Native Americans in Children’s Literature

By

Alan D. Groff

The American institution has raised countless generations with misconceptions and lies regarding various foreign cultures. During the 1950’s the educational system in America was given the responsibility of teaching children the horrors and injustices they would suffer if the "evil" communist took over the world. Schools taught students that communist wanted to take away music, apple pie, baseball, and anything else that Americans cherished. Students learned that it was best to believe in the righteous of America. The preceding discussion has much in common with the treatment that Native Americans have received from picture books in America.

The American society came to the conclusion hundred of years ago that it was in the best interest of America to misrepresent Native Americans, both in the past and present. The American continents were said to be inhabited with animal-like savages that had no cultural value. Schools have taught that it was the Europeans duty to civilize the new lands. One of the primary tools that have been used in the education of children is the picture book. Picture books have provided the American institution with a means of teaching our children that the Native Americans were bestial and animalistic, thus enabling us to ignore or justify the atrocities that Europeans and Americans have inflicted on the native societies.

Picture books are one of the first mediums of learning that children encounter. The picture book was first created in 1657 by John Amos Comenius. Comenius’s book was entitled Orbis Pictus (The world of Pictures) and was an alphabet book (Martinez 57). Picture books are used to lay the foundations of the historical view that America wishes for students to learn. Picture books combine the use of visual cues with texts to encourage word recognition and foster the growth of reading skills. Native Americans are open to misrepresentation in several ways in picture books. First, the illustrator of the work can choose to portray all of the natives in their work as savage barbarians. The illustrator can also choose to display the native cultures of America as being the aggressors in conflicts, destroying homes or hunting white women and children. Another way that picture books can be used to reinforce the stereotypical view of Native Americans is the way in which the texts presents the actions of the indigenous people. Finally, the Native Americans in the text can be given limited or broken English as a means of conversation, thus giving the reader the impression that the Natives were all stupid and unintelligible.

The following is a summary and a critique of ten picture books that contain Native Americans in the story arc, some of the stories feature grotesque injustices to the Native American persona, while others show the humanity and value of these cultures.

1) Three Fools and a Horse:

Summary and Critique: "A long time back, the Foolish People lived on Two Dog Mountain. Most of the people knew nothing. Some knew a little more. But all were foolish" (Baker, 7). The preceding quote contains all of the information that the reader needs to understand about this tribe, the natives are stupid. The story centers around three Indians and their attempts to ride a horse that they won and about their utter stupidity in learning how to ride the horse. By portraying the natives as foolish Baker makes an attempt at humor, but merle succeed in perpetuating stupidity.

In addition to having a story that centers around a band of stupid Indians the work also contains illustrations that merely enhance the barbaric feel of the tribe. The Indians are shown to be ragged and dirty and to be in nothing but a loin clothe. A more primitive looking people I have not seen. Baker’s work is intended for children five to seven years old and therefore only makes her stereotyping that much more destructive. Young children may not have the historical background to understand that the Foolish People are not representative of Native American cultures.

2) Before You Came This Way

Summary and Critique: This book by Byrd Baylor is a very interesting work because of the story itself. The story has to deal with the examination of petroglyphs that are found as the reader is walking down a hidden cavern. The author does not tell the reader the meaning of the pictures, but rather just speculates on the possible meaning of the works. There is no judgement in the author’s tone, but just questions about what the works may mean. Baylor has provided young children with a work that asks them to theorize and does not perpetuate any of the stereotypes that society has formed about the authors of wall art. Baylors book is a wonderfully, non-offensive work that allows children the opportunity to form their own opinions on the various aspects on the people that formed these works.

3) George Washington:

Summary and Critique: "Virginia was once a wilderness. Wild beasts lived there, and swift Indians ran through grass and swamps...then across the sea came the men from England and chased the Indians away" (D’Aulaire, 8). Why is it that D’Aulaire feels that it is necessary to set the seen of his work by associating the Native Americans in Virginia with wild beasts? The author has found it necessary to degrade and dehumanize the native population so as to be more able to paint George Washington as a hero and a savior of these so-called wild lands. The illustrations only further incriminate the native population by showing wild, savages attacking women and children before the arrival of Washington and his army. The story makes no attempt to explain the history that lead to Native Americans attacking white settlements, the work makes the Native Americans 100% in error. It is a shame that many feel that the only way to immortalize a man is by vilify his enemies and making them monsters.

4) The Matchlock Gun

Summary and Critique: In 1942, The Matchlock Gun won the most prestigious award for the a picture book, the Newberry Award. The book was praised for its portrayal of the life during the early settlement of New York. The gleam and shine of the praise has been lost over the years and the book is held up as a prime example of the misrepresentation of Native Americans in literature. In the story a family has built and raised a farm and a family. When the father of the house is called away for the defense of the settlement, the wife and children are left defenseless to the Native threat. With the father gone the Indians strike and burn the home while the mother and children are inside. Fortunately for the story ten year old son has found his fathers gun, a matchlock gun, and fired at the "evil" Indians and kills them. The story is strong and riveting and I can see why the story won an award, but the fact that the author makes no attempt to humanize the Native Americans is unacceptable. This story shows again the horrors that bestial natives have in store for peaceful women and children.

5) Arctic Hunter:

Summary and Critique: Arctic Hunter is a nonfiction photographic picture book that describes the life and daily activities of the Inupiat tribe. The story gives a very personal and warm feel to the Alaskan people. The story treats the culture as unique and valuable and by no means tries to use and sort of propaganda of the dominant society.

6) The Good Giants and the Bad Puckwudgies

Summary and Critique: This story is a supposed retelling of an Wampanoag folktale. The story tells that a group of Native Americans attack a peaceful family of giants and kill the parent’s five children. The children are then dumped in the sea and their bodies become Cape Cod and various other islands. Once again, the native people are shown to be barbaric and warlike and ready to strike out with deadly force for no reason at all. This type of story is not only an insult to the Native American cultures, but an insult to all of mankind. This type of story attempts to tell the reader that man is just as apt to letting another live or kill them. In all of these stories it appears that man can commit great acts of evil with out provocation.

7) Buffalo Woman

Summary and Critique: The story of The Buffalo Woman is common through out many cultures and helps to encourage the feeling of a brotherhood of all humankind. The story has a Shakespearean quality in that the main character loses that which he holds most dear because of some flaw of character. In an attempt to redeem himself, the main character asks the Buffalo Gods to aid him in his quest. The Gods aid the deserving man and he redeems himself. Goble uses a very respectful tone in describing the society of the Native culture and thus allows for the reader to identify with the main character. The story is very good and deals with the trials of people in a given society, as opposed to the individual being the stereotypes of the greater society.

8) All of You was Singing

Summary and Critique: In this recreation of an ancient Aztec legend, the reader is given an insight into how the Aztecs reasoned that music came into the world. The story goes that music did not exist when the world was created, rather music came into existence with the cooperation and work of all living creatures on the planet. It took every living thing on Earth to bring humanity the beauty of song. The story leaves the reader wondering how much humanity could accomplish if they simply worked together. The story is very real and respectful of the ancient culture.

9) Indian Summer

Summary and Critique: Once again we have another author has found it necessary to preach the glories of the frontier life in colonial America. Authors apparently feel that it is their moral obligation to minimize and animalize other cultures. Once again in this story, a family is left to fend for itself as the father of the house is away. Once again an Indian attempts to surprise the family and kill them all. The Indian is a brutal killer that is without a sense of honor. But, once again the author of this work feels that children prefer to deal with good and bad characters, rather then viewing people as individuals that are attempting to do what they believe they have to.

10) Little Indian

Summary and Critique: Little Indian is about a young child’s quest to earn a name for himself. The characters in this book are not stereotypical and the family relations between the Native father and son seem healthy and full of love. But, in an attempt to tell a story the author has trivialized an ancient right of passage among Native Americans, earning a name. By minimizing the act of receiving a name, many cultures may feel slighted that one of their ancient traditions has been so minimized. Minimized or not the story will not give the reader the impression that Native Americans are barbarians. I believe that this work can be used with children if a better source can not be found.

Conclusion: It is evident from studying a variety of literary works that Native Americans are not given the proper respect and admiration that they deserve as a society. While picture books of today are much less culturally biased to the native populations of the America’s, the works are not perfect. Stereotyping still goes on in children’s literature and this simple act leads to individuals in the dominant society creating misconceptions and errors in thinking in regard to native Americans.

Works Cited

Baker, Betty. Three Fools and a Horse. MacMillan Publishing Co., New York. 1975.

Baylor, Byrd. Before You Came This Way. E. P. Dutton & Co., New York. 1969.

D'Aulaire, Ingri & Edgar Parin. George Washington. Doubleday, & Co., New York. 1936.

Edmonds, Walter D. The Matchlock Gun. Dodd, Mead & Company, New York. 1941.

Fritz, Jean. The Good Giants and the Bad Pukwudgies. Putnam, New York. 1982.

Goble, Paul. Buffalo Woman. Bradbury Press, New York. 1984.

Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. Arctic Hunter. Holiday House, New York. 1992.

Lewis, Richard. All of You was Singing. MacMillan Publishing Co., New York. 1991.

Lindgren, Merri V. The Multicolored Mirror: Cultural Substance in Literature for Children and Young Adults. Highsmith Press, Wisconsin. 1991.

Maxim, George W. The Very Young: Guiding Children from Infancy through the Early Years. Prentice Hall, Ohio. 1993.

Monjo, F. N. Indian Summer. Harper & Row Publishing, New York. 1968.

Parish, Peggy. Little Indian. Simon & Schuster, New York. 1968.