EVANSTON, IL. – November is Indigenous Peoples’ Heritage Month, also known as National Native American Heritage Month or American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, and the Evanston Public Library is celebrating the cultural contributions of native writers and filmmakers all month long.
Join us for programs that center the voices and experiences of Indigenous people:
First Nations Film and Video Festival
On Sunday, Nov. 5, the First Nations Film Festival advocates and celebrates the works of Native American filmmakers from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Robert Crown Community Center. All films screened are directed by Indigenous/Native American filmmakers of the United States, Canada, Central and South America and Mexico. Films to be shown include:
- Rabbit Stories – ᏥᏍᏚ ᏗᎧᏃᎮᏢᏅ (25:00)
- Work is Ceremony (14:35)
- PADDLE TRIBAL WATERS (9:00)
- Canoe Connections (4:25)
- Tiny (16:21)
- Auteur Theory: Wes Anderson (9:22)
- Chromasia (2:01)
- Spring Dance (9:31)
Book Discussions
Our book groups this month feature books by Native authors or center Native stories:
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- VenCo, by Cherie Dimaline (Métis). Lucky St. James, a Métis millennial living with her cantankerous but loving grandmother Stella, is barely hanging on when she discovers she will be evicted from their tiny Toronto apartment. Then, one night, something strange and irresistible calls out to Lucky. Burrowing through a wall, she finds a silver spoon etched with a crooked-nosed witch and the word SALEM, humming with otherworldly energy. SciFi & Fantasy Book Group. Wednesday, November 01, 7:00pm – 8:30pm. Virtual. Register.
- The Round House, by Louise Erdrich (Chippewa). One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface because Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning. Winner of the National Book Award. On the Case Mystery Book Group. Thursday, November 09, 6:00pm – 7:30pm. Main Library. Register.
- The Seed Keeper, by Diane Wilson (Dakota). A widow and mother, Rosalie Iron Wing returns to her home after spending two decades on her white husband’s farm, finding solace in her garden even as the farm is threatened first by drought and then by a predatory chemical company. Now, grieving, Rosalie begins to confront the past, on a search for family, identity, and a community where she can finally belong. In the process, she learns what it means to be descended from women with souls of iron—women who have protected their families, their traditions, and a precious cache of seeds through generations of hardship and loss, through war and the insidious trauma of boarding schools. Wider Net Book Group. Monday, November 20, 7:00pm – 8:30pm. Virtual. Register.
- Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s, by Tiffany Midge (Sioux). A powerful and compelling collection of Tiffany Midge’s musings on life, politics, and identity as a Native woman in America. Artfully blending sly humor, social commentary, and meditations on love and loss, Midge weaves short, stand-alone musings into a memoir that stares down colonialism while chastising hipsters for abusing pumpkin spice. She explains why she does not like pussy hats, mercilessly dismantles pretendians, and confesses her own struggles with white-bread privilege. Better Off Read Book Group. Monday, November 27, 6:30pm – 7:45pm. Main Library. Register.
- Killers of the Flower Moon: An American Crime and the Birth of the FBI, by David Grann. Finalist for the National Book Award, Killers of the Flower Moon chronicles the Osage Indian murders, considered one of the most sinister crimes in American history. It’s a tale of murder, betrayal and heroism that reminds the American people of the great cost of their nationhood. Virtual True Crime Book Group. Tuesday, November 28, 7:00pm – 8:30pm. Virtual. Register.
Kids and families can drop into the Main Library anytime in November for our Council of the Three Fires Craft honoring the Potawatomi, Odawa (Ottawa) and Ojibwe Tribes, also known as the Niswi-mishkodewinan, or Council of the Three Fires. The take-home kit features language from the Evanston Public Library’s land acknowledgement. Available while supplies last.
Find more programs at epl.org/events.
