Nothing quite like starting a new novel and running into 'native as in born here, not savage' on the first page.
The book is What Happened to Lani Garver by Carol Plum-Ucci.
Established in 2006 by Dr. Debbie Reese of Nambé Pueblo, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical analysis of Indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books. Dr. Jean Mendoza joined AICL as a co-editor in 2016.
Wow, I'm speechless. Did it not cross this silly bint's vapid mind that that kind of hatespeak could harm some Native (as in born and raised here, just for more generations) kid who reads that? Or does she just assume we can't read?
ReplyDeleteGosh, I'm angry enough to go fire off letters to the publisher, distributor, editor, and author. Let them know that kind of stuff is NOT ever acceptable.
And that over-casual use of "savage" isn't the only Evil Bit of Racism in this book. Before the part about "savage", there's a mention of the phrase "Indian summer", which I'm told was probably created by analogy to "Indian giver".
ReplyDeleteAnd later, when the protagonist is meeting a boy, she describes him as having "hair of a girl; shoulders of a guy; hands of a girl, folded across the chest of a guy; [...] It seemed strange that all these mismatched parts could be topped off with rosy, Indian-like skin and deep chocolate eyes." Whoa, Carol, thou thinkest that "chocolate" be a good way to describe brown eyes, that "Indians" have brown skin, and that certain limb styles be uncommon in menfolk or womenfolk?! Thou reekest at thy social justice writing, Carol.