"A group of Native American kids from different tribes presents twelve historical and contemporary time periods, struggles, and victories to their classmates, each ending with a powerful refrain: we are still here"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

One dozen kids discuss the historical and contemporary laws, policies, movements and victories that have shaped Native American culture of the past and present, from forced assimilation and tribe nation delegitimization to language revival efforts and the Indian Child Welfare Act. Simultaneous eBook. Illustrations. - (Baker & Taylor)

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!
 
An ideal nonfiction picture book for 7-10-year-old future activists and changemakers! An inspiring read by best-selling and award-winning Cherokee author Traci Sorell.
 
Too often, Native American history is treated as a finished chapter instead of relevant and ongoing. 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. 

Precise, lyrical writing presents topics including: 

• Assimilation
• Allotment
• Termination
• Relocation
• Economic Development
• Language Revival
• Sovereign Resurgence
• and more
  
  

Traci Sorell is the award-winning author of We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, a Sibert, Orbis Pictus, and Boston Globe-Horn Book honor book; At the Mountain's Base; and co-wrote Indian No More. She is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in Oklahoma, where her tribe is located.

Frané Lessac is the award-winning illustrator of We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, a Sibert, Orbis Pictus, and Boston Globe-Horn Book honor book, and more than forty other books for children. She has lived on the small Caribbean island of Montserrat, in London, and in Australia, and her work has taken her on many adventures in numerous countries. www.franelessac.com - (Random House, Inc.)

Booklist Reviews

*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 government's encouragement of Indigenous peoples leaving tribal lands to resettle in cities, which resulted in many living in urban poverty. Lessac's 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 Mendoza's An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People (2019). Grades 2-4. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.