Indigenous Sapphic Books: Native & Two-Spirit Lesbian Reads

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The best Indigenous sapphic books to start with are Collins Fox’s The Ways We Converge, a romance between two Indigenous women, Eliana Ramage’s To the Moon and Back, with a queer Cherokee heroine, and Carole laFavor’s Ojibwa lesbian mysteries. Below are 14 verified books with Native American, First Nations, Métis, Māori, Aboriginal Australian and Native Hawaiian sapphic leads or authors writing their own lives. Each one is labeled for romance role, heat and ending, and names the nation wherever a source does.

By LRR Editorial · Updated October 16, 2026 · 14 books · Researched from publisher, author and reader sources

• 14 verified books
• Nation named where sourced
• Romance role labeled
• Fiction vs. memoir & poetry marked
• Two-Spirit in context

Indigenous sapphic books: quick picks

Here’s every book on this page at a glance. The Romance column shows how much of each story is a love story.

What counts as an Indigenous sapphic book here

We include a book when a main character, or the author writing about her own life, is both Indigenous and a woman who loves women (or a sapphic nonbinary person), and a publisher, the author or a major review confirms both on the page. Indigenous here covers Native American, First Nations, Métis, Inuit, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Māori, Native Hawaiian, Sámi and other Indigenous peoples. Most of the verified books are North American, with Māori, Aboriginal Australian and Native Hawaiian entries. We didn’t find a verified Inuit or Sámi sapphic lead for this edition, and we’d rather say so than pad the list.

Naming the nation

Indigenous people belong to specific nations, so “Native” alone is rarely the whole story. Each card names the nation or community where a source does: Cherokee, Ojibwa, Ojibwa-Cree, Métis, Mohawk, Menominee, Māori iwi, Mununjali Yugambeh. Where the book doesn’t name one, as with the Tribe in The Ways We Converge, we say so instead of guessing. We also keep the author’s nation apart from the character’s. An author’s affiliation is noted as own-voices context, and it isn’t used to label a character the book doesn’t label.

Two-Spirit is not a synonym for lesbian

Two-Spirit is a modern pan-Indigenous umbrella term, and national Two-Spirit gatherings have been held since the early 1990s. The US Indian Health Service notes that it “does not simply mean” someone who is Native and gay. It can describe gender roles and spiritual identity rooted in specific nations, and many nations have their own words for these roles. Some Two-Spirit people are lesbian, and many aren’t. So we use Two-Spirit only where the person uses it: Ma-Nee Chacaby, Carole laFavor and Chrystos all describe themselves as both Two-Spirit and lesbian, and Beth Brant wrote about Two-Spirit identity. A “Two-Spirit books” list in general will include gay men, trans women and nonbinary people, which is why many of those books aren’t on this sapphic page.

What we left out and why

• The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez: Bird, Gilda’s Lakota lover and mentor, is an important character, but the lead is a Black woman. It belongs with Black sapphic reading. See our Black lesbian books guide.
• Love After the End (ed. Joshua Whitehead): an excellent Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer speculative anthology, but only some stories are sapphic.
• The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson: it has a Métis ace-spectrum lead, but we couldn’t confirm a central sapphic storyline.
• Rabbit Chase by Elizabeth LaPensée: its Anishinaabe lead is nonbinary, with no sapphic romance confirmed.
• Male-centred Indigiqueer novels such as Jonny Appleseed and Fire Song: essential queer Indigenous reading, but not sapphic.
• Indie romances tagged “Native” without saying which character is Indigenous, or from where. We’ll add them once a source confirms it.

Indigenous sapphic romance and love stories

Romance-first books with Indigenous sapphic leads from big publishers are still rare. The verified romance shelf is one indie romance and two adult novels where a love between women is a major thread. If you only want genre romance with a guaranteed HEA, start with the first card.

Native American lesbian mysteries

Carole laFavor’s two Renee LaRoche novels were among the first crime novels with an Indigenous lesbian detective. Read them in order. They’re short, community-rooted and serious, and the 2017 University of Minnesota Press reissues are the easiest editions to find.

Indigenous sapphic fantasy and YA

One adult fantasy with crossover appeal and one YA historical retelling. In both, the sapphic thread sits inside a larger plot. For more teen picks, see our YA sapphic fantasy guide.

Literary fiction about Indigenous queer women

One prize-winning Aboriginal Australian debut and one 1983 classic of Native women’s fiction. Both reward slow, attentive reading, and neither is a romance.

Two-Spirit and Indigenous lesbian memoir and poetry

Some of the most important Indigenous lesbian writing is nonfiction and poetry. Here the representation comes from the author’s own life and voice, not from a fictional character, and the labels say so. There are no heat or ending tags for these, because they don’t apply.

How to choose an Indigenous sapphic book

Want a love story? Check the romance label first

Only The Ways We Converge is a genre romance built around one couple. Into the Bright Open has the most romance of the rest, though it’s YA and stays at kissing. To the Moon and Back and Greta & Valdin give a sapphic relationship real weight but share the page with family stories. If you need an HEA, read the ending label. “Not verified” means we couldn’t confirm the ending without spoilers or a reliable source.

Pick a nation or region, not just “Indigenous”

If you’re looking for your own community, or a specific setting, use the representation label. This page has Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma, Ojibwa community life in the laFavor mysteries, Métis characters on Georgian Bay, Ojibwa-Cree life in northern Ontario, Mohawk writing from Tyendinaga, Māori Auckland, Mununjali Yugambeh country in Queensland and Native Hawaiian poetry. The nation in To Shape a Dragon’s Breath is invented.

Fiction, memoir or poetry

Novels give you a character to follow. The memoirs give you real lives. The poetry by Chrystos and No’u Revilla is short but dense. If you’re new to poetry, read a few poems at a time.

Check content notes before you start

Several books deal with colonial violence, child removal and abuse. A Two-Spirit Journey includes graphic assault, and Evil Dead Center centres abuse in foster care. If you want something lighter, Greta & Valdin and The Ways We Converge are the warmest reads here.

Older books and editions

Not Vanishing, The Woman Who Owned the Shadows and the laFavor mysteries were first published decades ago. Match the edition when you buy or borrow. Where we couldn’t verify an Amazon US listing (for Hine Toa, Not Vanishing and Ask the Brindled), we left the link off rather than send you to the wrong book. Try your library, an Indigenous-owned bookshop or the publisher.

More reading routes

How we chose these books

This is a researched selection, not a list of books we’re claiming to have read. We checked every title against publisher descriptions, author biographies, reviews (Lesbrary, Quill & Quire, Autostraddle, Cherokee Phoenix), library reading lists and reader databases such as I Heart SapphFic and Goodreads. A book made the list only if a source confirmed both the Indigenous identity and the sapphic identity, or relationship, for a lead character, or for the author in memoir and poetry. Goodreads ratings were checked in October 2026.

We didn’t count author identity alone. Own-voices status is noted on the cards where the author has stated it publicly. We dropped books whose Indigenous character is a side character, and anthologies whose sapphic content is only partial. Where a detail wasn’t confirmed, the label says “Not verified.” Where LRR has a full review of a book, we link it from the card. None of these titles has one yet.

This shelf’s verified list is shorter than our other guides, which reflects publishing gaps, not reader demand. We’ll add books as new evidence comes in. Spotted an error or a missing book? Contact us. Our editorial standards explain how we research and correct lists.

Frequently asked questions

What are Indigenous sapphic books?

Indigenous sapphic books are stories, memoirs or poetry centred on Indigenous women who love women, or sapphic nonbinary Indigenous people. That includes Native American, First Nations, Métis, Māori, Aboriginal Australian and Native Hawaiian leads. On LRR, both the Indigenous identity and the sapphic identity or relationship have to be on the page for a main character, or be the author's own life in memoir and poetry, and a source has to confirm it.

Is Two-Spirit the same as lesbian?

No. Two-Spirit is a modern pan-Indigenous umbrella term that can describe gender roles, spiritual identity and sexuality rooted in specific nations. The US Indian Health Service notes it doesn't simply mean Native and gay. Some Two-Spirit people are lesbian, and many aren't. That's why we use the term only where an author or person uses it, as Ma-Nee Chacaby, Carole laFavor and Chrystos do.

Are there Native American lesbian romance novels?

Yes, but very few have verified Indigenous sapphic leads. The clearest current example is Collins Fox's The Ways We Converge, a second-chance romance between two Indigenous women set around a Tribal food sovereignty program. Eliana Ramage's To the Moon and Back gives a queer Cherokee heroine a major love story with another Native woman, but it's literary fiction, not genre romance.

What are good Indigenous sapphic books for teens?

Start with Cherie Dimaline's Into the Bright Open, a YA Secret Garden retelling, for ages 13 and up, in which Mary falls for Sophie, a Métis girl, in 1901 Ontario. Moniquill Blackgoose's To Shape a Dragon's Breath is adult fantasy that many older teens enjoy. Its bisexual Indigenous heroine has a slow-building crush on another young woman. Check the content notes for colonial racism.

Who are some Native American lesbian authors?

Foundational voices include Beth Brant (Mohawk), Chrystos (Menominee), Paula Gunn Allen (Laguna descent), Carole laFavor (Ojibwe) and Ma-Nee Chacaby (Ojibwa-Cree), whose work appears on this page. Their books range from poetry and essays to mystery and memoir. Newer Indigenous authors writing sapphic characters include Eliana Ramage (Cherokee Nation), Cherie Dimaline (Métis) and Moniquill Blackgoose (Seaconke Wampanoag).

Does the author need to be Indigenous for a book to be included?

No, and author identity alone doesn't qualify a book either. We include a book when a main character is Indigenous and sapphic, confirmed by a publisher, author or review source. Where an author has publicly stated their own nation, we note it as own-voices context on the card. Every book on this edition of the list happens to be by an Indigenous author.