[CALIBK12] Jan Brett and Sherman Alexie - Best selling books

[Debbie Reese]

Good morning,

"Who can tell" is, perhaps, the theme of this weeks updates to my webpage. As the 2007 ended and 2008 began, two books sit at top of the best selling lists. Jan Brett's THE THREE SNOW BEARS and Sherman Alexie's ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART TIME INDIAN. 

It is a delicate discussion, but it doesn't come out of nowhere. There is a long, ugly history of intentional and unintentional exploitation of American Indians. 

Some tribes are assertively working towards protecting their cultures and stories. Among them is the Hopi Tribe, that has developed a research protocol regarding its intellectual property. It includes this:

"Through the decades the intellectual property rights of Hopi have been violated for the benefit of many other, non-Hopi people that has proven to be detrimental. Expropriation comes in many forms. For example, numerous stories told to strangers have been published in books without the storytellers' permission."

The Hopi tribe protocol is what I wrote about on Friday, January 4th. 

Below are updates to American Indians in Children's Literature. To get to it, visit my UIUC faculty page 
(http://www.nah.uiuc.edu/faculty-Reese.htm) and click on 'Web Page.'

Monday, December 31
Jan Brett and Sherman Alexie
--Observations about the books by these two authors, both of which are on the NYTimes bestsellers lists.

Wednesday, January 2
Video Interview: Joseph Bruchac
--Links to Bruchac interview at Scholastic, and a print interview at CCBC website

Friday, January 4
Tribal Protocols Regarding Research
--Link to Hopi protocol

Please forward this email to others who work with children and books. Have a good week!

Sincerely,
Debbie

_______________________________

Debbie A. Reese, (Nambé Pueblo)
Assistant Professor
American Indian Studies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1206 West Nevada
Urbana, IL 61801

Email: debreese at uiuc.edu 

Internet Resource & Blog: American Indians in Children's Literature, located at http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com

UIUC's Native American House http://www.nah.uiuc.edu
TEL 217-265-9870
FAX 217-265-9880