tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post1075665231510911447..comments2024-03-27T14:08:51.191-05:00Comments on American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL): Joan Walsh Anglund's THE BRAVE COWBOYDebbie Reesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-22693048783239001202022-05-13T13:04:42.269-05:002022-05-13T13:04:42.269-05:00Thank you for your response, Debbie. I regret a li...Thank you for your response, Debbie. I regret a little bit my question, "is it enough?" It's a bit naive. No that's not enough. But I think we all deal with how to respond to once-favorite artists and works that have shown their faults with further understanding. I'm sure at the time, when I played "Cowboys and Indians" with my friends, we were accustomed to this narrative because we'd seen it so often. And yet another favorite book of mine at around that time was the story of Cochise, which showed him to have more character and honesty than the white characters. <br /><br />My girlfriend and I read the book together. As always we talked about what we read. We were both appalled by the violence against Native Americans, while clearly seeing the roots of my sartorial fascinations (and my tendency to hide in my imagination, but that's another story).Kent Hallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-32751714572320736382022-05-13T09:17:11.533-05:002022-05-13T09:17:11.533-05:00Kent,
I sometimes use books like this one in talk...Kent,<br /><br />I sometimes use books like this one in talks/workshops because so many people are like you -- they don't remember those kinds of scenes. <br /><br />Regarding your last question: is this acknowledgement of it enough? I think it is a start that most definitely will impact you going forward and that impact will have meaning in ways we may not know. It may, for example, make you wonder what you didn't see in other books. It may mean that when you buy something, feeling nostalgic towards it, you'll look inside before buying, and before gifting it to someone. <br /><br />DebbieDebbie Reesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14972409006633565859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-50911436821216659572022-05-12T14:57:59.236-05:002022-05-12T14:57:59.236-05:00This breaks my heart. This was a favorite book of ...This breaks my heart. This was a favorite book of mine as a child. I read it over and over again. I'm in my forties now and I always remembered the pages where he gets dressed in his boots, hat, and belt. I went to a bookstore to get a copy to show my girlfriend, because I think this book kickstarted my lifelong obsession with clothing, including western wear.<br /><br />I did not remember the pages shown above, not immediately. Though I did remember how he maps his fantasies onto the quotidian parts of his life. That's also influenced me greatly. But the pages of Native slaughter are just inexcusable. I suppose I didn't remember it because as a kid I didn't see it as aberrant. It was just like in the movies I was probably watching.<br /><br />I'm glad the book has been republished without those scenes. I would hope that today, if Joan Walsh Anglund were alive still, she would see it as abhorrent. Sadly, a number of her readers don't. The Amazon reviews show a number feel this is a an over-reaction to political correctness. As to the gun issue, I can see that. I certainly watched movies and read books that involved guns, and my action figures had guns. I even had toy guns. But I haven't grown up a violent person in the slightest.<br /><br />This book will still always be in my complicated heart though. I can't change how it influenced me, but it will reside along with contrary feelings, as so much does in our narrative of the west. I suppose this is white privilege. I guess as a white person I have to ask: is this acknowledgement of it enough?<br /><br />Kent Hallnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-64376322592386546242013-04-10T12:17:59.532-05:002013-04-10T12:17:59.532-05:00I have read this book before, and I guess I just c...I have read this book before, and I guess I just chalked it up to being an older book that is a product of its time. "Cowboys and Indians" were very popular in the 30s, 40s, and 50s thanks to movies starring Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and the like. That is why you could find toy guns, lassos, and horses on a stick in stores so kids could play it. I do not believe that playing that game like the boy in the story does here colored children's views of Native Americans for life or made them want to use guns when they got older. <br /><br />When I see a book like this, I see it as a teachable moment. I think people today are smart enough to know that this is not something that we believe in now. Your friends' daughter was able to read the book and as you said, be critical about it. If others come across this book, I do not think that it should be shied away from. It is good that the book was updated in 2000 to eliminate some of the stereotypes, but there would also be some value to reading the 1959 book to foster a conversation.<br /><br />It is kind of like how I felt about the Looney Tunes DVD sets that came out awhile back that had Whoopi Goldberg explaining that we would be seeing stereotypes when watching the classic cartoons. I guess I can understand the Warner Brothers Company trying to cover their bases legally, but again, I think that we know better now without the reminder. <br /><br />It was a specific place and time, and we have gotten more politically correct over the years (not perfect, I know, but there's been improvement). I am of Irish and Italian heritage, and there are plenty of stereotypes from that time about us. If I see examples of it on television and books now, I do not take it personally. I know it is just the another person's way of telling a story. I can also choose not to watch it (Hello, Sopranos!).<br /><br />Hopefully, people will continue to eliminate unnecessary stereotypes and focus on telling stories that are more historically accurate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27760240.post-2850014562742495022013-04-10T12:11:01.307-05:002013-04-10T12:11:01.307-05:00Interesting that they made the changes. Does show ...Interesting that they made the changes. Does show that the story can be told without most stereotypes. I also wonder, as you do, if it could be published today. I have been listening to the young Sherlock Holmes series by Andrew Lane and was a little surprised that Holmes actually kills someone (in self-defense). There are also guns being fired but the book is for tweens. They also don't "play" with the guns as the child would playing cowboy. As always, your insights are interesting.Jeanette Larsonnoreply@blogger.com