"When you're writing about another culture for children, you have a real responsibility to get it right," says Gabriella Kaye, Research/Children's Librarian at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center in Mashantucket CT. On Friday October 7, Kaye started off Columbus Day weekend with a wonderful workshop on evaluating materials for children by and about Native Americans.
Criteria to consider includes:
These criteria can be applied to titles about any culture or peoples. The same principles can be applied to film and websites.There are some books that are strong yet contain bias and inaccuries, so strategies for working with the good parts of such materials were part of the program. For example, show then as poor examples to raise awareness with students. Suggested items to weed out of collections include:
Native American Legends series (i.e. Dancing Drum, the Little Firefly) by Terri Cohlene (bias and stereotyping)
Dear America: My Heart is on the Ground: the diary of Nannie Little Rose, A Sioux girl, Carlisle Indian School PA 1880 by Ann Rinaldi (bias, stereotyping, inaccuracies)
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers (historical inaccuries)
Good Hunting, Little Indian by Peggy Parish (bias, stereotyping, inaccuracies)
R
ecommended titles include:
Children of Native America Today by Yvonne Wakim Dennis (Charlesbridge, 2003)
Clambake: A Wampanoag tradition by Russell Peters (Lerner, 1992)
Gale Encyclopedia of Native Americans
The Good Luck Cat by Joy Harjo (Harcourt, 2003)
Indian Shoes by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Harper, 2002)
Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Harper, 20002)
Meet Naiche: A Native boy from the Chesapeake Bay area by Gabrielle Tayak (Beyond Words, 2002)
To locate quality titles, Kaye recommends three sources:
Oyate - a Native organization working to see that the lives and histories of Native peoples are portrayed honestly
MultiCultural Review Journal - a quarterly publication dedicated to better understanding of ethnic, racial and religious diversity
the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center library catalog - hint: if the library owns 2 copies, with 1 in research collection and 1 in historal, chances are it's a reliably good resource
Other resources include:
Boston Children's Museum (circulates kits for educators on themes such as Native peoples)
Smithsonian Handbook of North American Indians (several volumes, arranged by region)
NativeTech.org (focus on arts of the Eastern Woodland Indian Peoples)
People of the First Light (WGBY-TV videorecording, 1979)
Kaye recommends school units on Native peoples focus on traditional foods and games, rather than crafts and ceremonies, and discourages potraying Native peoples as roles to be played.
Handouts:
About the Pequot Museum & Research Center
Selected Picture Books
Selected Books for Grades 3-5
Selected Books for Grades 5-8
Selected Native American Literature for Young Adults (Grades 9 and up)
Native People of New England Bibliography
Selected Web Sites
Teaching Respect for Native Peoples
Techniques for Evaluating American Indian Websites
Evaluation Criteria for Books about Native Americans
Sample Evaluation Form
Other Resources from the Pequot Museum and Research Center, Children's Library:
Selected Series About Native Americans
Selected Materials for Educators
Selected Reference Materials
Suggested Reading
Evaluation for Evaluating Materials About Native Americans for Children (please complete an evaluation if you access any of the materials on this page)