[CALIBK12] Shelving question re American Indian story [XWall-MX]

[BROGER MACKEY, LORI]

Debbie, Mary, et al,

My question would be -- Is it made up by a Native American tribe regarding its own traditions, and hence a folk tale, or is it just made up by someone else, and therefore, fiction?  Follett lists it as "Arrow to the Sun: a Pueblo Indian tale" and lists it under 398.2.  It sounds like Debbie is saying it's made up, as in fiction.  So if one knows better, shouldn't it put be in the fiction section (not 398.2).  My two cents.  Any other opinions?

Lori Broger-Mackey, Teacher Librarian
Cleveland HS, Reseda



-----Original Message-----
From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu on behalf of Lock, Mary
Sent: Wed 3/19/2008 8:16 AM
To: Debbie Reese; lm_net at listserv.syr.edu; ISLMANET-L at LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU; tlc at txla.org; oztl_net at listserv.csu.edu.au; calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu; pubyac at lists.prairienet.org
Subject: Re: [CALIBK12] Shelving question re American Indian story [XWall-MX]
 
Hi, all!   Re. Arrow to the Sun being shelved in Non-Fiction, yes, I do have it shelved in 398.2, because it is a folk tale.  Am I correct?  If it was true factual, historically accurate non-fiction, like Monty Roessel's Kinaalda - A Navajo Girl Grows Up, or Marcie Rendon's Powwow Summer: A Family Celebrates the Circle of Life, it would be in the 970's.  

 

Please tell me if this humble library technician is going about this incorrectly!

 

Mary Lock, IMT/Librarian

Wildwood Elementary School

Thousand Oaks

 

________________________________

From: calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu [mailto:calibk12-bounces at lists.sjsu.edu] On Behalf Of Debbie Reese
Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 5:14 AM
To: lm_net at listserv.syr.edu; ISLMANET-L at LISTSERV.UIUC.EDU; tlc at txla.org; oztl_net at listserv.csu.edu.au; calibk12 at lists.sjsu.edu; pubyac at lists.prairienet.org; debbie Reese
Subject: [CALIBK12] Shelving question re American Indian story [XWall-MX]

 

Good morning,

Yesterday I read a book called GERALD MCDERMOTT AND YOU, and finally found the answer to a question I've had for many years. His book ARROW TO THE SUN has many errors in it with respect to portrayal of Pueblo Indian culture and values, but I'd always been looking for information on the "Dance of Life" at the end of the story. I'm from Nanbe Owingeh (English spelling is Nambe Pueblo), born and raised there, and know all our dances and most of those of the other eight northern pueblos. There are 11 other pueblos in other regions of New Mexico, and I'm less familiar with their dances, and with those of the Hopi pueblos in Arizona, so I've been wondering if one of them does the "Dance of Life." My research had turned up nothing.

Anyway, in GERALD MCDERMOTT AND YOU, Jon Stott says that the McDermott made up that dance.  I wrote about this at my blog yesterday, but have a question for you.

There are factual errors in the book. There is made-up stuff in the book. I'm guessing that most libraries have it shelved in the non-fiction section, where the folklore is shelved. 

I wasn't trained in library school, so the questions I'm asking are not rhetorical. I really want to know.

If a book is factually wrong and has made-up information, what do you do with it once you learn that it has these problems?

Would you, for example, keep a book on the shelf if it had 2 plus 2 equals 5?

Would you, for example, keep a book on the non-fiction shelf if it says it is a Christian story, but has made-up rituals? 

Debbie





Debbie A. Reese (Nanbé Ówîngeh)
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







-------------- next part --------------
An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed...
Name: ATT49022725.txt
Url: http://lists.sjsu.edu/pipermail/calibk12/attachments/20080319/8d7814aa/attachment.txt