NDN Girls Book Club has six staff members going on the book tour. They’re traveling with various books written by Indigenous people.
So far, the tour has given out all their books slated to hand out at each stop. Their goal - to bring thousands of books to the Nation.
Kinsale Drake, from Navajo Mountain, Utah spoke as the founder and director of the NDN Girls Book Club.
She says that the work they are currently doing is potentially making history. “We are on, to our knowledge the biggest Native book drop on the Navajo Nation. So, we have over ten thousand books that we are sharing at four different main stops in each direction.”
The four stops include;
- Tségháhoodzání, otherwise known as Window Rock, New Mexico at the Navajo Nation Library on April 1st
- Leupp, Arizona on April 2nd
- Tó Naneesdizí, otherwise known as Tuba City, Arizona on April 3rd
- Tsé Bitʼaʼí, otherwise known as Shiprock, New Mexico on April 5th
She started the nonprofit right out of college, at the age of 24, and is the oldest member of her team.
Drake says at each stop, they’ve had a local medicine man present to ensure safe passage. The team also notified the local communities of their presence by working with vendors and using other means of marketing.
“We have a big pinky truck that we have zooming around the rez right now, which has been so much fun. People have been spotting it and honking and following it.”
Drake says that their presence on the reservations is part of a mission to highlight Indigenous authors.
She says currently, the Navajo Nation is considered a book desert by the United States, meaning there is a low likelihood of 100 or more books in the home.
With pride, Drake explained, “We know and say as Navajos, ‘I’m from the desert.’ The desert is such a beautiful and generous thing.”
Indigenous authors represent less than half of one percent of all authors since 2014, according to statistics, and with an alarming decline in recent years. Drake says not only do they hope to show Indigenous communities the works of Indigenous authors, but also highlight the creation of these stories in terms of cultural repatriation.
She says, “In a desert, in a book desert per se, there is so much there you really have to take the time to listen to a community and what they need especially with historical context.”
Research shows that within the book industry, Indigenous authors made up less than two percent of children’s books in 2019, and less than three percent of award-winning books.
The book club distributes various genres from children's books to contemporary works. Books have been donated from a wide variety of publishers nationwide, including a donation of 5,000 books from Levine Querido.
She discussed the goal of the campaign. “Success for us is measured in terms of community involvement. And, really seeing an increased joy and investment in Native Literature.”
The tour reaches its final destination on Friday in Tsé Bitʼaʼí, New Mexico. Drake says the NDN Girls Book Club is far from finished spreading its message of Indigenous art and literacy, and she hopes to continue similar projects beyond the Navajo Nation.
The tour is a partnership between the NDN Girls Book Club, Abalone Mountain Press, 4KINSHIP, Cellular One, its new SBi Giving Foundation,and various community partners.
As of publishing, the team is winding down on their last day, April 5th. They have given away around 7,500 books and are projected to give away an estimated 10,000 books.
Edit: Town Name & Adding Photos
