Indigenous Ingenuity: A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge

Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

A beautifully designed, interactive nonfiction work celebrating North American Indigenous thinkers and inventions. An important offering for fans of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. 

Corn. Chocolate. Fishing hooks. Boats that float. Insulated double-walled construction. Recorded history and folklore. Life-saving disinfectant. Forest fire management. Our lives would be unrecognizable without these, and countless other, scientific discoveries and technological inventions from Indigenous North Americans.

Spanning topics from transportation to civil engineering, hunting technologies, astronomy, brain surgery, architecture, and agriculture, Indigenous Ingenuity is a wide-ranging STEM offering that answers the call for Indigenous nonfiction by reappropriating hidden history. The book includes fun, simple activities and experiments that kids can do to better understand and enjoy the principles used by Indigenous inventors. Readers of all ages are invited to celebrate traditional North American Indigenous innovation, and to embrace the mindset of reciprocity, environmental responsibility, and the interconnectedness of all life.

About the Author

Deidre Havrelock is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Alberta, Canada. She was raised in Edmonton, Alberta and is the author of the picture book Buffalo Wild!. She lives in Canada with her family, and invites you to visit her online at: children.deidrehavrelock.com

Edward Kay is an award-winning writer who loves comedy and science, especially together. His work includes fiction and nonfiction as well as live-action and animated television for both children and adults. He is the author of the Gross Science nonfiction book series for middle grade readers. Edward was a staff writer and producer for Canada’s most popular political satire show, the International Emmy–nominated This Hour Has 22 Minutes. He lives in Toronto, Canada, and invites you to visit him online at: edwardkay.com