2024 American Indian Literature Award Medal Acceptance: Kim Rogers

Editors Note: On January 25, 2025, the American Indian Library Association (AILA) held its Youth Literature Award Ceremony in Phoenix. I am pleased to share the remarks Kim Rogers delivered when she received the American Indian Youth Literature Award in the picture book category for A Letter for Bob. 

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AIYLA Medal Acceptance Remarks

Kim Rogers

This is my first trip to Phoenix. It’s a wonderful reprieve from the freezing Oklahoma winter. Last week, during single digit temperatures, I was trying to thaw out our frozen shower with a portable space heater. Phoenix is a lot warmer, and I am grateful!

I am delighted to be here with you today to celebrate this special occasion in Native American Children's Literature. 

Thank you so much for that kind introduction and warm welcome. Thank you to the American Indian Youth Literature Award committee members. I am grateful for the work you do. Thank you to everyone who made this event possible.

I am honored to receive this recognition along with many brilliant creatives whose work I admire.

Congrats to Laurel Goodluck and Jonathan Nelson. I am honored to share this recognition with you both.

My love of stories began at a young age when my Wichita grandmother and aunties would sit around my grandma’s living room and tell stories. They had me mesmerized.

They talked about all kinds of things. And maybe some things I wasn’t supposed to hear. They told stories about the men they’d dated, the latest gossip in town, and ghost stories on our tribal lands. Listening to them made me feel grown up and a part of them—a strong circle of women. And believe me, I learned a lot from those stories as you might imagine! Wow!

From the time I could read, I’d be lost in books. And I recruited others too. In my bedroom, I would line up my stuffed animals and pretend that I was a school teacher and read them picture books. Then I started writing my own.

I’d even illustrate the pages. I would staple them together and read them to my stuffed animal friends too. Yes, they were all ears!

In first grade, I wrote my first poem. It was raining that day and it filled me with so much emotion. I had to get the words on the page. I wrote it on a worksheet and drew a picture of a girl under an umbrella. My teacher commented later that she liked my poem and that it touched her. That’s when I learned the power of words.

In fourth grade, our teacher gave us the assignment of writing stories from our spelling word list. She would often ask me to read mine in front of the class. She told me I would be a writer someday. I laughed because I thought that something so fun could not be a real job. I thought jobs had to be miserable.

I am thankful for those wonderful teachers who encouraged me and were my first writing cheerleaders. They are part of the reason I stand here before you today.

For a long time, I was hesitant to write from my Wichita perspective. I grew up during a time when it did not feel safe for me to do so. With the start of 2025, it feels like that all over again.

But our work is incredibly important. It’s essential for our Native youth to see themselves in books. We must push back against book bans and efforts to silence our voices. We must continue on and write our stories for the sake our children and future generations.

Thank you to my friend Cynthia Leitich Smith, author - curator of Heartdrum who is another cheerleader in my life. Years ago, she had reached out to me on social media encouraging me to write about my Wichita heritage when I was writing everything else but that. She helped me find the courage to share my voice.

Thank you to my friend and agent Tricia Lawrence. I appreciate everything that you do for me!

Thank you to my editor and friend Rosemary Brosnan who had planned to celebrate with us today but could not be here. Sending you well-wishes and hugs. Thank you for your kindness and believing in my stories. Your brilliant editing makes every manuscript shine.

Thank you to all the wonderful people at Heartdrum. I am thrilled that I get to work with each one of you.

Thank you to Jonathan Nelson for bringing A LETTER TO BOB to life. I love seeing the beauty, humor, and relationships that you created in the illustrations of Katie and her family. And of course Bob the car.

Thank you to my family for your love and support, even those who are with me in spirit. Mom, I miss you each and every day.

Thank you to our sons for the memories of the many vacations, car rides, and adventures that helped me write the scenes in A LETTER FOR BOB.

Thank you especially to my husband, the love of my life and my biggest supporter and ultimate cheerleader who continues to tell everyone how proud he is of his wife—even our dentist! And I'm honestly a little embarrassed.

Thank you to everyone who advocates for Natives stories including librarians and teachers. YOU are my heroes. 

I am so grateful to you all. So:ti:c?a. Thank you.

2024 American Indian Literature Award Medal Acceptance: Christine Day

Editors Note: On January 25, 2025, the American Indian Library Association (AILA) held its Youth Literature Award Ceremony in Phoenix. I am pleased to share the remarks Christine Day delivered when she received the American Indian Youth Literature Award in the middle school category for We Still Belong. 

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AIYLA Medal Acceptance Remarks

Christine Day

Good morning, everyone. It’s a beautiful day to be here, to share space with you all in this incredible venue, and to celebrate the immense talent and diversity of our Native kid lit community.

For those of you who don’t know me: Hi. I’m Christine. I’m a citizen of the Upper Skagit Tribe, which is one of the signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott in western Washington State. My maternal grandmother, Lorraine, was Upper Skagit and Nooksack. She was also a teenager when she carried my mother. Lorraine spent part of her pregnancy in a group home for unwed mothers in Seattle. And while she was there, she wrote letters to her family. Most of her letters recounted ordinary things, such as her math and world history lessons, and she often asked after the wellbeing of her younger siblings. But sometimes, her writings would reveal the way things were in that home. In one letter, postmarked August 29 th , 1960, she wrote: “Hi! I hope all of you are fine, I’m doing okay… I didn’t call because most of this week the girls have got into trouble for using the telephone too much, and some of the girls had their telephone privileges taken away… We have phone monitors to time each girl on the telephone, so all of us girls can talk five minutes. If we take over five minutes, we get called down to the housemother and she gives the girl an hour of work for talking over time on the telephone. I thought if I called you, I would’ve probably talked over five minutes, so I didn’t call…” I had a similar thought when I was writing this speech, actually. Is it possible for me to acknowledge my people in only five-to-seven minutes? Don’t know. We’ll see.

Anyway. Her letter continues: “There are about twenty girls coming here at the end of this month, and it's crowded already. Some of the girls that are new are sleeping on the davenport… The ages that we have here are 13, 14, 15, 16, and all the way up to 33 years old. All the girls are nice to me and I get along with everybody. I still have a good record, haven’t got into trouble at all, and I’m going to keep it that way. Well, I hope everybody’s okay. I hope everybody’s fine. I have to get ready for bed now, and I’ll write sooner if I’m not too busy, tell everybody I said hello. Tell all the kids I said hello. Lots of Love, Lorraine.”

My mother was born in September of 1960. But unfortunately, the Indian Child Welfare Act would not pass in Congress until 1978. Therefore, my mother spent the first six months of her life in an orphanage, despite the fact that she wasn’t technically an orphan. And during those six months, she had no legal name. Someone at some point gave her the nickname “Christy.” But when her adoptive parents came along, her new mother opted for “Susan,” because she already had a cousin named Christy, whom she did not like. Which is fair enough, I suppose.

And that is how I came to be Christine. My parents chose it in honor of my mother’s first nickname. And they gave me Lorraine, as my middle name, in honor of my mom’s young birth mother, whom we never got to meet.

So, all my life, I have carried these women and their stories with me. This is part of the reason why I write the books that I write. It’s also one of the reasons why this award means so much to me. Because the American Indian Youth Literature Award committee isn’t only honoring me: you have chosen to honor them, as well. Lorraine and Sue, their stories are separate yet inseparable from mine, like three strands of the same braid. I would not be here without them. And through my writing, I always strive to pay tribute to them. So I’d like to thank you all, truly, for seeing something worth recognizing in my work.

Additional thanks are due to my team at the Heartdrum imprint. Rosemary Brosnan couldn’t join us today, which makes me sad, because I miss her. But alas. Here is what I’d planned to say to her: Rosemary, seven years ago, you changed my life with your belief in me. Thank you for your enthusiasm, your guidance, your patience, and your profound respect for the creative process. I am so grateful to call you my friend, as well as my trusted editor and mentor. Cynthia Leitich Smith, I am deeply grateful for your kindness and friendship as well, and your dedication to building community and bringing folks together. I am incredibly proud to be a Heartdrum author.

I also need to thank my team at the Philomel imprint. Thank you for granting me the opportunity to share Maria Tallchief’s life story with young readers. I’m grateful to Chelsea Clinton for creating the She Persisted series. Thanks to Jill Santopolo and Talia Benamy for their wonderful editorial work. Thanks to Gillian Flint for her beautiful illustrations. And thanks to the Osage Nation Language Department, for providing some text in their syllabary.

And of course, I need to acknowledge my husband and kids. Every book I write is also a love letter to you. You are the light that brings the dawn. You are my whole world.

Thank you all again for being here. I’ve heard rumors that this will be the last ALA midwinter conference, which I find a bit shocking and sad. But alas. One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from the book Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee. It’s the very first sentence, which says: “History has failed us, but no matter.” What a line. What a revelation, really. And it feels especially true for those of us ensconced in the world of children’s literature. Either in schools and libraries, or as parents and writers.

History has failed us, but no matter. May we stay attuned to our own creativity and curiosity and empathy. May we strive to honor our ancestors, and empower our descendants. May we write and share the books that want to be written. And may we uplift all children, everywhere, by doing so.

Thank you.

Looking back: The American Indian Youth Literature Award

The American Indian Library Association (AILA) was founded in 1979. If you don't know about it, visit our website. There's a lot of resources there!

I don't recall when I first became a member of AILA. It may have been in the 1990s, or early 2000s. One thing for sure: I was on the committee that drafted the criteria for its Youth Literature Award. I've got emails on an old Dell computer that has been in a drawer for years--that still works! It has emails from 1997-2006. Some of the people who are in those early conversations include Naomi Caldwell, Beverly Slapin, Carlene Engstrom, Victor Schill, Loriene Roy, Susie Hustad, Mahaleni Merryman, Stephanie Betancourt, Elayne Walstedter and me. 

I've not been on the committees that have selected books that win the award, choosing to do the in-depth reviews and work I do here on American Indians in Children's Literature. If you've never been on a book award committee, one thing you need to know: you will need to read a lot of books on specific timelines! Back in the 90s, I think, I was on the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award committee. The boxes of books that arrived at my house, unending! 

I've been looking back at conversations that took place early on, and I'm glad to see that AILA's newsletters have included articles about the award. Here's a brief look back at what AILA did (note: I won't list books that won AIYLA's awards. You can see them by going to the AILA page for the awards.)

The Fall, 2007 association newsletter included an article by Carlene Engstrom that included an image of the first seal. Here's a screen cap:

And here's what it says:

During the 2008 ALA Midwinter meeting in Philadelphia, AILA will announce the 2008 American Indian Youth Literature award winners. The awards will be presented in Anaheim, 2008, during the Annual ALA conference at a gala ticketed event that promises to be memorable. Keep your eyes posted for this event when ALA’s Conference Events come out about information on ordering tickets. 

The award was created as a way to identify and honor the very best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians in the field of children’s literature. It is presented in each of three categories—picture book, middle school, and young adult. 

Naomi Caldwell, chair of the AILA American Indian Youth Literature Award committee, says” We are thrilled to have this opportunity to honor authors and illustrators who best portray American Indian Culture for young readers. The rich literary heritage of this nation includes the oral and printed stories of its indigenous peoples. American Indian literature always has been and continues to be an integral part of our literary tapestry.” 

The first awards were presented during the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color, October 2006. The Picture Book Winner was Beaver Steals Fire by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Middle School Winner went to Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich, and the Young Adult Winner was Hidden Roots by Joseph Bruchac. 

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The Winter 2008 newsletter included Naomi Caldwell's article, "A Short History and Promising Future: AILA Youth Literature Awards." There, she wrote that:

• The people on the committee that chose the 2006 winners were Naomi Caldwell, Victor Schill, Carlene Engstrom, and Gabrielle Kay. 
• Each 2006 winner received a $500 monetary award and a plaque with the seal, designed by Corwin Clairmont (note: there's a 1993 article about his work in Tribal College.
• Funds for the plaques were provided by the Mashantucket Pequot Nation. 
• The committee in 2008 included Caldwell and these individuals: Carlene Engstrom, D’Arcy McNickle Library, Salish Kootenai College; Gabriella Kaye, Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center; Lisa A. Mitten, Choice Magazine; Sarah Kostelecky, Institute of American Indian Art; Cindy Carrywater, Montana State Library Commission; and Jolena Tillequots, School Library Media Specialist, Yakima Nation.
• Recipients of the 2008 award received the plaque, the monetary award, and a beaded medallion by Linda King (note: if I find a photo of the beaded medallion I'll add it.)

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I love knowing these details! I gotta get some other work done and wanted to share that info before ALA next week. 

Oh! Follow AILA on Facebook. A few minutes ago they posted the new award seals. I'll paste them below. Aren't they gorgeous? And an important note from their FB page: 

If you are going to ALA annual make sure you stop by the ALA store and pick up AILA youth literature award seals for your library. They come in silver and gold and will be $14.50/ 24 pack. Limited quantities available at ALA annual. All proceeds help AILA sustain the awards! Not available online for ordering. Seals are new and were created to celebrate AILA youth literature awards joining the Youth Media Awards in 2020!

Support AILA's work! Buy the seals directly from them.

Tim Tingle's Acceptance Speech for the 2016 American Indian Youth Literature Award

American Indians in Children's Literature is pleased to bring you Tim Tingle's acceptance speech. He won the 2016 American Indian Youth Literature Award, young adult category, for The House of Purple Cedar. As is traditional within Native communities, he was given a blanket. 

Tim provided me with the photo (to the right), explaining that it was taken while he was at the Congressional National Cemetery in Washington DC, three days before the awards banquet. 

The photo was taken by Lisa Reed, editor of The Biskinik (the Choctaw nation's newspaper). Tim was reading a book he was given by the office manager of the cemetery. He was sitting beside the grave of Pushmataha, who is in Tim's next book. 

That day, the Chief of the Choctaw Nation and many others were at the Congressional National Cemetery to honor Pushmataha. The clouded expression on Tim's face is because of what a Choctaw woman gave to him that morning when he arrived at the gravesite. 

His expression, and what she gave him, is explained in his speech:

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On behalf of my family and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma I want to let you know what an honor it is to be here and to accept this award. We are so grateful for the work you do, to bring recognition to our work as writers. Yakoke, thank you.

House of Purple Cedar took fifteen years to complete, as my editor, Lee Byrd of Cinco Puntos Press, can confirm. It describes the struggle of Choctaws to survive and keep their homelands, in the late 1890's in what is now Oklahoma. Those of you who know my writing know that I write with hope, of "working to the good," of the power of forgiveness.

I brought something to show you today, from Congressional National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., where three days ago I attended a graveside ceremony honoring the most famous Choctaw leader of all time, Chief Pushmataha. He was also a general in the United States Army and fought alongside Gen. Jackson in the War of 1812. 

Before the ceremony I met a Choctaw elder at the gravesite, a sweet woman who speaks fluent Choctaw and is kind and patient to we learners. She arrived before anyone else. She stood holding her purse with tears in her eyes. When I asked her if she was hoke, she replied, "I am so glad I arrived before the chief. Look what I found lying against Pushmataha's tombstone." She retrieved an empty plastic whiskey bottle from her purse. "Somebody left this terrible insult to our chief."

I hugged her and we both quietly cried. "I was meant to be here first," she said. "This would have ruined our graveside ceremony." We stared into each other's eyes and smiled.

"Good wins again," I said. "It is a good day to be Choctaw." We decided to keep our secret, to allow the full blessing from Chief Batton to take place. But as we approached the shuttle bus, I asked for the bottle. Not to throw away, but to keep—as a reminder that we still have much work to do. We, the writers, the librarians, the educators, we are today's warriors. We must never forget that the battle continues, the battle for respect for Native peoples.

Yakoke, thank you.

Joseph Marshall's Acceptance Speech for the 2016 American Indian Youth Literature Award

Photo courtesy of Aaron LaFromboise

American Indians in Children's Literature is pleased to bring you Joseph Marshall III's acceptance speech. He won the 2016 American Indian Youth Literature Award, middle school category for In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse. As is traditional amongst our communities, he was given a blanket.

It is an outstanding book (see AICL's review) and I'm thrilled to learn, by email with Marshall, that he is working on a second book featuring Jimmy and his grandfather. Kids learn a lot of history by reading Marshall's In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse. I wonder what history we'll learn in the new book?

Here is Marshall's speech:

__________

Good afternoon. I can’t think of a better reason for my first ever trip to Orlando, than to accept this award from the American Indian Library Association. Thank you to AILA President Aguilar, and of course to the members of the 2016 American Indian Youth Literature Award jury. I am honored to receive this very special recognition, one that I will always treasure because it comes from my peers, and, of course, native librarians.

Those of us who are native writers know that our purpose is to inform the non-native community about native history and culture, as well as our place in the world today. But just as importantly, if not more, we need to reconnect native young people with their own cultures. This award helps to further that effort.

Thank you, of course, to my friends at Abrams and Amulet Books for publishing my book, to all of you who worked on it. I sincerely appreciate your contributions and your talents which definitely added to what this book is.

The people who were the greatest influence on me, and taught me the art of storytelling, were primarily my maternal grandparents. So the front story in In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse is a glimpse into my childhood on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, and of my wonderful relationship with my grandparents, but especially to my grandfather.

Three special “thank yous,” the first to my editor Howard Reeves—my new best friend—for liking the concept for my book, but especially for your patience Howard. In the middle of working on the manuscript I had to ask for a delay when my wife became seriously ill. Howard was kind enough to grant a deadline extension.

Another “thank you” to the phenomenally talented artist for his work on the book’s cover and inside illustrations—my good friend and fellow Lakota, Mr. Jim Yellowhawk.

Finally, to the love of my life, my wife Connie, who was also my literary agent. It was she who insisted on the format for the book. Connie left us for the Spirit World on Valentine’s Day, three years ago, after putting up a valiant fight against colon cancer. Please know that, with this award, you are honoring her as well.

So, as we say in my part of the world: Lila pilamayayapelo. Thank you, very much.

Tim Tingle's keynote at 2014 American Indian Youth Literature Awards

On Sunday, the American Indian Library Association (AILA) presented its 2014 Youth Literature Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada at the annual meeting of the American Library Association. Choctaw author Tim Tingle was the keynote speaker at the event.

Tingle's How I Became A Ghost won the middle school award. I could not be in Las Vegas but have been following happenings there via social media. On Monday,  American Libraries Magazine posted an article about the AILA event. In it, Michele LeSure included an overview of Tingle's remarks:

Tingle spoke about the trials his family endured being discriminated against for being Choctaw tribal members, and the importance of documenting these types of stories. He said the recent decision to revoke trademark rights to the Washington Redskins team name and logo gives Native Americans a big opportunity to raise these types of issues in public discourse, so “we will never be ghosts.”

Tingle's Saltypie recounts some of that discrimination his family experienced. His note to teachers in that book is exceptional. In his books, Tingle brings forth difficult moments in history in which Native peoples were discriminated against. How I Became a Ghost is about the Trail of Tears, and House of Purple Cedar opens with the burning of a Native boarding school in which Choctaw girls were burned to death. Though we would correctly assume that the characters in his stories would be bitter, they aren't. They recognize the humanity in all people, including those who hurt them. Tingle is a master at giving us history in a way that lets us examine brutality and compassion.

Tingle's keynote remarks indicate his courage in taking up current examples of that discrimination. Specifically, he addressed the Washington football team's racist name. He is absolutely right in saying that the public discourse on mascots creates an opportunity for us to examine all misrepresentations of Native people. One of those misrepresentations is the thought that we no longer exist. Here's a couple of tweets that captured more of Tingle's remarks:

Get his books for your classroom, school, or home library. And get them from small bookstores, too! When you booktalk or introduce them, you can say "Tim Tingle is Choctaw." That two letter word (is) will go a long long way at helping your students and patrons correct the misinformation they may carry about us as being extinct.

Tim Tingle's HOW I BECAME A GHOST

One of the things I noticed right away when I started to read Tim Tingle's How I Became a Ghost (published in 2013 by Roadrunner Press) is the prominence of the setting, and the words he chose for that setting:

See that? "Choctaw Nation." I did a quick search in Amazon, looking for other books in which an author used "Choctaw Nation" in a book that has Choctaw characters in it. Know what I found? There's one author who has done it several times--Tim Tingle. Interestingly, my search didn't turn up many children's books (in fiction) with the word "Choctaw" in them. The ones I did get are by Tim, and I gotta say, that makes me happy because Tim knows what he is doing. He is Choctaw. That he uses the word 'Nation' in his books is important. It conveys a basic fact that most people are unaware of: there are over 500 Native Nations in the United States. We decide who are citizens are, and we have a unique relationship with the United States government because of treaties our heads-of-state made with U.S. heads-of-state.

The other thing that I noticed is "Mississippi, 1830." Couple with its subtitle, "A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story," we know that we're about to read a story that begins in Mississippi where the Choctaw Nation was, and that the story is going to be about their removal from their homelands. There's a map, too, that can help readers visualize where the Choctaw Nation and its people were, and their routes to Indian Territory:

As the story opens, the protagonist, ten-year-old Isaac, is talking about playing with his dog, Jumper. Isaac and Jumper like to chase chickens. That's not ok:

"Make sure Jumper does not catch any chickens!" My Mother always yelled this from the back porch.

Think, for a moment, about the ways Native people are shown in popular works of historical fiction for children. Chances are, what came to your mind was tipis, and horses, buffaloes, and half-naked grunting Indian men of the kind that you got from Laura Ingalls Wilder in her book, set in 1869 (that was 39 years after the tribal nations of the southeast were moved to Indian Territory where they built houses with porches and schools, and towns... see why half-naked primitive Indians is incorrect?).

With How I Became A Ghost, Tingle is giving us something quite different from Wilder's stereotypes. He's giving us reality. Isaac and his family have a house with a front porch, and a back porch, and a garden. Having those things doesn't make them less Native. As you read through his story, you pick up on Choctaw ways of being that are very much part of their lives. Things like treaties are part of what the children know, too. "Treaty talk" is unsettling. With good reason.

There is a terrible tendency for writers to make Native spirituality into some kind of mystical or magical thing. Tingle doesn't do that. He gives it to us in a matter-of-fact way. He gives us Christian spirituality in that way, too. In his story, it has become part of the Choctaw way.

As the title suggests, Isaac is going to become a ghost, but this isn't a scary ghost story. Scary things do happen--this is a story about the forced relocation of a people, but it is more about the humanity of the people on that trail than it is about that forced relocation. How I Became A Ghost is about spirituality and community and perseverance. And laughter. There's some delightful moments in this story! Throughout, this story shines with the warmth that Tingle's storytelling voice brings to his writing. I highly recommend How I Became A Ghost. I have it on good authority that we'll hear more from Isaac. I look forward to it.

How I Became A Ghost was selected by the American Indian Library Association as the 2014 winner of its American Indian Youth Literature Award, at the middle-grade level. Published by RoadRunner Press, get it from a small bookstore if you can. I suggest you order it from Birchbark Books, a Native-owned bookstore in Minneapolis. Take a minute, too, to read the interview with Tingle at the TeachingBooks site. And listen to Tingle reading a bit of the book, too. Its exquisite.

2014 Recipients of American Indian Library Association's Youth Literature Award

Just after 2:00 Eastern Time on January 26 2014, the American Indian Library Association announced the recipients of their 2014 Youth Literature Award.

Picture Book Winner: 

Caribou Song by Tomson Highway

illustrated by John Rombough

published by Fifth House. 

Middle School Winner: 

How I Became A Ghost by Tim Tingle, 

published by RoadRunner Press.

Middle School Honor:

Danny Blackgoat: Navajo Prisoner by Tim Tingle, 

published by 7th Generation.

Young Adult Winner:

Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac

published by Tu Books

Update on Sep 30 2023: I (Debbie Reese) no longer recommend Bruchac's work. For details see Is Joseph Bruchac truly Abenaki?

Young Adult Honor:

If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth 

published by Scholastic

AICL offers congratulations to each author! I encourage librarians across the country to order them. The award is given every two years. To see previous winners and criteria, see American Indian Youth Literature Award.