From: Judith O'Malley <jomalley>
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 15:38:33 -0500

Thanks, Eliza, for starting the discussion of evaluation of books about American Indians with a consideration of Louise Erdrich's wonderful novel for middle grade readers, The Birchbark House. What I think makes this book memorable is the intimate portrait of daily life in an Ojibwa family at a pivotal time in the history of that cultural and in the history of America. Written "from within," since the story so closely parallels Erdrich's own family history, this novel allows the reader to participate in all the small and large joys, sorrows, losses the family experiences and to share in the love, humor, and strength that characterize Omakayas's family's ability to endure and prevail.

It seems a sad commentary that this may be the first story written for young readers that offers a close, compassionate view of an American Indian household with which children today can empathize as they do with the Little House books. But, the brighter picture is that this book accomplishes this goal so effectively with vivid writing and characters who are complex and fully developed, never caricatures or types. Children who identify with Omakayas's strength and spirit also learn a great deal about a highly developed traditional culture, but that is never a forced lesson, but a completely organic result of the reader's immersion in a time and place.

Judy O'Malley Book Links American Library Association

Welcome to the October discussion "Evaluating Children's and Young Adult Books by and about American Indians."

Several weeks ago a newspaper headline caught my eye, "For the Third Time in a Century Crayola Changes Name of Color Due to Public Opinion" I went to the Crayola web site to see what the "retired" color names were. In 1958 Prussian Blue was changed to Midnight Blue "in response to teachers' requests." In 1962, Flesh was changed to Peach, "partially as a result of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement." The third change, Indian Red to Chestnut, was not yet mentioned on the web site, so I e-mailed Crayola to inquire and received this reply, "In July 1999, we changed the name in response to the feedback of consumers and educators who believed that some children wrongly perceived that this color was intended to represent the skin color of Native Americans." I also noted that this color was introduced in 1958.

Why introduce our October discussion with this "factoid?" To me it brings to mind at least two reasons this discussion is important: (1) sensitivity to perpetuation of stereotypical and inaccurate portrayal regarding American Indians is taking an extremely long time to reach widespread public conscientious, has an element of denial to it even when it does, but perhaps is now gaining some momentum (2) even large, tradition-bound organizations like Crayola, that had only eight basic colors from 1903 1949, can "come to their senses" when enough of us voice our opinion about the need for change.

Changes *are* taking place in books by and about American Indians for youth. It has been said that one of the distinctive features about Native literature for youth in the past is not that there has been too little, but that there has been too much, too much, of course, of a one-sided, stereotype-perpetuating nature. As the quantity has slowed down, the quality has gradually started to increase.

CCBC Choices 1998 documents that there were 55 books on American Indian themes and topics published. A positive change is that many books name specific Indian nations from which a tale or subject comes or about which a story is told. A sad fact is that very few are written or illustrated by Native artists and illustrators.

This background leads us to, Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House, a first novel for children by an accomplished writer who weaves into this book elements from her own Ojibwa heritage. Spunky, creative eight-year-old Omakayas lives with her family on Madeleine Island in Lake Superior in 1847. This 1999 book has received a great deal of positive attention and has been seized upon by teachers for classroom sharing as soon as they hear of it. It has been praised by reviewers "as "charming, suspenseful, and funny."

Is it possible for this tale is of a community stricken by smallpox, and a child whose small brother dies and older sister is scarred for life to be charming and funny? Is it possible to be both tragedy and comedy? Do you agree with reviewers that The Birchbark House is a successful novel? What is there about it to appreciate as part of the small but growing body of books about American Indians from the Native point of view? What about it is unique? What is universal? How does it extend the knowledge that many readers have about American Indians? Does it contribute to eradicating common stereotypes?

What standards did you use or would you use to evaluate this "long ago" story?

Please join in with any thoughts and ideas you have on this particular book and what it has to offer to our understanding of the topic for this month
-- Again, welcome to the lively discussion I know we will have, and please get off to a quick start as there is so much to be explored.

Eliza









_________________________________________________________ Eliza T. Dresang, Associate Professor School of Information Studies/ Florida State University
                             Tallahassee, Florida 32306!00 e-mail: edresang at mailer.fsu.edu Phone: 850 644 5877 (w) FAX: 850 644 9763 (w)
Received on Fri 01 Oct 1999 03:38:33 PM CDT