Naomi Caldwell's Letter to Therese Bigelow Regarding USBBY's Oct 2017 "Indigenous Experience in Children's Books" Panel

Alabama State University

College of Education

311 Abernathy Hall

Montgomery, AL 36106

July 27, 2017

USBBY United States Board on Books for Young People
The U.S. National Section of International Board on Books for Young People
Building Bridges Through Children´s and Young Adult Books
USBBY Secretariat, Center for Teaching through Children´s Books
National Louis University
5202 Old Orchard Road, Suite 300, Skokie, IL 60077, USA

Dear President Bigelow:

I read several posts on the American Indian Library Association list serv and the American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) blog (Debbie Reese) about the USSBY Indigenous Experience in Children’s Books session panelists. Most notable was your announcement that Nancy Bo Flood will no longer be a panelist. Your announcement was swift and welcomed news.  Please accept my congratulations for this act of courageous leadership.

            Notwithstanding, I am compelled to share my thoughts and a suggestion as past president of the American Indian Library Association, founding chair of the American Indian Youth Literature Award, and advocate for the accurate portrayal of Indigenous books for youth. One would think that in 2017 that organizations such as USBBY would be practiced and astute about planning programs to highlight diversity. After all, the membership is comprised of diverse, devoted well-educated and well-read children’s literature professionals who genuinely care about the quality of literature for youth from a national and international perspective.

Yet, there is a strange dichotomy that exists in the world of children’s literature about quality (accurate and truthful) materials about Indigenous peoples. Most children’s literature about Indigenous cultures that are ready available in the United States are written by individuals who are not Indigenous (CCBC Center for the Study of Children’s Literature, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Multicultural Publishing Statistics 2016). Most of these authors are not skilled in the nuances of indigenous culture and their writing is of inferior quality in terms of realistic and accurate portrayals.

My research on the global image of indigenous people books for youth supports the notion that this trend is not exclusive to North America. It is widespread among nations that were and are under the influence of a colonial ideology. Unfortunately, global educational material accessible in literate nations is steeped in the omission of the Indigenous way of being and voice.  However, there are Indigenous scholars, librarians, educators and associations with the mission to share information from the Indigenous perspective. They are only a click away on the internet.  Dr. Reese's blog American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) is recognized as an excellent award winning resource.

USBBY is in a unique situation to help advocate for quality Indigenous literature for youth by work by cooperating with the American Indian Library Association (AILA). A collaborative relationship with AILA has the potential to bring together professionals who are knowledgeable of Indigenous authors and publishers with USBBY program planners. Please consider this suggestion for future reference.

My letter is motivated by the idea that something brilliant can result from the unfortunate faux pas in the planning process of the Indigenous Experience in Children's Books panel.  We can begin working together and follow your courageous example by listening and honoring the voice of the indigenous people. We can always make better choices for the sake of our collective future and I hope we will.

Collegially yours,

Naomi Caldwell

Naomi R. Caldwell, (Ramapough Lenape), PhD, MSLS

Associate Professor and Coordinator Library Education Media Online

American Indian Library Association (AILA), past president

AILA Youth Literature Award, Chair Founding Member

            

Christy Jordan-Fenton's Response to Conversations About USBBY's Oct 2017 "Indigenous Experience" Panel

Eds. note: At 9:00 CST, on July 27th, Therese Bigelow, USBBY's Board President, announced that Nancy Bo Flood would not be on the panel. Bigelow said

We are changing the program on Indigenous Voices in Children’s Literature. Nancy Bo Flood will no longer participate. Panel presenters are all from Canada which reflects the international scope of the conference theme. The panel had already begun working on their program together and the Fenton's, through Christy Jordan-Fenton, have requested that Sarah Ellis continue In her role as moderator. This change will be reflected on the program schedule as soon as I return to my home computer next week.

_____________________ 

25 July 2017

About a year ago, myself, and my mother-in-law, Margaret/Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton (Inuvialuk), were invited to attend the 2017 IBBY Regional Conference in Seattle, to sit on a panel about “The Indigenous Experience in Children’s Literature”. At the time, the only other participant we knew of was Lisa Charleyboy (Tsilhqot'in), and we assumed there would also be Indigenous authors from the US included. We were thrilled to accept the invitation, especially Margaret/Olemaun, who as an 81 year old great-grandmother, still finds herself overwhelmed by gaining a measure of fame and attention so late on, and to her shock, for sharing stories she had been ashamed of her entire life.

To explain a bit about who we are, Margaret/Olemaun is a Inuvialuk Indian Residential School (Indian Boarding School) survivor, best known as the indomitable character in Fatty Legs (Annick Press 2010), along with three other books. Having been raised by a residential school survivor myself, it was important to me to have my children see their grandmother as the strong resilient hero she is, and not through a lens of colonial suffering that has become so much a part of Indigenous identity (one dictated by a colonial narrative, and not an authentic Indigenous one). And so in 2008 we began the slow, extremely painful process of sharing her story. It was a two year ceremony of transmutation we held each other through. I don’t think I could possibly convey how much this journey has asked of Margaret/Olemaun, and how much she has put into it for the future generations, and for herself, or given to me toward my own intergenerational healing, and how far she has come on that journey. What she has given with that journey…what any elder who shares such a journey gives, is sacred, and needs to be held as such.

My job when we speak, which we do about 100 times a year, is to help her in sharing her voice, sometimes to encourage her to share that story she didn’t think was a big deal but was phenomenal and I know the audience will love (she tells great stories), and also sometimes to buffer questions and comments that dig very deep into the trauma she carries from her years at residential school, and a life of experiencing subtle, overt, and systemic racism (think: What are some examples of how they physically hurt you at the school? Or on the other end of the spectrum: Weren’t there any good things about the schools?) A major part of my job is maintaining a good space for her to share her truth and shine as the beautiful elder she is.

It is from this place of needing to hold a good space for her, that I am now addressing the situation that has arisen in an unexpected change of dynamics on the “Indigenous Experience in Children’s Literature” panel. First, I admit it was very naïve of me not to look further into who we would be sharing that space with. I took for granted that the other authors would all be Indigenous. I took for granted that the focus would be about “Indigenous Experiences”. As of a few days ago, it was communicated to me that the dreaded “permission” question of appropriation was one that we should all strategize about ahead of time, for the sake of not letting it hijack the forum (at this point I didn’t realize why that was going to be such a major issue).

However, I have found out today, in a public comment from Ed Sullivan of IBBY, that Nancy Bo Flood was invited to be a part of the panel precisely so that this question could be debated. Normally I would be discreet in handling these matters, but as I myself only found out about this other agenda today, and publicly… and really, I think too many of us spend too much time trying to negotiate and navigate these situations in private, or remain silent, when transparency is needed, here I am responding publicly.

What was originally a panel about “Indigenous Experiences” where we believed Indigenous experiences would be the focus, is now being shifted to a situation that calls the attention to being a discussion on “White Authors’ Experiences”. The panel is now made up of a non-Indigenous moderator, an author called out numerous times for appropriation, and well…if I look in the mirror, I present pretty white too. My role in the panel is not supposed to be to explain why I felt I could represent my mother-in-law’s voice, or about who claims me, what traditions I practice, and the lineage of my teachings. It’s to support Margaret/Olemaun. (And I am completely open to sharing those things. Find me on Facebook if you feel compelled to discuss it and we’ll start a dialogue). But I see no good way to do that when it takes away from the voice of Margaret/Olemaun, and from Lisa Charleyboy. I see no respectful place to discuss that in the setting of this panel.

But more importantly, why has the responsibility of defending their culture and their right to control how their stories are told, been assumed? Why does the IBBY committee feel that it is acceptable to place this, without even asking, on the shoulders of an 81 year old elder who is still working through her healing from trauma, who is still navigating her relationship with decolonization (a journey her great-grandchildren’s grandchildren will be working through generations from now), who was expecting to go and share her childhood experiences in a children’s literature context, in a safe way…why is it deemed acceptable to assume it is her place to educate others against appropriation and defend her indigeneity against it? Again, she wasn’t even asked. Why is it deemed acceptable to assume Lisa Charleyboy, who has so much to offer when it comes to discussing carving out space for modern Indigenous identity…why is it assumed she wants to attend to instead discuss why non-indigenous authors shouldn’t appropriate, thus giving the floor over from what Indigenous artists themselves are doing, so white permission can be the focus?

I am left feeling that if I sit visibly white on this panel, as it is currently composed, next to an author very arguably guilty of appropriation, at a conference where last I knew of the keynote speaker was slated to be an Indigenous author who repeatedly claims to be the only one out there with books people read (despite knowing better), I will be contributing to that message—the message that there are no Indigenous authors out there, and so we need to have white people discuss Indigenous experiences. I know different. I know this isn’t true. My shelves are filled with works by Indigenous authors. And so to stand in my truth, and above all ensure safe space for Margaret/Olemaun, and to honour what my elders and mentors have taught me about my responsibility as someone entrusted to amplify (not appropriate) a small portion of the Indigenous experience, my integrity asks that we, Margaret/Olemaun and myself, do not participate in this panel, as it currently is, with Nancy Bo Flood participating.

What I would suggest, is that if the conference committee deems the topic of appropriation one worthy of exploring, and I think it is, this conversation take place within the context of a separate panel, and I would also like to suggest that such a panel include Indigenous voices like Lisa Charleyboy’s (provided she was asked respectfully and wanted to participate), and that such a panel be moderated by an Indigenous voice who knows Indigenous literature, such as Debbie Reese (Pueblo), or Louise Erdrich (Anishinabe).

And, I suggest that the “Indigenous Experience in Children’s Literature” panel be left as a space to discuss “Indigenous Experience”.

As my elders have taught me, mistakes are really just opportunities to learn, in disguise. I invite the committee of the IBBY to please examine their decision to include Nancy Bo Flood, knowing it would co-opt the conversation from Indigenous voices to a discussion on appropriation. Please make space for Margaret/Olemaun and Lisa Charleyboy to share what they are doing and what they have experienced, and also consider adding an Indigenous voice or two to represent peoples from territories within the colonial boundaries of the US.

Indigenous peoples and all peoples of colour are constantly expected to defend their cultures against appropriation at the cost of opportunities to discuss their own art. Please, make space for the art. And as this incident demonstrates, there is a need for the appropriation conversation also. We should have it. I would like to have it. I think the attendees would like to have it. But that needs its own forum, and to be guided by Indigenous experience and knowledge.

It is not my mother-in-law’s job to defend her people’s right to control how their stories are told. Her voice is for sharing her experiences. It was under an invitation for her to do so that we agreed to participate. If the panel is now openly forcing her into a position of defence, we will have to decline the invitation. However, if we can all work together to realize our learning opportunity from this, and use it as a catalyst to find a better way together, we would be honoured to participate.

Christy Jordan-Fenton

coauthor of Fatty Legs, A Stranger at Home, When I Was Eight, and Not My Girl

______________

See also:

Naomi Bishop's Open Letter Regarding USBBY's 2017 "Indigenous Experience" Panel in Seattle

Debbie Reese's Open Letter Regarding USBBY's 2017 "Indigenous Experience" Panel in Seattle

Debbie Reese's Open Letter Regarding USBBY's 2017 "Indigenous Experience" Panel in Seattle

Eds. note at 9:00 CST on July 27th, 2017, Therese Bigelow, USBBY's Board President, announced that Nancy Bo Flood would not be on the panel. Bigelow said:

We are changing the program on Indigenous Voices in Children’s Literature. Nancy Bo Flood will no longer participate. Panel presenters are all from Canada which reflects the international scope of the conference theme. The panel had already begun working on their program together and the Fenton's, through Christy Jordan-Fenton, have requested that Sarah Ellis continue In her role as moderator. This change will be reflected on the program schedule as soon as I return to my home computer next week.

__________________

A few days ago, I was invited to join USBBY's page on Facebook. I accepted the invitation and saw posts there about its 2017 conference. Because it will take place in Seattle, I decided to take a look and see what they had planned.

I was--quite frankly--furious to see Nancy Bo Flood's name on the "Indigenous Experience in Children's Literature" panel. As regular readers of AICL know, I've been studying the ways Native peoples are depicted in children's literature for decades. In that time, I've come to know the work of many people who--like Flood--are not Native, but write books about Native peoples. Amongst that body of White writers, there are many instances in which the writer has done particularly egregious things.

Undermining Native identity and nations is one of those egregious violations.

That happens in Flood's book, Soldier Sister, Fly Home. When that book came out, I wrote two posts about it. One was about the Hopi content, the other was about the Navajo content.

The main character is Tess, a thirteen year old girl. Her father is white. A theme of the book is Tess trying to understand her mixed identity. Her Navajo grandmother has a key role in Tess's efforts to understand who she is.

As a child, this Navajo grandmother went to boarding school. U.S. government boarding schools (residential schools in Canada) were created in the 1880s by Richard Pratt. The goal was to 'kill the Indian and save the man.' Tess's grandmother didn't like what they did to her there, and so, she ran away.

She tells Tess about running away part way through Flood's story when Tess pulls a book of Emily Dickinson's poems off her grandmother's shelf and turns to a marked page. Her grandma asks her to read it aloud. Before she reaches the end, her grandmother joins her, reading the last stanza aloud together. She tells Tess that it is a good poem and says:

When I was in school, I thought, I am Navajo. I should not read that poem. It was written by a white woman. She could speak of death. We could not. But I read and reread that poem.

There are several ways to interpret that passage. The goal of the boarding schools was to "kill the Indian and save the man." I guess it worked on Tess's grandmother. She no longer observes Navajo teachings about speaking about death.

And now--as a grandmother--she's asking her granddaughter to read that poem aloud. Essentially, she's continuing the "kill the Indian" goal.

My guess is that most readers think that Tess's grandmother is really nice, kind, and helpful. But is she, really?

Is Flood -- the White writer who created that character -- a modern day Richard Pratt?

One of the other people on the Indigenous Experience panel is Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. With her daughter-in-law (who is White), she's written three stories from her childhood in boarding school. The stories are wrenching.

Do you see why having THIS particular White writer (Nancy Bo Flood) who created that kind of grandmother, sitting beside Margaret Pokiak-Fenton is just plain wrong?

***

I strongly urge Nancy Bo Flood to step down from the panel. This is not her place. I understand why she accepted the invitation but she should not have done so. In the conversation on the USBBY Facebook page, I asked for details as to why she is on the panel. Did they deliberately create a seat for a White writer was my specific question. Ed Sullivan, Chair of the planning committee, answered my question:

"The answer to that is no. I invited Nancy Bo Flood long after the other panelists were invited. She was already registered for the conference and presenting a breakout session on another topic, so I asked her if she would be willing to participate. Since cultural appropriation will be a topic of discussion for the panel, having someone who has been criticized for that can offer an interesting perspective to the conversation. When I invited Nancy, she stressed she was not Native American, and I am sure she will be quite clear about that on the panel when she speaks, too. I hope that answers your questions."

His answer prompted other questions. There is also a panel on Asian American Experience (both session titles use the singular "experience" which is also an error). It has one moderator and three Asian American writers. Why, I wonder, did Sullivan decide that the Indigenous panel needed a fourth person--a White writer--on it?

This is one of many similar confrontational conversations I've had with people in children's literature. Dominated by White people, they work pretty hard at defending the right to write whatever anyone wants to write. In the abstract, I support that concept, but on the ground, things are very different.

Our lived realities as Native people today, and those of our parents, grandparents, and ancestors, is one where White people were intent on taking and destroying our land, our lives, our languages, our ways of worship, and... our stories. The initial invasion has been followed by wave after wave of invasion.

With this panel, USBBY is continuing that invasion.

_____
See Naomi Bishop's Open Letter Regarding the "Indigenous Experience" Panel at USBBY's 2017 Regional Conference. 

Naomi Bishop's Open Letter Regarding the "Indigenous Experience" Panel at USBBY's 2017 Regional Conference

Eds. note on Jul 25, 2017: For context on this post, see the extensive conversation on USBBY's Facebook page. 


Eds. note: At 9:00 CST, on July 27th, Therese Bigelow, USBBY's Board President, announced that Nancy Bo Flood would not be on the panel. Bigelow said:

We are changing the program on Indigenous Voices in Children’s Literature. Nancy Bo Flood will no longer participate. Panel presenters are all from Canada which reflects the international scope of the conference theme. The panel had already begun working on their program together and the Fenton's, through Christy Jordan-Fenton, have requested that Sarah Ellis continue In her role as moderator. This change will be reflected on the program schedule as soon as I return to my home computer next week.

_________

The United States Board on Books for Young People's (USBBY) 2017 Children’s Literature Conference is happening this October in Seattle at my alma matter, the University of Washington. It is a prestigious event, but I am not happy. 

One of the general sessions (that everyone attends) is titled: The Indigenous Experience in Children’s Books. The presenters on this panel include four Canadians (Lisa Charleyboy, Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, Sarah Ellis -moderator) and one American, Nancy Bo Flood. In an email to me, the USBBY President stated that Nancy Bo Flood is not Native. 

“Nancy Bo Flood is the fourth speaker. She has written a number of children’s books several of which have Native American themes.  She is not Native American.”  

The problem with Nancy Bo Flood is not just that she is non-native, but that she appropriates Navajo culture. She states that she lived on the Navajo reservation, taught college students there, and writes books about Navajo’s, but she is not Navajo. It is disappointing to see Nancy on this panel because there are so many wonderful Native American authors and illustrators publishing awesome books here in the US. I am pleased to see First Nations writers on the panel, but wonder why the organizers did not select any writers from U.S. Tribal Nations?

US Native American children’s authors deserve to be on a panel for speaking about the Indigenous Experience in Children’s Literature!

Here are some names that should have been considered for the panel at USBBY: Joseph Marshall III, Tim Tingle, Evangeline Parsons Yazzie, Joseph Bruchac, (see https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2024/02/leaders-of-abenaki-nations-request.html for information regarding why I no longer recommend Bruchac) Eric Gansworth, Anton Treuer, Louis Erdrich, Jonathan Nelson, John Herrington, Arigon Starr.

When will the publishing community reach out to the American Indian Library Association (AILA) for Indigenous Children’s Literature? AILA has advocated for Native Children’s literature for decades.

When will the library community and organizers of conferences on youth literature listen to Native voices and let our stories be heard?

Our libraries, schools, and communities deserve to have stories from Indigenous authors on bookshelves and in classrooms all across the United States and the world. We are still here and are still telling our stories through picture books, easy readers, young adult books, graphic novels, oral histories, songs, art, film, theater, dance, and other mediums. There is no excuse for the USBBY conference planning committee to not listen to our stories and voices. Native authors, illustrators, and publishers are here in the US providing opportunities for everyone to learn, read, and enjoy. 

If you are looking for authors to invite to your conference, library, or event take a look at those authors listed above. These writers are some of my favorite authors and deserve to be acknowledged for their amazing books!

Naomi Bishop, MLIS

Akimel O’odham, Member of the Gila River Indian Community

_________
See Debbie Reese's Open Letter Regarding USBBY's 2017 "Indigenous Experience" Panel in Seattle