Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · 11d

"Awesome" says a person with expertise in children's literature! Please click thru and sign up for the 2025-2026 webinars. Announced at mine was a new addition to the lineup: Angeline Boulley!

Crystal Brunelle @librarygrl2.bsky.social · 13d

These free webinars are awesome. I went to most of them last year and am excited to see a fabulous lineup once again. Debbie started off this school year with a great webinar that helped fill my shopping cart with excellent books.

Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · 25d

Free webinars by Native writers? YES! Over 15 authors and illustrators, including Andrea Rogers (author of Caldecott winner, Chooch Helped) and Michaela Goode (illustrator of Caldecott winner, We Are Water Protectors). Take a look! online.flippingbook.com/view/2526852... Tell teachers and sign up.

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · 25d

Free webinars by Native writers? YES! Over 15 authors and illustrators, including Andrea Rogers (author of Caldecott winner, Chooch Helped) and Michaela Goode (illustrator of Caldecott winner, We Are Water Protectors). Take a look! online.flippingbook.com/view/2526852... Tell teachers and sign up.

2025-26 NWOK Book Club flier

This interactive flipbook is created with FlippingBook, a service for streaming PDFs online. No download, no waiting. Open and start reading right away!

online.flippingbook.com

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Sep 1

A look at my process when seeing a book by a writer that is unfamiliar to me americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2025/08/debb...

Debbie--Have you seen THE ECHO PEOPLE, published by Lee and Low?

Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children's and young adult books

americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Aug 16

americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2025/08/2024...

2024 American Indian Youth Literature Award (AIYLA) -- Acceptance Speeches

Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children's and young adult books

americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Jul 31

Teachers/librarians write to me looking for accurate non-fiction bks. They know that authorship matters! Today I'm pleased as can be to share my review of THE CHEROKEE: PEOPLE, CULTURE, AND HISTORY by @pollysgdaughter.bsky.social. americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2025/07/high...

Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children's and young adult books

americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Jul 27

"What if Everything We Know about Sacagawea is Wrong?" americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2025/07/what...

"What if Everything We Know about Sacagawea is Wrong?"

Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children's and young adult books

americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Jul 1

Red capes! Love it!

Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Jun 8

NOT RECOMMENDED: Lois Lowry's GOONEY BIRD AND THE ROOM MOTHER. Details here! americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2025/06/not-...

Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children's and young adult books

americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Jun 8

Over at American Indians in Children's Literature, Jean recommends DAD, IS IT TIME TO GATHER MINT and HERRING TO HUCKLEBERRIES. Read her review and order the books! americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2025/05/indi...

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Elizabeth Hidalgo Reese @prof-reese.bsky.social · Jun 6

🚨 Super exciting news…the new edition of the Bluebook has a brand new rule…

Rule 22 on how to cite materials from Tribal Nations!!!

A long overdue and welcome development. Tribal Law scholars, we have a lot to be proud of today.

Tribal Law and Tribal Nations are a little less invisible today.🫶🏽✊🏽

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UAINE @mahtowin1.bsky.social · May 10

A new website illuminates the history of Indigenous enslavement in New England. Historians at Brown Univ. & tribal members from across the region are launching a project they hope will bring awareness to the enslavement of Indigenous people in North America.
thepublicsradio.org/arts-and-cul...

A new website illuminates the history of Indigenous enslavement in New England - TPR: The Public's Radio

Brown University history professor Mack Scott grew up Indigenous in Rhode Island. He moved to the Narragansett reservation in Charlestown in middle school, where he was steeped in his culture. But pri...

thepublicsradio.org

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Reposted by Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn

Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · May 4

Texas conservatives who've championed book bans & anti-LGBT policies suffered big losses tonight in school board races.

And They seem to have lost their working majorities to pass their policies in big school boards.

I tracked these results in FOUR boards tonight. So a 🧵 on each ICYMI.

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Becky Calzada @becalzada.bsky.social · May 2

A federal judge agreed Thursday to temporarily block the Trump administration from taking any more steps to dismantle an agency that funds and promotes libraries across the U.S.

apnews.com/article/inst...

Judge temporarily blocks Trump administration from dismantling library services agency

A federal judge has agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from taking any more steps to dismantle an agency that funds and promotes libraries across the nation.

apnews.com

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Reposted by Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn

mrendon703.bsky.social @mrendon703.bsky.social · Apr 30

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM1N...

Our resilience and strength as Native Women #shorts

YouTube video by Indian Country Today

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · Apr 26

Grateful to @jaywillis.net for investigating ANOTHER children’s book slandered by the Supreme Court to find that—surprise, surprise—Neil Gorsuch is lying about what’s in it. ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/pride...

I Think Neil Gorsuch Is Lying About a “Religious Freedom” Case Again

Why did Gorsuch claim that ‘Pride Puppy’, an alphabet book about a lost dog, introduces kids to bondage and sex workers? Let’s find out!

ballsandstrikes.org

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Apr 26

Loving the NPR segment on Chooch Helped! @andrealrogers.bsky.social

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Nick Estes @nicke.bsky.social · Apr 25

A tribute to Lakota writer Joseph Marshall III and a follow-up on my previous essay on Crazy Horse and anti-colonial resistance. open.substack.com/pub/nickeste...

Crazy Horse and Joseph Marshall III

A tribute to a Lakota writer

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn

Tanner Allread @tannerallread.bsky.social · Apr 19

Read the experts, @bethanyberger.bsky.social & Greg Ablavsky, on the accurate history of Native peoples and birthright citizenship 👇

Bethany Berger @bethanyberger.bsky.social · Apr 19

Trump & his lawyers rely on the 14th Amendment's treatment of Native people to redefine birthright citizenship. In our Essay coming out in the NYU Law Review Online, Greg Ablavsky & I show how wrong that argument is. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Subject to the Jurisdiction Thereof: The Indian Law Context

<p><span>Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment provides that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are

papers.ssrn.com

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ACLU @aclu.org · Apr 15

All students deserve the freedom to read.

We sued the Department of Defense to protect the right to learn for students on military bases around the world.

Students at Pentagon schools sue Hegseth over book bans on race and gender

Lawsuit argues that culling library books prevents children from learning about health, hygiene, biology and abuse

www.theguardian.com

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UAINE @mahtowin1.bsky.social · Apr 13

Abenaki of Odanak chief applauds defeat of NH state law that would have recognized fraudulent Abenaki tribes.
For years, the Abenaki of Odanak and W8linak have denounced self-identified Abenaki "tribes" in NH and VT. The states are finally listening.
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Abenaki chief applauds defeat of state law he says gave too much power to New Hampshire tribes | CBC News

The Chief of the Abenaki Nation of Odanak says it's important to continue to push back against what he calls 'self-identified' Abenaki groups in the U.S. At the end of March, New Hampshire refused to ...

www.cbc.ca

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Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn @debreese.bsky.social · Apr 11

Highly Recommended: We Weave, by Vandever and Mitchell -- Diné author and illustrator! americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2025/04/high...

Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children's and young adult books

americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Debbie Reese/P'oesay P'oekwîn

Clint Smith @clintsmithiii.bsky.social · Apr 7

How the Word Is Passed (Adapted for Young Readers) will be out September 2nd and is now available for pre-order. Can’t wait for you all to read it. Shout out to teachers. This is for y’all.

www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/clint...

Cover of How the Word Is Passed (Adapted for Young Readers)

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Apr 6

they are segregationists, it has been obvious from the jump, and i think that pundits who dismissed the charge as hyperbolic should explain why they couldn’t see the fact pattern

Jack Tripper @chadstanton.blacksky.app · Apr 6

“Tubman’s photograph is now gone. In its place are images of Postal Service stamps that highlight “Black/White cooperation” in the secret network and that feature Tubman among abolitionists of both races.”

wapo.st/4jdXL8m

Amid anti-DEI push, National Park Service rewrites history of Underground Railroad

Since Trump took office, the park service, an agency charged with preserving American history, has changed how its website describes key moments from slavery to Jim Crow

wapo.st

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Cynthia Leitich Smith (Indigenous Books for Young Readers) @cynleitichsmith.bsky.social · Apr 5

✨ Today is the 25th anniversary of my first book, JINGLE DANCER, ill. by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying-Hwa Hu (HarperChildren’s, April 5, 2000). It was one of the first picture books to reflect contemporary Native people. An updated, paperback edition was released by Heartdrum in 2021. #booksky

Book cover: Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith, Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. Native girl jingle dancing, fan held high other powwow dancers in the background, outside, title above image. Headline: 25th Anniversary: Release Date: April 5, 2000 (gold streamers on silver, slightly glittery background)

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Ursula @ladyofsardines.bsky.social · Apr 2

2/2 Check out this TOC. We got @mskellymhayes.bsky.social, @debreese.bsky.social, @ziibiing.com, @jessehagopian.bsky.social, @cristinapaul333.bsky.social, and more. Subscribe: rethinkingschools.org/magazine/

CURRICULUM
Teaching the Fight for Queer Liberation
By Nick Palazzolo
Students imagine themselves as LGBTQ+ activists and debate key questions facing organizers through more than 50 years of movement history.

Teaching the Haibun During Times of Chaos and Struggle
By Linda Christensen
Christensen teaches the writing process by encouraging students to celebrate beloved places with the haibun, a Japanese poetic form.

What Nina Simone Teaches 1st and
2nd Graders About Making Change By Cristina Paul in collaboration with Olivia Lozano and Nancy Villalta
During a unit on changemakers, lst and 2nd graders learn about power, change, representation, and community through the songs of Nina Simone.

Six Ways U.S. History Textbooks
Mislead Students About the History Between Central America and the United States
By Olvin Abrego Ayala and Elizabeth
Hertzler-McCain
Ayala and Hertzler-McCain examine the ways 10 popular U.S. history textbooks ignore the
U.S. government's role in destabilizing Central America, causing waves of immigration to the United States.

EDUCATION ACTIVISM AND POLICY
Sanctuary Lessons:
How Chicago Teachers Are Defending Their Students
By Kelly Hayes
Hayes shares lessons from the Chicago Teachers Union's efforts to protect undocumented students.

Seattle Planned to Close Up to Public Schools - Here's How
We Stopped Them
By Jesse Hagopian
Hagopian details how Seattle educators, students, and parents stopped their district's school closure plan.

Why We Cannot Go Back to Basics:
Reclaiming the Right to Teach Literacy By Daniel Ferguson, Laurie Rabinowitz, and
Amy Tondreau
Three literacy and early education scholars expose the racist, anti-teacher politics behind the push to implement "Science of Reading" curriculum in schools.

BOOK REVIEW
This Land Is Our Land
This Land: The History of the Land We're On by Ashley Fairbanks
Reviewed by Debbie Reese

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