Friday, January 13, 2012

Stereotypes of American Indians in Little Golden Books

As comprehensive as I know... if something is missing, let me know!  This covers the years from 1948 through 1974. Some observations about the eighteen books:
  • Two are alphabet books.
  • Seven are television shows or movies.
  • Two show a non-Native kid playing Indian.
  • Seven show warbonnets.
  • Six show headbands. 
  • The only female is... wait for it... a princess! I wonder if she's a Cherokee princess?! 
  • If you have them, please check... Do the little Eskimo or the little Indian have personal names?
What are your observations?

I have Golden Legacy by Leonard Marcus. I don't think he mentions any of these in his book. 
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1948, Up in the Attic: A Story A B C, by Hilda K. Williams, illustrated by Corinne Malvern



1949, My Little Golden Dictionary, illustrated by Richard Scarry




1951, Bugs Bunny and the Indians, by Annie North Bedford



1952, Howdy Doody and the Princess, by Edward Kean



1952, Indian Indian, by Charlotte Zolotow



1952, The Little Eskimo, by Kathryn Jackson




1952, Peter Pan and the Indians, by Annie Bedford



1953, Hiawatha, Walt Disney Studios



1954, Little Indian, by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Richard Scarry




1956, Buffalo Bill, Jr., by Gladys Wyatt, illustrated by Hamilton Green



1956, Roy Rogers and the Indian Sign, by Gladys Wyatt, illustrated by Mel Crawford



1957, Lone Ranger and Tonto, by Charles Verral


1957, Brave Eagle, by Charles Verral



1957, Broken Arrow, by Charles Verral, illustrated by Mel Crawford





1958, Cowboys and Indians, by Willis Lindquist, illustrated by Richard Scarry



1959, Tonka, by Elizabeth Beecher



1961, I'm An Indian Today, by Katheryn Hitte, illustrated by William Dugan


1974, Little Crow, by Caroline McDermott




3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting collection of cultural relics. I think every single ethnic group was subjected to this nonsense during this period.

Ruth Major Lapierre said...

I agree with Anonymous. With our eyes and minds of today those books vlrstly show stereotypes. But in those times, it was not viewed / considered this way. Nobody asked themselves if they were stereotyping American Indians or not. Nobody asked if bokks by Countess of Segur were showing stereotypes against little girls. At the time, it was not the case. Your pictures are beautiful and remind me of my childhood. Thank you very much.

Debbie Reese said...

Ruth,

Please read through AICL. Books like that continue to be published. See, for example, the Alvin Ho book I analyzed here:

http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2011/06/alvin-ho-allergic-to-birthday-parties.html