Identity Exploration

Native American Heritage Month

HPU Library & Learning Commons celebrates Native stories from Hawaiʻi & North America, plus scholarship that centers Indigenous sources.

Do Some Background Learning

Get the Terms Right (Quick Primer)

• Indigenous — global umbrella term; used in documents such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
• Native American / American Indian & Alaska Native — U.S. context; political/legal status linked to tribal citizenship and sovereignty. When possible, use the specific Nation name (e.g., Diné (Navajo Nation)).
• Native Hawaiian (Kānaka ʻŌiwi / Kānaka Maoli) — the Indigenous people of Hawaiʻi; distinct from AI/AN. Use ʻokina/kahakō correctly (e.g., Hawaiʻi). Agencies include OHA and DHHL.
• First Nations, Inuit and Métis — Canada; distinct peoples with their own legal frameworks. Prefer the specific Nation name when known.
• Pueblos originarios — México; keep the Spanish term and name the specific people/community when known.

Learn More

• Native Governance Center: How to Talk About Native Nations
• Native Governance Center: Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgment
• Native Land Digital — interactive territories/languages/treaties map (good starting point).
• National Archives: BIA Photographs Finding Aid — 18,000+ historic photos by Nation/topic/state.
• Native Appropriations forum for discussing representations of Native peoples, including stereotypes, cultural appropriation, and more.
• Papakilo Database (Office of Hawaiian Affairs) Native Hawaiian repository for historically/culturally significant places, documents, and images.
• UNDRIP (PDF) — UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Stay Current (News by Indigenous Outlets)

U.S. / Turtle Island

• ICT (Indian Country Today) — nonprofit Indigenous-led newsroom.
• National Native News — daily five-minute newscast.

Hawaiʻi

• Ka Wai Ola (OHA) — monthly Indigenous newspaper.
• Honolulu Civil Beat: Native Hawaiian Affairs — reporting on policy, rights, lands, and culture.

Canada (First Nations, Inuit, Métis)

• APTN News — national Indigenous broadcaster/newsroom.
• Windspeaker — independent Indigenous news.
• CBC Indigenous — public broadcaster’s Indigenous desk.

Listen & Learn (Podcasts)

• All My Relations — relationships, land, community.
• This Land — treaty rights, ICWA, sovereignty.
• Toasted Sister — Indigenous foodways and food sovereignty.
• The Red Nation (Podcast) — movement history, politics, and organizing from Indigenous scholars/organizers.
• Native Opinion — hosted by Michael Kickingbear (Mashantucket Pequot) and David GreyOwl (Echota Cherokee of Alabama); Indigenous perspectives on U.S. history, politics, and culture.
• Coffee with my Ma — actor Kaniehtiio Horn interviews her mother, activist Kahentinetha Horn; vivid oral histories with humor and heart.

Keep Learning: History & Scholarship

Historical overviews, cultural criticism, and syntheses that center Indigenous histories and perspectives across North America and Hawaiʻi.

Land, Law & Living Traditions: Sovereignty, Religion & Foodways

Place, rights, spirituality, and food/culture, community-rooted works that connect law to land, and story to everyday practice.

Lived Voices: Memoirs, Oral Teachings & Reflections

Personal narratives, community knowledge, and language in practice. These works move from intimate life-writing into oral teachings and language revitalization, showing how story, kinship, place, and foodways carry culture forward.

Fiction & Storytelling: Novels, Stories & Reimagined Histories

Short stories, novels, Indigenous horror/speculative—voices that move from everyday life to reimagined pasts and uncanny futures.

Questions for Reflection

Use these prompts to think, journal, or discuss with a friend. Pick a few that resonate.

1. Whose ancestral lands am I on, and how can I build relationships beyond a one-time land acknowledgment?
2. Am I using the most accurate names (specific Nation/People; Native Hawaiian vs. Native American; correct ʻokina/kahakō)?
3. Whose voices are centered in what I read/watch—are Indigenous-authored works prioritized?
4. How do my choices (events, purchases, displays) materially support Indigenous communities or Native-owned businesses?
5. What one concrete action will I take this month (learn a pronunciation, update a label, attend an event, donate, or volunteer)?