Museum of Northern Arizona

3101 N Fort Valley Rd, Flagstaff, AZ 86001

The Museum of Northern Arizona celebrates the natural & human history of the region with a dynamic array of exhibits exploring the geology and ecology of the Colorado Plateau, as well as the history, cultures, and creativity of the many indigenous people groups who have called it home for millennia. The "Native Peoples of the Colorado Plateau" exhibit is a wonderful resource for gaining a better understanding of the histories and cultural values of ten tribes residing in the region: Acoma, Dilzhe’e Apache, Diné (Navajo), Havasupai, Hopi, Hualapai, Southern Paiute, Southern Ute, Yavapai, and Zuni.

The Heard Museum

2301 N Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004

The Heard Museum celebrates indigenous history & creativity through stunning museum displays and engaging community events. Its "Away from Home" exhibit provides a thorough and insightful account of the boarding school movement and the resulting experiences of American Indian children and young adults. The history of the boarding school movement is worthy of considerable reflection as it significantly shaped the relationship of Native peoples to Christianity.

"American Indians and Christian Missions: Studies in Cultural Conflict" by Henry Warner Bowden

Henry Warner Bowden chronicles the encounters between Native Americans and evangelizing whites from the period of exploration and colonization to the present. Writing from a balanced perspective, he seeks to broaden our understanding of these intercultural exchanges.
"An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Going beyond the story of America as a country "discovered" by a few brave men in the "New World," Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity.
"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West" by Dee Brown

Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Dee Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of the battles, massacres, and broken treaties characteristic of the American Indian experience in the second half of the 19th century.
"Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875-1928" by David Wallace Adams

The last "Indian War" was fought against Native American children in the dormitories and classrooms of government boarding schools. Only by removing Indian children from their homes for extended periods of time, policymakers reasoned, could white "civilization" take root while childhood memories of "savagism" gradually faded to the point of extinction. Much more than a study of federal Indian policy, this book vividly details the day-to-day experiences of Indian youth living in a "total institution" designed to reconstruct them both psychologically and culturally.
"History of Northern American Indians" by David Zeisberger

First published in 1910, this book offers insights into Native American life in the years surrounding the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, as well as the effects of Western contact. David Zeisberger was a Moravian missionary who lived and worked for 63 years among the Iroquois and Delaware nations.

"Native American Voices" by David A. Rausch and Blair Schlepp

Focusing on the Native American nations of the "lower forty-eight," this book surveys tribal groups, their life before European conquerors arrived, religious encounters, current beliefs, and their history of pain. Written to inform and challenge, this account goes beyond history to assess continuing justice issues and immense problems that face the Native American community today.
"Native Apostles: Black and Indian Missionaries in the British Atlantic World" by Edward E. Andrews

Most evangelists of the 17th and 18th centuries were not white Anglo-Americans, as scholars have long assumed, but members of the same groups that missionaries were trying to convert. This book offers one of the most significant untold stories in the history of early modern religious encounters, shedding light on the crucial role of Native Americans, Africans, and Black slaves in Protestant missionary work.
"The Earth Shall Weep: A History of Native America" by James Wilson

Combining traditional historical sources with new insights from ethnography, archaeology, Indian oral tradition, and years of his original research, James Wilson weaves a historical narrative that puts Native Americans at the center of their struggle for survival against the tide of invading European peoples and cultures.
"Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery" by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah

In this prophetic blend of history, theology, and cultural commentary, Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah reveal the far-reaching, damaging effects of the "Doctrine of Discovery." In the fifteenth century, official church edicts gave Christian explorers the right to claim territories they "discovered." The result is that the dominant culture idealizes a history of discovery, opportunity, expansion, and equality, while minority communities have been traumatized by colonization, slavery, segregation, and dehumanization. Charles and Rah call our nation and churches to a truth-telling that will expose past injustices and open the door to conciliation and true community.