[CALIBK12] American Indians in Children's Literature

[Debbie Reese]

Hello,

I'm new to the listserv, and will introduce 
myself and the nature of my contributions to the list.

I am a tribally enrolled Pueblo Indian woman from 
Nambe Pueblo, in northern New Mexico. I grew up 
on our reservation (Nambe) in northern New 
Mexico. I take part in our religious and spiritual ceremonies.

I earned a teaching degree from UNM and taught 
school for several years, but now, I'm now a 
professor in American Indian Studies at the 
University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. I 
completed a doctorate in Education in 2001, in Curriculum and Instruction.

While a grad student, I taught the social studies 
methods course in early childhood education, but 
most of my teaching, research and writing is on 
children's and young adult literature. 
Specifically, I study and consider the ways that 
children are taught about American Indians, via their literature.

As a professor, I'm expected to write articles 
for academic journals and chapters for books, but 
as a former classroom teacher, I'm aware that 
teachers and librarians often don't read those 
journals and books, because they don't have time 
to track them down, or they can't afford to subscribe to them.

To try to reach teachers, parents, and 
librarians, I started "American Indians in 
Children's Literature." I tried to set up a 
webpage but found it cumbersome, so I decided to 
use an Internet blog as my webpage. I've been 
developing it now for over a year. Several times a week, I add material to it.

The past two weeks, for example, I added material 
to it that looks critically at Thanksgiving, and 
how it is presented in children's books. These 
materials (called "blog posts") are on my page on 
the left side. Over on the right are resources 
that I add. For example, I link to articles on 
the web that are related to the teaching of American Indian literature.

Below I'll paste an example of what I put on my 
page. To get to it, visit my bio at UIUC and 
click on 'Web Page': http://www.nah.uiuc.edu/faculty-Reese.htm

On Sunday or Monday of each week, I make a list 
of what I added the previous week, and send that 
list out by email. I hope you find the information I provide helpful.

Sincerely,
Debbie Reese

--------------------------
OCTOBER 12, 2007
DO ALL INDIANS LIVE IN TIPIS?
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2007/10/do-all-indians-live-in-tipis.html

Are you a teacher wondering if all Indians live 
in tipis? If so, order a copy of the book Do All 
Indians Live in Tipis?: Questions and Answers 
from the National Museum of the American Indian. 
It isn't a children's book, per se, but its 
content is certainly accessible to upper 
elementary readers, and, it will prove useful to 
teachers developing lesson plans about American Indians.

In the foreword, founding director Rick West 
(Southern Cheyenne and member of the Cheyenne and 
Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma) writes:

Before I became the founding director of the 
<http://www.nmai.si.edu/>National Museum of the 
American Indian, I was a practicing attorney, and 
sometimes, when I hear the odd--and even 
offensive--questions that almost every Indian 
must bear, I want to rise up and should, "I object!"



The introduction is by Wilma Mankiller (Cherokee). She writes:

In 1963 President John F. Kennedy said, "for a 
subject worked and reworked so often in novels, 
motion pictures, and television, American Indians 
are the least understood and the most 
misunderstood of us all." Regrettably, this 
statement is as true today as it was more than 
forty years ago. Many negative stereotypes persist.



She goes on to say that summer visitors to the 
Cherokee Nation include tourists who wanted to 
know "Where are all the Indians?" To which she'd 
reply "They are probably at Wal-Mart!"

West and Mankiller's words set the state quite 
nicely for a volume consisting of about 100 
questions, grouped into these categories:

    * Identity
    * Origins and Histories
    * Popular Myths
    * Clothing, Housing, Food, and Health
    * Ceremony and Ritual
    * Sovereignty
    * Animals and Land
    * Language and Education
    * Love and Marriage
    * Art, Music, Dance, and Sports

And here's a sample of the questions:

    * Why was the Navajo language chosen for 
military code in World War II? Were all Indian "code talkers" Navajo?
    * Did all tribes have totem poles? Does anyone still carve them?
    * How many Indians lived in the Western Hemisphere when Columbus arrived?
    * Why is the word Eskimo sometimes offensive?

Published by HarperCollins, I paid $14.95 for the 
book at Pages for All Ages, our local independent 
bookstore. With "Native American Month" 
approaching in November, you will find it a useful volume.

And, as always, consider moving your lesson plans 
OUT of November; teaching about American Indians 
only during that month contributes to the 
mistaken idea that we are only a people of the 
past, long vanished. That is not the case. We are still here.





Debbie A. Reese (Nambé Pueblo)
Assistant Professor, American Indian Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Native American House, Room 2005
1204 West Nevada Street, MC-138
Urbana, Illinois 61801

Email: debreese at uiuc.edu
TEL 217-265-9885
FAX 217-265-9880

My Internet blog and resource:
American Indians in Children's Literature
To get to it, visit my bio and click on 'Web Page'
http://www.nah.uiuc.edu/faculty-Reese.htm




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