Literary Picks for Educators

A list of key pieces in Maine Native history and cultural studies.

Book cover featuring a painting of a young Native American woman wearing a top hat with a silver band and multiple silver brooches.
Women of the Dawn is the biography of four Wabanaki women living in four different centuries; Molly Mathilde, Molly Ockett, Molly Molasses, and Molly Dellis Nelson.
Book cover featuring a beaded bag with a sun, water, and plants motif.
Dawnland Voices is an anthology that includes both classic and contemporary literary works from ten New England indigenous nations: the Abenaki, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, Mohegan, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Schaghticoke, and Wampanoag. The works cover a variety of genres and historical periods.
Book cover - simple design with red background and line-drawn double-curve motif.
The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes is a resource book focusing on the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Micmac and Abenaki Indians created for school use in grades four through eight. Divided into four sections: historical overview; lesson plans; readings; and fact sheets, giving information and materials to help educate students on the history and culture of the Indians of Maine and the Maritimes.
Book cover - no decoration.
Penobscot Man is the key monograph on the Penobscot. The author did fieldwork on Indian Island between 1907 and 1936. The book is broken down into four sections: Tribal Name and Habitat; Material Life; Arts, Decorative Designs, and Techniques; and Characteristics of Social Life.