Alameda County, including our library locations, is located on the traditional land of the Ohlone (Oh-low-nee) people, who never gave away their rights to this land. The Ohlone have called this land home for thousands of years, and their connection to it remains strong to this day. Alameda County is also home to a vibrant intertribal community of Native people, many relocated by force from their ancestral lands around the state, country, and world. The Library is committed to promoting Native voices and perspectives in our collections, resources, and programs. To Ohlone and Native community members, we commit to listening and learning through your leadership.
Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with us! Check out the following ways to learn, explore, and honor Indigenous knowledge, stories, and culture:
Events at AC Library:
- Acorn Processing Workshop with Alameda Native History Project at the San Lorenzo Library on Saturday, November 15 from 10:30 am – 1 pm.
- Acorn Granary Sealing Workshop with Alameda Native History Project at the San Lorenzo Library on Wednesday, December 3 from 1:30-4:30 pm.
- Acorn Granary Sealing Workshop with Alameda Native History Project at Centerville Library on Saturday, December 13 from 10 am – 2 pm.
- Acorn Processing Workshop with Alameda Native History Project at Centerville Library on Wednesday, December 17 from 4-6 pm.
Events Celebrating Native American Heritage Month in the East Bay
- Good Fire: Tending Native Lands, an exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California, starting Friday, November 7, 2025, through Sunday, May 31, 2026. Good Fire: Tending Native Lands explores how Native communities in Northern California have used controlled fire—also called “good fire” or “cultural burning”—to care for the land and sustain traditions for millennia. Organized in collaboration with Native Northern California fire practitioners, artists, ecologists, and cultural leaders, the exhibition reframes fire as not solely a destructive force, but as an essential tool for supporting healthy ecosystems and vibrant communities. Find out how you can enjoy free admission through Discover & Go!
- Harvesting 3 Sisters’ Wisdom at Ardenwood Historic Farm on Saturday, November 22, 2025. Hosted by East Bay Regional Park District.
- Native American Heritage Month: Morgan Territory Hike at Morgan Territory in Livermore on Sunday, November 23 from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm. Hosted by East Bay Regional Park District.
Promote Native American, Indigenous Voices
AC Library fosters engagement and collaboration with local Native American and Indigenous community organizations to center Native knowledge and voices. These include:
- Mukwema Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area
- Native American Health Center
- Intertribal Friendship House
- American Indian Child Resource Center
- Café Ohlone
- The 'ottoy Initiative
eResources to Help You Learn about Native and Indigenous Communities
Discover & Go: Discover & Go provides instant online access to free and low-cost tickets to museums, science centers, zoos, theatres, and other fun local cultural venues. This includes free entry to the Oakland Museum of California to visit the new exhibition, Good Fire: Tending Native Lands.
Diversity & Ethnic Studies eBooks: This subscription collection includes academic eBooks related to diversity, anti-racism, ethnic studies, disability studies, gerontology & age studies, migration studies, gender and sexuality studies, cultural studies, and religious studies
Ethnic Diversity Source: With its curated full-text materials, Ethnic Diversity Source is essential to support the study of African Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, Jewish Americans, Latinx Americans, Multiracial Americans, and Native Americans, among others, with respect to their cultures, traditions, social treatment, and lived experiences.
hoopla BingePass: hoopla BingePass lets you, well, binge! Entire collections of streaming content are at your fingertips with just one 7-day checkout. hoopla's BingePass collection includes materials for adults, teens, and kids. Search the keyword “Native American” to view a growing collection of eBooks, movies, and music.
Living Nations, Living Words: A Map of First Peoples Poetry: This ground-breaking project, launched in celebration of Native American Heritage Month, is an interactive online map that features audio recordings of 47 contemporary Native American poets, including Louise Erdrich, Natalie Diaz, and Ray Young Bear, among many others.
Native Land: Native Land offers an interactive map of the territories of Indigenous nations and includes territories, language maps, and maps of treaties.
Booklists
This fall, why not check out books written by Native American authors? November is Native American Heritage Month, and you can get a head start on some amazing reading selections now. The following books are newly published from 2024-2025 and are a combination of cookbooks, history, memoir, mysteries, horror, and more from indigenous authors.
November is Native American Heritage Month. This fall, explore a variety of picture books, graphic novels, chapter books, and more by Native American authors.
Borrow these young adult books written by Indigenous and First Nations authors.
Indigenous people have been resisting the harm of U.S. colonization since settlers first arrived here. There are many ways current-day settlers can ally themselves with Indigenous communities and work for justice here and now. Learn more with these books and resources.
Our landscape is our pantry. Connect with the land, native ingredients and Indigenous Nations of the Americas. Here we have gathered cookbooks and foraging books.
Explore Native voices and perspectives with must-read poetry.
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