Not recommended: KOKOPELLI'S FLUTE by Will Hobbs

Years ago, someone asked me about Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs. It wasn't the first ask but it is on my mind lately. I can't get a digital copy. I am able to read the first chapters in Google books. Here's notes as I read: 

The cover illustration is, without doubt, a rendition of Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde. In addition to the title, the cover includes these words: "Tep didn't mean to unleash the ancient magic..."

Chapter 1 of Kokopelli's Flute begins with "The magic had always been there." Magic again? Immediate response from me? Umm... what is he talking about?! I continue reading that first paragraph. The "magic" is in "the light" and in "the rock" in "the miniature city the Ancient Ones left perched in the cliffs." For years, the main character, Tep, has been trying to get closer to "the magic." We read "This would be the night I not only got close, but crossed over." 

Again, what magic? And where or what does he want to cross over to in that "miniature city"? Pause to look up the book description:

THE MAGIC HAD ALWAYS BEEN THERE. Tep Jones has always felt the magic of Picture House, an Anasazi cliff dwelling near the seed farm where he lives with his parents. But he could never have imagined what would happen to him on the night of a lunar eclipse, when he finds a bone flute left behind by grave robbers. Tep falls under the spell of a powerful ancient magic that traps him at night in the body of an animal.

Only by unraveling the mysteries of Picture House can Tep save himself and his desperately ill mother. Does the enigmatic old Indian who calls himself Cricket hold the key to unlocking the secrets of the past? And can Tep find the answers in time?

Back to chapter one, second paragraph. There we learn that a total eclipse of the moon will take place that night and Tep wants to see it from what he calls "Picture House." He's been there a lot, "puzzling over the secrets of the ancient pueblo." He thinks that maybe during the eclipse, if he listens hard enough, he might hear the footsteps of the Ancient Ones. Maybe even their voices. Maybe even dancers coming out of their kivas. Me: sighing, frowning, shaking my head. But there's more of that sort of thing on page three:

Eight hundred years ago the people came through all those little doorways for the last time, walked away, and left only stillness, silence, and secrets.

That wistful (if that's the right word) writing about any people makes me cringe, but especially when its a white character thinking about ancestors of today's Pueblo Indians. 

On page four, as Tep and his dog wait for the eclipse, they hear voices. Turns out to be two men who are talking about how they're gonna make thousands of dollars digging at the site. Tep can't believe it. He sees the items they've dug up. One is a "seed jar" which struck me as odd. We call them seed pots. 

"Picture House" Tep tells us, has not ever been vandalized because it isn't marked on maps and its hard to get to. The two men are in a room that Tep has been in many times. There's a back wall in that room that Tep says is built with a special purpose in mind, like to bury someone. Tep is only supposed to be a kid, but his character is created by an adult. Clearly, Tep doesn't like what the two men are doing but I don't like him going all through "Palace House" either, looking for the magic. Sheesh. 

The two men have found "a burial" which is the body of what they call an albino because his skin is pink. There was a large pot with him that broke open. In that pot was a basket the two men call "a medicine man's bundle." So, the body is that of an albino medicine man. I really dislike this content. Hobbs (the author) seems to be telling us it is bad to do this, but in telling us the value of this activity, it doesn't jive. Especially when we read the next part. 

Tep scares them off and then goes to see where they had been digging. They took the pot and the basket and most of its contents. In their rush they left behind a small polished flute. Tep thinks he should return it immediately to the albino medicine man but he is afraid of him and doesn't want to go into the room. He thinks the flute must be powerful. "Something told me I shouldn't put it to my lips" but he does it anyway, startled by how clear it sounds. Then he sees a packrat.  

That's all I can see online. Reading the book's description, however, my guess is that "the magic" of the flute turns Tep into a packrat by night. Again, sigh. 

At this point, I'm saying "not recommended." If I'm able to get a copy and have the wherewithall to read the rest of it, I seriously doubt I'd change my mind. This book is rife with do-gooder whiteness. 

Why is it being assigned in schools? What educational purpose does it meet?! 

 

Highly Recommended: STITCHES OF TRADITION by Marcie Rendon; illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

Stitches of Tradition (Gashkigwaaso Tradition)

Written by Marcie Rendon (enrolled member of the White Earth Nation)

Illustrated by Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Anishinaabe; member of Wasauksing First Nation

Published in 2024

Publisher: Heartdrum (Imprint of HarperCollins)

Reviewer: Debbie Reese

Review Status: Highly Recommended

****

Regular readers of AICL know that I urge them to look at author's notes whenever they pick up a book by a Native writer. Doing that gives you (teacher, parent, librarian, professor, reviewer...) information that you probably did not get in school or college. That information supports the reading you'll do when you flip back to the front of the book and start reading the words and looking at the illustrations. 

Marcie Rendon's note for Stitches of Tradition is outstanding. Her note focuses on ribbon skirts. The second paragraph stands out to me:

Skirts are worn not only in traditional ceremonies but also as a political statement. There are many different teachings about the skirt, but the most important thing to remember is that the ribbon skirt says, We are here. We have survived genocide. We are resilient and beautiful.

Some words make me pump my fist and declare YES. Those words did precisely that. The dedication did, too. Rendon's is "For all the grandgirls." And the illustrator, Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley's is "To the women who raised me, and to all the matriarchs guiding us to a brighter future." Imagine more loud declarations from me. 

All right! So what is this story about? Here's the description:

An Ojibwe grandmother carefully measures and selects just the right colors of fabric, and her sewing machine hums whirr, whirr, whirr late into the night.

In the morning, her growing granddaughter has a beautiful new ribbon skirt to wear, a reminder of her nookomis and the cultural traditions that stitch together her family with love.

That basic scene repeats as that grandaughter gets older and her grandma makes another skirt. This part is especially dear because I can see it in my memory and imagine it in other Native homes across the country: 

Nookomis whips out a measuring tape. She measures how round I am from my belly button back around to my belly button. She measures how long I am from my waist to my ankle. She says, "You're growing so tall." 

Deep sigh--thinking about times when I was being measured or when I was doing the measuring for one of our traditional dresses--and for the time when I'll be measuring my granddaughter and reading this lovely book to that granddaughter! 

Now for the political part. At various times as the granddaughter gets older, she needs a new skirt. About halfway through the story we read that her auntie, who is a lawyer, is becoming a district judge. The granddaughter and grandma need new skirts to honor her at the upcoming swearing in. So Nookomis gets out that measuring tape and measures her granddaughter. And then, she says:

"Noozhishenh, now you must measure me." 
Sweet as can be! And oh so real! 

Here's the swearing-in page:

 

This book is full of goodness and reality of who Native people are, culturally and politically, and there's layers to it, too, with deep significance for Native people. For those who are Ojibwe there's things in the illustrations that will call to them. Obviously, I highly recommend Stitches of Tradition!