What a Difference Thirty* Years of Hard Work Makes
by Debbie Reese
What did the children's books published in 1990--the ones about Native people--look like? How do they compare to the ones published in 2020?
To get an answer, I did two advanced searches in WorldCat. I used "Indians of North America" as the keyword in both. I narrowed the search as follows:
Year: 1990 (for the second search, I used 2020)
Audience: juvenile
Content: fiction
The total hits for the 1990 search was 122; for the 2020 search, it was 105. But look at the first ten hits in each search!
1990Crow and Weasel by Barry Holstun LopezThe Legend of Jimmy Spoon by Kristiana GregoryBrother Moose by Betty LevinSing for a Gentle Rain by J. Alison JamesGhost Cave by Barbara A. SteinerSalcott, the Indian Boy by Melinda EldridgeBig Thunder Magic by Craig StreteThe Light in the Forest by Conrad RichterNessa's Fish by Nancy LuennLittle Firefly: An Algonquian Legend by Terri Cohlene2020The Only Good Indians: A Novel by Stephen Graham JonesWe Are Water Protectors by Carole LindstromThe Brave by James BirdThe Barren Grounds by David RobertsonCall Me Floy by Joanna CookeThe Train by Jodie CallaghanThe Range Eternal by Louise ErdrichSwift Fox All Along by Rebecca ThomasMolly of Denali: Berry Itchy Day by WGBH Educational FoundationThe Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill
I don't think a single one of the books in 1990 are by a Native writer. In 2020, most of them are by Native writers (Kirkpatrick Hill is not Native)! Some are by major publishers; some aren't. Some are by well-known writers, and some are not. I'm not doing any analysis beyond those observations (I don't recommend, for example, The Brave), and I'm not going to look at the other hundred books in each search. (Note: I don't know why The Only Good Indians is on the juvenile list. That novel is not meant for children or teens.)
I'm just noting what a difference thirty years of hard work makes! If you are one of the people who pushed back on stereotypes and what we call, today, the whiteness of children's literature--either in daily work with your colleagues or in your writing--thank you! If you asked for books by Native writers, thank you!
It can be difficult to push back, but I think this brief comparison tells us a lot. It makes a difference.
It can be difficult to push back, but I think this brief comparison tells us a lot. It makes a difference.
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*Oops! The first draft of this post had "twenty" in the title.
