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Re: How I Became A Ghost
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From: Debbie Reese <dreese.nambe_at_gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 20:58:43 -0500
I disagree, Norma Jean. Wilder's views are not representative of everyone living at that time. She chose to show Indians as primitive when they were not, in fact, primitive. She disparaged who Native people were, and we ought to point that out, particularly because a Native kid who is read/asked to read that book has to deal with her disparaging representations. Children who are not Native should not be fed those inaccuracies without pointing them out, either, because that is an injustice to their knowledge base.
Trying to defend her views as a reflection of that time period is inaccurate, too. It lets us think that today's society is more advanced, when it is pretty easy to find books written/published today that advance that same primitive image. Being an activist means calling that out when I see it.
Debbie
On Feb 17, 2014, at 4:48 PM, Norma Jean Sawicki wrote:
> Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867, the first LIttle House book was published in 1932.
>
> I have not been able to find Tim Tingle's birthdate but he began collecting his stories in the early 1990s.
>
> Since writers are no more…that's right…no more, than a reflection of the society in which they live, it stands to reason the mindsets of these two writers would be dramatically different even if Mr. Tingle were not Native American….
>
> There is no need to disparage Miss Wilder in order to admire and praise Mr. Tingle and his work. Norma Jean
>
>
>
> On Feb 17, 2014, at 3:26 PM, Debbie Reese wrote:
>
>> Yes! Humor and matter of face storytelling are two wonderful facets of How I Became a Ghost.
>>
>> One of the things that I noted right away is the opening for Chapter 1 where the setting is established as:
>>
>> Choctaw Nation, Mississippi, 1830
>>
>> The word Nation is vitally important. Its prominence there provides an entree to the Trail of Tears that frames it--not as 'primitive' Indians (like the ones shown in Little House)--but the Choctaw's as a political entity who'd been in diplomatic negotiations with the US government.
>>
>> Other things that push back on the predominant image of primitive/roaming Indians of historical fiction are Isaac's mom calling to him from the back porch and the fact that they raise chickens and that they garden, too.
>>
>> And, Isaac--a 10-year-old--knows about treaties and what they mean... That, too, is reality.
>>
>> Debbie
>>
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 20:58:43 -0500
I disagree, Norma Jean. Wilder's views are not representative of everyone living at that time. She chose to show Indians as primitive when they were not, in fact, primitive. She disparaged who Native people were, and we ought to point that out, particularly because a Native kid who is read/asked to read that book has to deal with her disparaging representations. Children who are not Native should not be fed those inaccuracies without pointing them out, either, because that is an injustice to their knowledge base.
Trying to defend her views as a reflection of that time period is inaccurate, too. It lets us think that today's society is more advanced, when it is pretty easy to find books written/published today that advance that same primitive image. Being an activist means calling that out when I see it.
Debbie
On Feb 17, 2014, at 4:48 PM, Norma Jean Sawicki wrote:
> Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867, the first LIttle House book was published in 1932.
>
> I have not been able to find Tim Tingle's birthdate but he began collecting his stories in the early 1990s.
>
> Since writers are no more…that's right…no more, than a reflection of the society in which they live, it stands to reason the mindsets of these two writers would be dramatically different even if Mr. Tingle were not Native American….
>
> There is no need to disparage Miss Wilder in order to admire and praise Mr. Tingle and his work. Norma Jean
>
>
>
> On Feb 17, 2014, at 3:26 PM, Debbie Reese wrote:
>
>> Yes! Humor and matter of face storytelling are two wonderful facets of How I Became a Ghost.
>>
>> One of the things that I noted right away is the opening for Chapter 1 where the setting is established as:
>>
>> Choctaw Nation, Mississippi, 1830
>>
>> The word Nation is vitally important. Its prominence there provides an entree to the Trail of Tears that frames it--not as 'primitive' Indians (like the ones shown in Little House)--but the Choctaw's as a political entity who'd been in diplomatic negotiations with the US government.
>>
>> Other things that push back on the predominant image of primitive/roaming Indians of historical fiction are Isaac's mom calling to him from the back porch and the fact that they raise chickens and that they garden, too.
>>
>> And, Isaac--a 10-year-old--knows about treaties and what they mean... That, too, is reality.
>>
>> Debbie
>>
---
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Received on Mon 17 Feb 2014 07:59:06 PM CST
