San Francisco Public Library presents its Native American Heritage Month celebration, titled First Person, this November, featuring a lineup of programs that honor Indigenous cultures and traditions. As we live, learn and play on the traditional homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone, the Library invites its community to join in recognizing the enduring contributions of Native peoples, not just this month, but all year long. 

For more information about our programs and recommended reads, visit sfpl.org/first person. 

First Person Programs 

Wednesday, November 5, 2025 

Book Club: Graphic Novel Memoirs, 5 p.m., Noe Valley/Sally Brunn 

The Graphic Novel Memoir Book Club meets the 1st Wednesday of the month. Please come prepared to discuss Come Home, Indio by Jim Terry. Copies available at the reference desk. 

Film: Beyond Recognition, 5 p.m., Portola 

After decades struggling to protect her ancestors' burial places, now engulfed by San Francisco's sprawl, a Native woman from a federally unrecognized tribe and her allies occupy a development site to prevent desecration of sacred ground. 

Thursday, November 6, 2025 

Activity: LEGOs and Mini Basket Craft, 4 p.m., North Beach 

Learn about Miwok basket making and weave a colorful mini basket. We'll also have LEGOs galore for building and toys for your littler ones to play with. For ages 5–8.  

Book Club: World Literature, Larissa FastHorse's The Thanksgiving Play, 6 p.m., Virtual Library 

We discuss The Thanksgiving Play, a satirical comedy by Larissa FastHorse, in which four white individuals attempt to create a politically correct First Thanksgiving play for Native American Heritage Month in schools.  

Saturday, November 8, 2025 

Workshop: Huichol Yarn Painting, 1 p.m., Main Library Children’s Center 

Make a simple craft based on Huichol yarn painting, a traditional art form of the Huichol people of Mexico. For ages 8–13. 

Wednesday, November 12, 2025 

Film: Gather, 3 p.m., Golden Gate Valley 

Gather follows the stories of natives on the frontlines of a growing movement to reconnect with spiritual and cultural identities that were devastated by genocide.  

Thursda,y November 13, 2025 

Presentation: Natural Presidio, 2:30 p.m., Portola 

A partnership with Golden Gate National Recreation Area 

Meet Ranger Fatima and use your five senses to learn about animals and plants that call the Presidio of San Francisco their home. 

Native American Beading with Kalorie Roanhorse, 4 p.m., Anza 

Instructor Kalorie Roanhorse, an expert in Native American beading, teaches the basics of jewelry design and beading. Space limited. Reservations required: (415) 355-5717. 

Film: Indians Like Us, 6:15 p.m., Potrero 

A group of French citizens dress as Native Americans and appear at village fairs in France. They visit Pine Ridge, Wounded Knee and Little Big Horn in the Midwest to discover that the reality of contemporary Native Americans is quite different from their portrayal.   

Saturday, November 15, 2025 

Activity: Beaded Corn, 3 p.m., Noe Valley/Sally Brunn 

Make a fun corn craft and learn how corn was important to Native Americans. For children ages 6 and older. 

Sunday, November 16, 2025 

Performance: Kim Shuck’s Poem Jam Celebrates Janice Gould, 1 p.m., Main Library, Latino/ Hispanic Room, Lower Level 

San Francisco Poet Laureate emerita Kim Shuck invites special guests to celebrate the Native American poet and scholar Janice Gould.  

Workshop: Clay Pinch Pots, 3 p.m., Sunset 

Enjoy a read aloud of the 2025 Caldecott Medal winner book Chooch Helped by Andrea L. Rogers and illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz. Then learn about and make pinch pots out of air-dry clay following the book's instructions. For children and their caregivers. 

Book Club: Friends of Dorothy,  3:30 p.m., Virtual Library and Eureka Valley 

If you enjoy reading and discussing LGBTQIA+ books, spend an hour hashing out the details of this month's selection: Tommy Pico's Nature Poem. This is a hybrid event. Registration is required for Zoom attendance. In-person attendance does not require registration. 

Monday, November 17, 2025 

Book Club: Golden Gate Valley Library Reading Circle, 3 p.m., Golden Gate Valley 

We will be discussing Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir by Deborah A. Miranda. Please join us. 

Workshop: Sand Painting, 4 p.m., Noe Valley/Sally Brunn 

Learn about Dine sand painting and then make your own sand painting with colored sand and glue on a cardboard frame. Space limited. First come, first served. 

Tuesday, November 18, 2025 

Workshop: Traditional Ecological Knowledge Tea Time, 5 p.m., Visitacion Valley 

Learn from Native knowledge about plants commonly used for herbal tea, then select from the plants you’ve learned about to make your own custom tea blend. Books and other source materials will be available to deepen your learning. For ages 13 and older. 

Wednesday, November 19, 2025 

Workshop: Huichol Yarn Painting, 3 p.m., Sunset 

Make a simple craft based on Huichol yarn painting, a traditional art form of the Huichol people of Mexico. For ages 8–13.  

Workshop: Biblio Bistro, 4 p.m., Main Library, The Mix, 2nd Floor 

Learn to make delicious food using our portable kitchen. This month for First Person: Native American Heritage Celebration, we will be making a vegan version of Pozole Verde, a dish that has been eaten throughout Mexico since pre-Columbian times. For ages 12–18. 

Film: Smoke Signals, 5 p.m., Park 

On the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation in Idaho, young adults Thomas and Victor have grown up together but have an uneasy relationship. When Victor's estranged father dies, Thomas offers Victor the funds to retrieve his father's ashes in Arizona - but only if Victor lets Thomas come along for the ride. 

Book Club: Ulloa Reading Corner, 6 p.m., West Portal 

We will be discussing Fire Exit by Morgan Talty. Meetings are held on the third Wednesday of every month. 

Sunday, November 23, 2025 

Workshop: Native American Beading with Kalorie Roanhorse, 2 p.m., Portola 

Instructor Kalorie Roanhorse, an expert in Native American beading, teaches the basics of jewelry design and beading. Space limited. Reservations required: (415) 355-5660. 

Book Club: Genre Smoosh, 3:30 p.m., Virtual Library and Eureka Valley 

If you enjoy any genre of fiction from literary to science fiction to horror to pulp, spend an hour discussing this month's genre fiction selection: Rebecca Roanhorse's Tread of Angels. This is a hybrid event. Registration is required for Zoom attendance. In-person attendance does not require registration. 

Monday, November 24, 2025 

Workshop: Huichol Yarn Painting, 2:30 p.m., Parkside 

Make a simple craft based on Huichol yarn painting, a traditional art form of the Huichol people of Mexico. For ages 8 and older.  

Tuesday, November 25, 2025 

Book Club: Viz Valley Readers, Amanda Peters' Waiting for the Long Night Moon, 4 p.m., Visitacion Valley 

This month, we discuss Amanda Peters' Waiting for the Long Night Moon, a collection of short fiction where Peters describes the Indigenous experience from an astonishingly wide spectrum in time and place—from contact with the first European settlers, to the forced removal of Indigenous children, to the present-day fight for the right to clean water. 

Wednesday, November 26, 2025 

Activity: Snack Trials, Main Library, The Mix, 2nd Floor 

Taste different snacks and pick your favorite. This month for First Person: Native American Heritage Celebration, we will be tasting nuts, seeds and legumes that are indigenous to North America. For ages 12–18.