- Imagination. New York: Charles E. Merrill, 1981.
- Jacklight. New York: Holt, 1984.
- Love Medicine. New York: Holt, 1984; expanded ed. Holt, 1993.
- The Beet Queen. New York: Holt, 1986.
- Tracks. New York: Holt, 1988.
- Baptism of Desire. New York: HarperCollins, 1989.
- With Michael Dorris. Route Two. New York: Lord John Press, 1990.
- With Michael Dorris. The Crown of Columbus. New York and London: HarperCollins, 1991.
- The Falcon: A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner. New York: Penguin, 1994.
- The Bingo Palace. London: Flamingo, 1994; New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
- The Blue Jay’s Dance: A Birth Year. New York and London: HarperCollins, 1995.
- Tales of Burning Love. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.
- Grandmother’s Pigeon. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1996.
- The Antelope Wife. New York and London: Harper/Flamingo, 1998.
- The Birchbark House. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1999.
- The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. London: Flamingo, 2002.
- The Range Eternal. New York: Hyperion, 2002.
- The Master Butcher’s Singing Club. New York: Harper & Row, 2003.
- Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country. New York: The National Geographic Society, 2003.
- Four Souls. London: HarperCollins, 2004.
- Original Fire: Selected and New Poems. New York: Harper Perennial, 2004.
- The Painted Drum: A Novel (P.S.). London: HarperCollins, 2005.
- The Game of Silence. New York: HarperCollins, 2005.
- The Plague of Doves. New York: HarperCollins, 2008.