A week ago on Instagram I sent out a request for book titles having to do with South Dakota. Many people responded with some great book suggestions so I thought I would put together an official reading list for you. There were a few random titles that came in that were set in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as well as Nebraska and the West in general and while I have added those titles to my personal reading list, I have tried to keep the forthcoming list of book titles focused on the topic of South Dakota. Thank you to everyone who heeded my call! If you have another title to add to this list please offer it up in the comment section on this post. Enjoy!
Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey — Lillian Schlissel
Little House on the Prairie — Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Dull Knives of Pine Ridge: A Lakota Odyssey — Joe Starita
Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee — Dee Brown
It Happened in South Dakota — Patrick Straub
Sister to the Sioux — Elaine Goodale Eastman
Bufalo for the Broken Heart — Dan O’Brien
Birds of the Dakotas
Dakota: The Story of the Northern Plains — Norman K. Risjord
Black Elk Speaks — John G. Neihardt
Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden — Gilbert L. Wilson
Imagining Head Smashed In — Jack W. Brink
ALL BOOKS WRITTEN BY Louise Erdrich
Dakota: A Spiritual Geography — Kathleen Norris
Mapping the Missouri River between SD and ND — Joseph Nicollet
Prairie Fires — Caroline Fraser
The West — a documentary by Ken Burns
Days on the Road: Crossing the Plains in 1865 — Sarah Raymond Herndon
Great Plains — Ian Frazier
The Rider (film)
Lakota Woman — Mary Crow Dog
Also note these online book shop resources:
Surprised not to see one of the best authors who writes about SD history from the most authentic view…Joseph Marshall 3.
If he’s truly an authority I’m surprised no one mentioned his work until now!!! Thanks for dropping his name.
I am thrilled to see Kathleen Norris’ book “Dakota: A spiritual geography” on your list. She is one of my favorite spiritual writers because she is firmly practical and yet her spirituality is strong without being airy-fairy. GREAT CHOICE!!
One of my very favorite books I have ever read.
Surprised I don’t see Land of the Burnt Thigh by Edith Eudora Kohl. It is Edith’s writings of homesteading with her sister. A facinating read.
Again, this is not a comprehensive reading list. This list is made up of the suggested titles people took the time to offer me via Instagram. This list is very incomplete. Thanks for adding this title in the comment section!
“Great Plains,” by Ian Frazier is one of my favorite books ever ever ever. Thank you for including it on your reading list. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, I hope you do soon.
I just ordered Days on the Road: Crossing the Plains in 1865. Sounds like a great read! Thank you for posting these titles!
Lakota Woman. Heartbreaking.