious freedom, economic development, Native language revival efforts, cultural persistence, and nationhood.
“We Are Still Here: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know, by Traci Sorell and Fran Lessac (creators of We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga), successfully illuminates a tremendous amount of historical information in an engaging, classroom framework. Each fictionalized student presents on a topic — such as Tribal Activism, Indian Child Welfare & Education, Language Revival — that is relevant to the historical and present lives of Native American communities. Coupling the atrocities of history with the fortitude of Native Nations, who say “We are still here!,” and vibrant illustrations, the book presents honest history in ways that early elementary and middle grade readers can comprehend. Using the framework of a presentation night helps young readers contextualize the book as both educational and interactive. Readers inspired to learn more can start with the back matter, which contains more information on each topic, a time line, glossary of terms, sources, and an author’s note. A wonderful addition to all school and classroom libraries, We Are Still Here is a beautiful, informative, must-have book for any bookstore!”
Sara Hines, Eight Cousins Bookstore, Falmouth, MA
Listen to author Traci Sorell read the first spread:
Listen to this interview with Traci on TeachingBooks.net.
charlesbridge.publishing We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know
If you like this book, youll enjoy these:
We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga
Children of Native America Today
Whale Snow
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Best-selling author and Cherokee Nation citizen Traci Sorell writes inclusive, award-winning fiction and nonfiction in a variety of formats for young people. She is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree for her nonfiction work. Her first five books have received awards from the American Indian Library Association.
Read more about Traci.
Fran Lessac, illustrator
Fran Lessac is the award-winning illustrator of We Are Grateful: Otsaliheligaa Sibert, Orbis Pictus, and Boston Globe-Horn Book honor bookand more than forty other books for children. She lives in Australia, and her work has taken her on many adventures in numerous countries.
Read more about Fran
School Library Journal, starred review
Students at the Native Nations Community School share presentations about the history, present, and future of Indigenous communities. The vivid artwork features a simple, bold style. The narrative starts with a general introduction of Native Nations in the United States. Each presentation contains illustrations with the students name, an overview of the subject, a brief list of the impact that the concept or historical moment had on Native American people, and the refrain We Are Still Here! The last pages show students and their families with a variety of skin tones and physical abilities studying the presentations on topics that include sovereign rights and relocation. Additional information, a time line, a glossary, sources, and an authors note offer further context. The lyrical text and jewel-tone illustrations elegantly work together to stirringly portray the ongoing fight for Native American recognition and rights. VERDICT An essential purchase for introducing the impact laws and treaties had and continue to have on Native Nations.
Kirkus Reviews, starred review
In this meticulously researched nonfiction picture book, Sibert honorees Sorell and Lessac team up once again to answer this question: What has happened to Native Nations and their citizens after the treaties with the U.S. government ended in 1871? Lessacs trademark colorful, folk-artstyle illustrations show a Native American community school with a classroom of diverse students preparing for presentations at the Indigenous Peoples Day assembly. Spread by spread, each child speaks, featured words and terms highlighting the journey Native Nations have taken to reclaim their land and rights. They show why Indigenous people say, We are still here! In the Assimilation presentation, Native children are dressed in militarylike uniforms, showing how U.S. leaders used schooling to destroy Native traditions. Dividing plots of tribal land for Allottment left much treaty land open for public sale. With Termination and Relocation, Native people were encouraged to leave their tribal lands and act more like white people. But Indigenous people say, We are still here! and the narrative arc turns to emphasize resilience. When activists speak up and organize, it strengthens tribal sovereignty. The tribes protect and provide for future generations by holding on to their traditional ceremonies, opening businesses to support their tribal members, and reviving their tribal languages. The illustrations, too, change their tenor, modulating from historical wrongs to emphasize contemporary strength, community, and joy. An emphatic, triumphant declaration: WE ARE STILL HERE!
Booklist, starred review
The creators of We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga (2018) here share important Native American concepts for younger readers. Using a framework of students giving presentations for an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration, Sorell and Lessac devote a two-page spread to each report topic: Assimilation, Allotment, The Indian New Deal, Termination, Relocation, Tribal Activism, Self-Determination, Indian Child Welfare and Education, Economic Development, Language Revival, and Sovereign Resurgence. For each, they define, offer examples of its use (often to the disadvantage of Indigenous peoples), and conclude with the refrain We are still here! Allotment, for example, explains how the U.S. government passed laws that assigned small sections of land to tribal citizens and sold the leftover land to white Americans and the railroads; Relocation describes the governments encouragement of Indigenous peoples leaving tribal lands to resettle in cities, which resulted in many living in urban poverty. Lessacs vibrant gouache illustrations include many historic scenes, including of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, the occupation of Alcatraz Island, arguments before the Supreme Court to challenge policies that prohibited traditional religious practices, and efforts to strengthen tribal languages. Appended with further information, a time line, a glossary, and sources, this makes a perfect introduction for those too young for Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Debbie Reese, and Jean Mendozas An Indigenous Peoples History of the United States for Young People.
The Horn Book, starred review
In this informational picture book by the team behind We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, a diverse group of students and families are headed to (the fictional) Native Nations Community School for Indigenous People’s Day presentations. Each spread depicts a different student’s report on a subject significant to Native people’s experience since the late 1800s. Topics include assimilation, allotment, termination, language revival, and more; although these are dense and complex areas, Sorell makes them comprehensible for readers through the book’s unique format. Each classmate’s “presentation” includes a brief summary or definition (“Assimilation: Most U.S. leaders did not respect our ways and thought it would be better for us to adopt their beliefs and practices”) with a handful of supporting details. Every presentation concludeswith the line: “We are still here!” Warm gouache illustrations help support the historical context while personalizing the contemporary setting. This book provides information that is omitted from most curricula (“most people do not know what happened to Native Nations and our citizens after treaty making stopped in 1871”) in an easy-to-understand manner. Above all, the message is reinforced for all readers: Native people are still here.
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-62354-192-7
E-book
ISBN: 978-1-63289-973-6 EPUB
Ages: 7-10
Page count: 40
91/2 x 101/2
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