The Best Nigerian Books | A Top 10
We often use the words ‘overrated’ and ‘underrated’ for almost everything we dislike or like. And, that is a bit problematic as it gives us
If you are a regular reader of CulturalReads, you probably very well know that I wrote about some Indigenous books in the spiritual books. So, I thought, why not cover books only written by Indigenous authors?
There’s a reason for that, as I find the works of Indigenous people quite fascinating, revealing and full of wisdom. After all, they live much closer to nature than non-Indigenous people.
Interestingly, there’s a general misconception among people that Indigenous groups are only native Americans or South American shamans. The reality is different, however. There are so many other Indigenous communities across the globe whose work I will cover.
Indigenous people are distinct social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced. They have unique traditions, languages, and governance systems, depending on their heritage and environment.
For example, Ainu people from Japan, Native Americans from the Americas, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples from Australia, and many others.
Now, let’s discuss some of the best Indigenous books by native Indigenous writers. And these books are from different parts of the world, not just about Native Americans.
A Maasai recommended it to me as the best Maasai book on the Maasai people. Henry R. Ole Kulet was a Kenyan writer who wrote about the traditions and struggles of the Maasai people. As an Indigenous author, his focus was Maasai culture and the challenges faced by his community.
It follows two sisters, Taiyo and Resian, from the Maasai community. After their father moves the family from the city to a village, the girls with modern education struggle with traditional expectations. The rigid customs, particularly female genital mutilation and forced marriage, shatter independent dreams.
Eventually, Taiyo and Resian have to look for help to escape their predetermined fates. The tension builds when there’s a clash between cultural preservation and individual freedom.
It’s one of the best Indigenous novels on gender, tradition, and change within the Maasai community. A coming-of-age story that calls for awareness and reforming harmful cultural practices.
Kenya is an interesting country, and you can explore more about it by listening to soulful Benga or reading the works of the best Kenyan writers.
I, Rigoberta Menchú is an autobiography of Rigoberta Menchú. Rigoberta is a K’iche’ Maya activist from Guatemala. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for the rights and social justice work for the Indigenous peoples of Latin America.
She has co-authored many Indigenous books, and this is one of her most famous works. In her autobiography, she talks about growing up in an Indigenous farming community in poverty and discrimination. And how they had to endure poor working conditions on coffee plantations.
As Guatemala was embroiled in a Civil War from 1960 to 1996, the Guatemalan government was quite oppressive towards Indigenous people. During the Civil War, Indigenous people had to bear forced labour, displacement, and violent repression.
But it’s her story of resilience for justice, land rights, and cultural preservation which makes her a leading figure of Indigenous activism. Her fight against colonial oppression, systemic racism, and the resilience of Indigenous people is truly an inspiring story.
The Kichwa are an Indigenous people who live in the Amazon region of Ecuador and other Latin American countries. María Virginia Farinango is an Indigenous author of the Kichwa tribe who has co-authored the novel with Laura Resau.
As a young girl, she has to leave her rural Indigenous family to work as a servant for a wealthy mestizo family. She does this for a better education and a better life, but instead, she faces mistreatment and cultural erasure. Almost everyone forces her to suppress her Indigenous identity.
María Virginia, however, doesn’t give up and learns to reclaim her identity and dream of a better future. She educates herself, questions societal norms, and breaks free from the constraints. The novel beautifully captures her internal conflict between two worlds while highlighting her resilience and determination.
It’s one of the best books about Indigenous people to protect their identity, cultural survival, and personal strength. Also, a great source of knowledge about Indigenous Ecuadorians and the challenges of class, race, and human rights.
The Evenki are Indigenous peoples of the Russian North, Siberia, and the Far East. They are a Tungusic-speaking nomadic, and they do reindeer herding, hunting, and fishing. They are now spread across China, Russia, and Mongolia.
In China, the Evenki mainly live in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang. They are divided into subgroups, including the Reindeer Evenki and the Horse Evenki, with unique lifestyles but the same cultural heritage.
The Last Quarter of the Moon is one of the best Indigenous books about the struggles and traditions of the Evenki people. As mentioned, the Evenki rely on reindeer for transportation, food, and spiritual connection.
However, their traditional nomadic lifestyle faces extinction due to government policies, environmental changes, and increasing pressures to assimilate into mainstream Chinese society.
We know their story through an elderly Evenki woman who shares a history of her people and the collective experience of a vanishing culture. She describes the spiritual bond the Evenki share with nature, shamanic rituals, and respect for the land and animals.
However, the government forces her people to abandon their migratory lifestyle and settle in villages. So, she mourns the loss of her people’s knowledge, language, and customs. Yet, despite these changes, the resilience of the Evenki is admirable as they continue to preserve their culture.
I featured this Indigenous book in one of my newsletters, and it was recommended to me by Ann Morgan, founder of A Year of Reading The World, whose interview I did last year. This book is a travel memoir about the true story of a young Togolese man’s extraordinary journey from West Africa to Greenland.
Kpomassie grew up in Togo, a narrow country. As a child, he read a book about the Arctic and started to dream of moving to Greenland. When young, he started an adventurous journey across Europe before finally reaching Greenland.
Upon arrival, he struggles with adjusting from the heat of Africa to the freezing landscapes of the Arctic. However, he soon takes an interest in the Inuit way of life, an Indigenous Arctic people. He lives among them, adopts their customs, and eats raw seal meat while bearing the harsh weather of the Arctic.
Throughout the memoir, he compares the Indigenous beliefs and practices of the Inuit with his own Ewe people in Togo. He recognizes parallels in their spirituality, relationship with nature, and communal values.
There’s also a discussion of the challenges that the Inuit face, like modernization, alcoholism, and cultural erosion due to Western influences. Overall, this is one of the best Indigenous books that is also adventurous.
Sámi are the Indigenous people of Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Laestadius, who is herself Sámi and Tornedalian, has written one of the best Indigenous books about her community.
Elsa is a young Sámi girl in a reindeer-herding family. When she is 9 years old, she witnesses the brutal killing of her family’s reindeer by a local poacher. Even worse, when she reports the crime, the police dismiss it.
As Elsa grows older, she struggles with the pain of this event while also confronting hostility from non-Sámi Swedes, who resent her people’s land rights and way of life. This Indigenous novel has also been adapted into a Netflix film.
Laestadius does a great job of highlighting Sámi traditions and how climate change and societal discrimination are threatening reindeer herding. Overall, it is one of the great books about the Indigenous people of Europe.
The Chukchi Bible is one of the best Indigenous books that preserve the myths, history, and struggles of the Chukchi, an Indigenous people of Siberia’s Arctic region. Rytkheu is one of the Indigenous authors who writes about reindeer herding, sea mammal hunting, and spiritual connection to nature.
This novel is a blend of myth, oral history, and personal storytelling. It revolves around the Chukchi people’s journey from ancient times to the Soviet era. It begins with their creation myths, describing gods, spirits, and legendary ancestors.
In modern times, the historical narratives shift to encounters with Russian explorers, traders, and, later, Soviet authorities. So, through different generations, we experience the resilience of the Chukchi due to colonization, forced assimilation, and cultural destruction.
The major theme of The Chukchi Bible is the clash between Indigenous traditions and modernity. And, how the Soviet government has been trying to “civilize” the Chukchi by banning shamanism and discouraging their native language.
Despite all these challenges, the Chukchi people try to preserve their heritage in new ways. Collectively, it is one of the great books by Indigenous authors. And speaking of Russia, how can one overlook Russian literature books?
The Yield is another one of the best books by Indigenous authors about the Wiradjuri people’s history, language, and resilience. Winch is an Aboriginal Australian writer of Wiradjuri heritage, writing about colonial violence, cultural survival, and the reclamation of Indigenous identity.
August Goondiwindi is a young Aboriginal woman who returns home to rural Australia after her grandfather, Albert “Poppy” Gondiwindi, passes away. Poppy, in his final years, had been compiling a Wiradjuri dictionary.
At the same time, August faces the looming loss of her family’s land as a mining company is planning to take over. In such dark hours, she reconnects with her roots through her grandfather’s work.
Interestingly, Poppy’s dictionary is present throughout the narrative. Each Wiradjuri word he defines carries a deeper meaning, revealing Indigenous wisdom and the connection between language and land.
His work symbolizes the loss and revival of Aboriginal culture, showing how language is a key part of reclaiming identity. It is one of the best books about Indigenous people that shows the power of native language.
Recently, Māori people were in the news for all the great reasons. It’s because Māori MPs protested the Haka, a traditional protest in New Zealand’s parliament. They are protesting because the government is trying to alter the Treaty of Waitangi, signed in 1840.
Guess what, the world is already insane and insane people don’t like sane people much and hence, all the troubles for minority people.
Anyway, let’s talk about one of the best Māori Indigenous authors. The novel is about the rich traditions and mythology of the Māori people.
Kahu is a young girl born into a chiefly lineage of the Whangara tribe, which traces its ancestry back to Paikea. However, her grandfather, Koro Apirana, the tribe’s leader, refuses to see her as the rightful heir.
The reason? He believes only a boy can lead their people. Despite Kahu’s deep connection to her Māori heritage and the natural world, Koro continues to reject her.
As Kahu grows, she proves that she is the true heir through her spiritual bond with whales, particularly when a pod of whales strands itself on the shore. In an act of destiny, she rides the back of an ancient whale, showing that leadership is not about gender.
The Latehomecomer is one of the best Indigenous books by a Hmong-American writer. It tells the story of the Hmong, an Indigenous ethnic group from Southeast Asia who have faced displacement, war, and migration.
Yang recounts her family’s journey from the jungles of Laos, where they were persecuted after the Vietnam War, to refugee camps in Thailand and finally to the United States. The book is the first major memoir because the Hmong don’t have a written language of their own.
Yang recalls the harrowing experiences of his parents and grandparents, who, like many Hmong people, were caught in the aftermath of the Secret War in Laos. The Hmong had fought alongside the United States during the war, but when the U.S. withdrew, they were left vulnerable to persecution.
Eventually, they had to flee their homeland, facing hardships, hiding in the jungle and crossing into Thailand. In Thailand, they lived in refugee camps under harsh conditions before being granted asylum in America. So, The Latehomecomer is timely and one of the best books by Indigenous authors.
The above discussion of Indigenous books shows how Indigenous communities live in balance with nature and protect their traditions. So, instead of ignoring or changing their way of life, the world should respect their cultures and learn from them. Their stories remind us of the struggles they face and the wisdom they hold.
After all, many Indigenous people have lived sustainably for generations, taking care of the land, animals, and natural resources. Their traditions can teach us how to protect the environment and fight issues like climate change.
And, respecting Indigenous people and their traditions benefits everyone. By supporting their rights, and preserving their languages, we can build a world that is respectful and sustainable for future generations.
Also, if you have any favourite books by Indigenous authors, leave a comment!
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