Stereotypes of Australia's Indigenous Population

The United States is not alone in its misrepresentation of its Native population. Take a look at "Prejudice in children's books" to see how Australia has portrayed its indigenous population in its children's books. The accompanying activities and worksheets at the site are worth a look, too.

One question... The books shown are old. Cynic that I am, I wonder what representations look like in books published in the last ten years?
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Stephenie Meyer's TWILIGHT

Many people have written to ask me about a young adult novel called Twilight. Written by Stephanie Meyer, Twilight is the first book in the "Twilight Saga." The "Twilight Saga" has been on the New York Times best-seller list for 40 weeks and as of this day, is in the number 1 spot.

I've been asked about it because the books include werewolves who are Native. Quileute, to be precise, from the La Push reservation in Washington. Quileute is not made up, and neither is La Push. Both are real.

I read the book, quickly. Here's passages that begin on page 124. The Quileute boy, Jacob, is with the protagonist, Bella, on an outing. Bella's love interest is a guy named Edward Cullen. Bella suspects Edward is different (doesn't know yet that he's a vampire), and is trying to get information out of Jacob. I'll start with Bella speaking to Jacob, and his reply:

"What was that he was saying about the doctor's family?" I asked innocently.

"The Cullens? Oh, they're not supposed to come onto the reservation."

Jacob feels he's said too much, but Bella promises she won't tell anyone. Assured with her promise, Jacob goes on, saying:

"Do you know any of our old stories, about where we came from--the Quileutes, I mean?" he began.

"Not really," I admitted.

"Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood--supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark." He smiled, to show me how little stock he put in the histories. "Another legend claims that we descended from wolves--and that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them.

"Then there are the stories about the cold ones." His voice dropped a little lower.

"The cold ones?" I asked, not faking my intrigue now.

"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land." He rolled his eyes.

"Your great-grandfather?" I encouraged.

"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf--well, not the wolf, really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call them werewolves."

"Werewolves have enemies?"

"Only one."

I stared at him earnestly, hoping to disguise my impatience as admiration.

"So you see," Jacob continued, "the cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did--they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces." He winked at me.

Jacob goes on, eventually telling her the cold ones are vampires. Then he says:

"Pretty crazy stuff, though, isn't it? No wonder my dad doesn't want us to talk about it to anyone."

I couldn't control my expression enough to look at him yet. "Don't worry, I won't give you away."

"I guess I just violated the treaty," he laughed.

"I'll take it to the grave," I promised, and then I shivered.

"Seriously, though, don't say anything to Charlie. He was pretty mad at my dad when he heard that some of us weren't going to the hospital since Dr. Cullen started working there."

"I won't, of course not."

"So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?" he asked in a playful tone, but with a hint of worry. I still hadn't looked away from the ocean.

There's more as the book progresses, but none of the reviews mention the werewolf/Quieluete material...

More later. (And if you've read the books, please comment.)

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If you want to read more on the ways that the Quileute's are portrayed in the series, look over to the right side of this page. Scroll up or down till you see the section labeled TWILIGHT SAGA. There you'll see several links to posts about the series.

Video: I'M NOT THE INDIAN YOU HAD IN MIND

Got the review (below) yesterday... Sounds terrific, and with its length of five minutes, would work well in a classroom, leaving time for meaty discussion! The image shown here is from the website of the American Indian Film Institute. (Note: This review may not be published elsewhere without permission of its author, Beverly Slapin.)

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I’m Not the Indian You Had in Mind. 2007, 5 minutes, color, grades 7-up.

“I’m not the Indian you had in mind. I’ve seen him, I’ve seen him ride, a rush of wind, a darkening tide, with wolf and eagle by his side…” In this brilliant, fast-paced visual and spoken-word performance, Tom King and actors Tara Beagan and Lorne Cardinal juxtapose themselves and other contemporary Indians with cringe-inducing media images of Indians—“the clichés that we can’t rewind.” But there is more than stock footage of tomahawk-wielding Indians, a cigar-store Indian and a haute cuisine Indian-themed restaurant whose waiter wears war paint. I’m Not the Indian You Had in Mind is razor-sharp social commentary with visuals of pollution-spewing smokestacks and gas pumps and freeways and drained lakes and war rooms and a world gone “Monsanto-mad,” and this, muses King: “Sometimes late at night when all the world is warm and dead, wonder how things might have been had you followed and we led.”

(Note from Debbie: The DVD is $15.00, available from Oyate.)