1992 | Robert L. Perea | Stacey's Story | Pine Ridge Sioux |
| Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel | The Lasting of the Mohegans | Mohegan |
| William S. Yellow Robe, Jr. | The Star Quilter in Where the Pavement Ends | Assiniboine |
1993 | Philip H. Red Eagle | Red Earth | Sioux-Klallam |
1994 | Gus Palmer | Calling Through the Creek | Kiowa |
1995 | Glenn J. Twist | Boston Mountain Tales | Cherokee-Creek |
1996 | No award given. | | |
1997 | Robert J. Perry | Life With the Little People | Chickasaw |
| D. L. Birchfield | The Oklahoma Basic Intelligence Test | Choctaw-Chickasaw |
1998 | No award given. | | |
1999 | Evelina Zuni Lucero | Night Sky, Morning Star | Isleta/San Juan Pueblo |
2000 | Chip Livingston | Naming Ceremony | Florida Creek |
2001 | Valerie Red Horse | Naturally Native | Cherokee |
2002 | Edythe S. Hobson | An Inquest Every Sunday | Arkansas Quapaw |
2003 | Susan Supernaw | The Power of a Name | Creek/Munsee |
2004 | Kimberly G. Roppolo | Back to the Blanket: Reading, Writing, and Resistance for American Indian Literary Critics | Cherokee-Choctaw-Creek |
2005 | Mia Heavener | Tundra Berries | Central Yup'ik |
2006 | Judy R. Smith | Yellowbird | Quinnipiac-Mohican |
| Frederick White | Welcome to the City of Rainbows |