Youth Book Club

Be a part of our Kids Book Club and celebrate Native authors and children’s literature at St. Kateri August 12th and 14th from 12:00-4:00 pm. The afternoon of entertainment and enriching activities will feature book readings from Author Maria Des Jarlait and art with Negwes White, pizza and ice cream, and more! Members from Northwestern’s Center for Native American and Indigenous Research will also be present to conduct surveys, researching the importance of Native authored children’s literature. 

For more information about this program, please contact:

Josee – jstarr@gichigamiin-museum.org or Negwes – nwhite@stbenedict.com

Book Reading by Local Author Maria Des Jarlait

Maria “White cedar woman” is an indigenous woman who is from the Arikara tribe of Fort Berthold reservation in North Dakota and Ojibwe from Red Lake, Minnesota. She was raised on the reservation in North Dakota and had big city dreams.  She went on to college in Chicago, Il where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and English as a second language. She is married to her best friend Joel and has two daughters Aiyanna and Ayasha that keep her plenty busy.  She teaches Preschool in Illinois where she seen the need for books that represent Native American children as people of today. She wrote this book based on her experiences as a child with her grandmother and her two daughter’s experiences with their adventurous grandmother Peggy as well. This is her story that she hopes to inspire more Native American children to dream big.  Miigwetch (thank you)!

This is a part of the Native Cover-to-Cover Project.