A Peek at American Indians in Children's Fiction Published from 1955-1965

Nancy Larrick's article, The All White World of Children's Book, was published in 1965. I wondered what I might find if I did a search in the Children's Literature Comprehensive Database, using "Indian" as the search term and limiting the search for fiction published from 1955 to 1965. What, I wondered, were her options for books about American Indians? She was, for those who don't know, looking particularly at depictions of African Americans and was very troubled by what she found. Hence the title of her article "all white."

I ran the search and got 337 titles. I am pasting the results below. As you scroll through the list, you'll see duplicates and you'll see books that obviously don't belong on the list (for example, The Elephant that Galumphed).  

Some observations:

There aren't any authors on the list that I recognize as being Native.

I see that James Fenimore Cooper is on it several times. I'm thinking we can likely credit him with being responsible for a wide range of stereotyping. Good Indians, bad ones, ones who disappear into the mists of time...

Looks like there are several stories of whites who befriend Indians, and, stories of whites who are captured by Indians...

And how 'bout that Bread and Butter Indian by Anne Colver? Interesting title, don't you agree? Wondering what that one is about, I did a quick look-see at Google Books, learned that the illustrations are by Garth Williams! Here's the cover:

And here's the summary of the book:

A little girl named Barbara befriends a hungry Indian, offering him the bread and butter. Later she is kidnaped by a strange Indian. The story describes how the "bread-and-butter" Indian comes to her rescue.

What do you think? Is that Indian on the cover the hungry one? Or the strange one!

Some books on the list make me shudder because they are over-the-top in how they present Native characters (borrowing Rudine Sims Bishop's words about early books about African Americans) as objects of ridicule. Let's take a look at a few of them.

Check out Syd Hoff's Little Chief, the lonely Indian boy with an upside-down feather who finds friends among a wagon load of white kids:

Little Chief was/is an early reader. I don't think its still being published. Thank goodness for that, but believe it or not, Benchley's Red Fox and his Canoe, illustrated by Arnold Lobel, is still being marketed and used as an early reader. Here's an illustration from Red Fox and his Canoe:

Another one still in publication is Good Hunting, Little Indian by Peggy Parrish. But wait! The title is now Good Hunting, Blue Sky! I'll have to see if I can find the older copy so I can compare text and illustrations. For now, here's the covers. The original publication was in 1962, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. The one with a new title has new illustrations, by James Watts.

Here's a page from inside Good Hunting, Blue Sky:

I'll wrap this up for now and do more analytical work with the list. One thing I'll probably do for a more closely aligned comparison, is limit the search to the specific years of Larrick's study. She looked at books published in 1962, 1963, and 1964.

Before I close, though, I'm going to suggest that no child in your classroom or library gains anything useful by reading Little Chief or Good Hunting, Blue Sky.  Please consider setting them aside.

Sources cited:

Bishop, Rudine Sims. (2012). "Reflections on the Development of African American Children's Literature," Journal of Children's Literature, 38(2), pp. 5-13.

Larrick, Nancy. "The All White World of Children's Books," Saturday Review, September 11, 1965, pp. 63-65+

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CLCD Search

Use your browser's save and print functions to save or print this report.
Use the Back button to return to your search results.Search was for: The word Indian (All Fields).
Singular and plural forms were searched.
Search restricted to books published between 1955 and 1965.
Only works of fiction were retrieved.

AUTHOR	TITLE	YEAR	PUBLISHER	ISBN	ANNOTATIONS
Harrington, M. R.	The Indians of New Jersey; Dickon among the Lenapes,	1963	Rutgers University Press		First ed. published in 1938 under title: Dickon among the Lenape Indians.;
Cooper, James Fenimore	The deerslayer : or, The first war-path	1962	Collier Books
Stoutenburg, Adrien.	The mud ponies : based on a Pawnee Indian myth	1963	Coward-McCann
Kendall, Lace.	The mud ponies : based on a pawnee Indian myth	1963	Coward-McCann
Ward, Nanda Weedon.	The elephant that ga-lumphed,	1959	Ariel Books.		After a series of misadventures a noisy baby Indian elephant learns to walk quietly. Grades 1-3.;
Adams, Audrey	Karankawa boy.	1965	Naylor Co.
Adams, Audrey.	Karankawa boy.	1965	Naylor
Allen, T. D.	Tall as great standing rock.	1963	Westminster Press
Allen, Terry.	Tall as great standing rock	1963	Westminster
Cooper, James Fenimore	The last of the Mohicans : a narrative of 1757	1956	Scribner		While guiding a small party of English settlers to the protection of a fort during the French and Indian War, Hawkeye, a frontier scout, and his two Indian friends, the remaining braves of the Mohican tribe, struggle against the evils of Uncas who desires a white maiden for his wife.;
Cooper, James Fenimore.	The deerslayer, or, The first warpath	1963	New American Library
Cooper, James Fenimore	The last of the Mohicans	1957	Washington Square Press
Annixter, Jane.	Buffalo chief	1958	Holiday
Annixter, Jane.	Buffalo chief	1958	Holiday
Annixter, Jane.	Buffalo chief	1958	Holiday
Annixter, Jane.	Buffalo chief	1958	Holiday
Annixter, Jane.	Buffalo chief	1963	E. M. Hale
Annixter, Jane.	Windigo	1963	Holiday House
Armer, Laura (Adams)	Waterless mountain	1963	D. McKay Co.
Armer, Laura Adams.	Waterless mountain	1959	David McKay
Armer, Laura Adams.	Waterless mountain	1959	McKay
Arnold, Elliott.	White Falcon	1958	Knopf
Arntson, Herbert E.	Two guns in old Oregon	1964	Watts, F.
Whipple, Mary Anne	The first Californians	1962	Shinozaki Shorin		Title on cover: The first Californian.;
Overholser, Wayne D.	The Meeker Massacre,	1964	Cowles	0402141016 ; 9780402141013	Two boys, one Indian and one white, become involved in the growing conflict between an inflexible Indian agent and a Ute tribe.;
Baker, Betty.	Killer-of-death	1963	Harper & Row
Baker, Betty.	Killer-of-Death.	1963	Harper & Row
Baker, Betty.	Little Runner of the longhouse	1962	Harper & Row	0005091829 ; 9780005091821
Baker, Betty.	Little Runner of the longhouse.	1962	Harper	0060203412 (lib. bdg.) ; 9780060203412	A young Indian boy, too young to join the older boys in part of the New Year celebration, celebrates his own way with his family.; Reading Counts-Scholastic; Interest Level K-2; Reading Level 2; Title Point Value 2; Lexile Measure 430; 0430; 00 01 02; 020; 002;
Baker, Betty.	Little Runner of the longhouse.	1962	Harper
Baker, Betty	Walk the world's rim.	1965	Harper & Row	0060203811 (lib. bdg.) ; 9780060203818	Bibliog; As they journey to Mexico, Chakoh, a young Indian boy, and Esteban, a Spanish Negro slave, become friends and teach each other their ways;
Baker, Betty.	Walk the world's rim	1965	Harper & Row	0064400263 ; 9780064400268	Bibliography: p. [169];
Balch, Glenn	Little Hawk and the free horses.	1957	Crowell
Balch, Glenn	Spotted horse.	1961	Crowell
Baldwin, Clara.	Little Tuck.	1959	Doubleday		An undersized frontier lad, anxious to grow up and share the chores and fun of his big brothers, catches his own turkey, helps shear sheep, finds honey, befriends an Indian, and kills a bobcat.;
Baldwin, Clara.	Little Tuck.	1959	Doubleday		An undersized frontier lad, anxious to grow up and share the chores and fun of his big brothers, catches his own turkey, helps shear sheep, finds honey, befriends an Indian, and kills a bobcat.;
Ball, Zachary	Joe Panther	1961	E. M. Hale		In an endeavor to earn money for school, an industrious Seminole becomes a deck hand on a tourist boat and accidently is involved in a smuggling ring.;
Bannon, Laura.	Hop-High, the goat.	1960	Bobbs-Merrill		A Navajo Indian family comes back from town with a new stove and a naughty, spoiled goat that causes many troubles before he becomes useful as leader of the flock of sheep.;
Bannon, Laura.	Hop-High, the goat.	1960	Bobbs-Merrill		A Navajo Indian family comes back from town with a new stove and a naughty, spoiled goat that causes many troubles before he becomes useful as leader of the flock of sheep.;
Bealer, Alex W.	Picture-skin story	1957	Holiday
Beatty, Patricia	Indian canoe-maker	1960	Caxton Printers
Beckhard, Arthur J.	Black Hawk.	1957	J. Messner		Includes bibliography.; A biography of Black Hawk, the Sauk Indian who became chief of his tribe in 1788 and whose refusal to yield his tribal lands to the white man resulted in the Black Hawk War.;
Beckhard, Arthur J.	Black Hawk.	1957	J. Messner		Includes bibliography.; A biography of Black Hawk, the Sauk Indian who became chief of his tribe in 1788 and whose refusal to yield his tribal lands to the white man resulted in the Black Hawk War.;
Beebe, B. F.	Coyote, come home.	1963	D. McKay Co.		A coyote, orphaned as a pup, is rescued and befriended by an old Apache seeking companionship, and provides the aged Indian with loyalty and affection which protects them both.;
Beebe, Burdetta Faye.	Chestnut cub	1963	McKay
Benchley, Nathaniel.	Red fox and his canoe / (paper)	1964	Harper & Row	0064440753 ; 9780064440752	A young Indian boy receives a larger canoe along with some unforseen complications.; Accelerated Reader; Interest Level Lower Grade; Book Level 2.2; Accelerated Reader Points 0.5; Accelerated Vocabulary, Recorded Voice Quizzes; 00 01 02 03; 022; 000; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 260; 0260; Reading Counts-Scholastic; Interest Level K-2; Reading Level 3; Title Point Value 2; Lexile Measure 260; 0260; 00 01 02; 030; 002;
Benchley, Nathaniel.	Red fox and his canoe	1964	Harper & Row	0060204761 ; 9780060204761	A young Indian boy receives a larger canoe along with some unforeseen complications.;
Benchley, Nathaniel	Red fox and his canoe.	1964	Harper & Row		A young Indian boy receives a larger canoe along with some unforseen complications.;
Benchley, Nathaniel	Red fox and his canoe.	1964	Harper & Row		A young Indian boy receives a larger canoe along with some unforseen complications.;
Benchley, Nathaniel	Red fox and his canoe	1964	Scholastic Book Services		A young Indian boy receives a larger canoe along with some unforseen complications.;
Berry, Erick.	Valiant captive ...	1962	Chilton Co.
Berry, Erick	Valiant captive; a story of Margaret Eames, captured in 1676 by the Indians from the New Settlement, which later became Framingham, Massachusetts	1963	Chilton
Booker, Jim.	Trail to Oklahoma	1959	Broadman Press
Borland, Hal Glen	When the legends die. (paper)	1963	Lippincott	0553113380 ; 9780553113389
Borland, Hal Glen.	When the legends die	1963	Lippincott	039700303X: ; 9780397003037
Borland, Hal, Glen	When the legends die	1963	Lippincott	0553257382 (pbk.) ; 0881030570 (Econo-clad) ; 9780553257380 ; 9780881030570	Cover: A Bantam starfire book.; Accelerated Reader; Interest Level Upper Grade; Book Level 5.2; Accelerated Reader Points 13; Accelerated Vocabulary, Literacy Skills; 09 10 11 12; 052; 013; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 850; 0850; Reading Counts-Scholastic; Interest Level 6-8; Reading Level 6; Title Point Value 20; Lexile Measure 850; 0850; 06 07 08; 060; 020;
Borland, Hal	When the legends die	1963	Bantam Books
Borland, Hal	When the legends die.	1963	Lippincott
Borland, Hal	When the legends die.	1963	Lippincott		An orphaned Ute Indian boy wins stardom on the rodeo circuit, but becomes disillusioned by the new ways and searches for his identity in the old ways of his ancestors.;
Borland, Hal	When the legends die	1964	Bantam Books	0553257382 (pbk.) ; 0553226428 (pbk.) ; 9780553257380 ; 9780553226423	"A Bantam Starfire book."; An orphaned Ute Indian boy wins stardom on the rodeo circuit, but becomes disillusioned by the new ways and searches for his identity in the old ways of his ancestors.; Accelerated Reader; Interest Level Upper Grade; Book Level 5.2; Accelerated Reader Points 13; Accelerated Vocabulary, Literacy Skills; 09 10 11 12; 052; 013; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 850; 0850; Reading Counts-Scholastic; Interest Level 6-8; Reading Level 6; Title Point Value 20; Lexile Measure 850; 0850; 06 07 08; 060; 020;
Borland, Hal	When the legends die	1964	Bantam Books	0812416945 (Cover Craft) ; 0553257382 (pbk.) ; 0881030570 (Econo-clad) ; 0881030570 (Econoclad) ; 9780812416947 ; 9780553257380 ; 9780881030570 ; 9780881030570	Cover: A Bantam starfire book.; Accelerated Reader; Interest Level Upper Grade; Book Level 5.2; Accelerated Reader Points 13; Accelerated Vocabulary, Literacy Skills; 09 10 11 12; 052; 013; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 850; 0850; Reading Counts-Scholastic; Interest Level 6-8; Reading Level 6; Title Point Value 20; Lexile Measure 850; 0850; 06 07 08; 060; 020;
Borland, Hal	When the legends die	1965	Bantam Books		An orphaned Ute Indian boy wins stardom on the rodeo circuit, but becomes disillusioned by the new ways and searches for his identity in the old ways of his ancestors.;
Bowers, Gwendolyn.	Journey for Jemima.	1960	Walck, H.Z.
Breedlove, Caroline H.	Billy Black Lamb	1958	U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs		"Developed in the Workshop in Navajo Education, Arizona State College, Flagstaff, Arizona, May 26-June 6, 1958.";
Brick, John.	Captive of the Senecas.	1964	Duell
Brick, John.	Captives of the Senecas.	1964	Duell, Sloan and Pearce
Brick, John.	Captives of the Senecas.	1964	Duell
Brick, John.	Eagle of Niagara; the story of David Harper and his Indian captivity.	1955	Doubleday
Brick, John.	Tomahawk trail.	1962	Duell
Buff, Mary (Marsh)	Dancing Cloud : the Navajo boy	1957	Viking
Buff, Mary (Marsh)	Dancing Cloud, the Navajo boy.	1957	Viking Press
Buff, Mary	Dancing Cloud, the Navajo boy.	1957	Viking Press
Buff, Mary.	Hah-Nee of the Cliff Dwellers [by] Mary and Conrad Buff.	1956	Houghton Mifflin
Bulla, Clyde Robert.	Indian Hill	1963	Crowell
Bulla, Clyde Robert.	John Billington, friend of Squanto.	1956	Crowell		A young Pilgrim boy is always causing trouble for Plymouth Colony until one day his mischief results in more friendly relations with the Indians.;
Bulla, Clyde Robert.	John Billington, friend of Squanto.	1956	Crowell		A young Pilgrim boy is always causing trouble for Plymouth Colony until one day his mischief results in more friendly relations with the Indians.;
Bulla, Clyde Robert.	John Billington, friend of Squanto	1956	Crowell		A young Pilgrim boy is always causing trouble for Plymouth Colony until one day his mischief results in more friendly relations with the Indians.;
Butterfield, Marguerite Antoinette	Little Wind	1963	Lyons & Carnahan
Butterfield, Marguerite Antoinette	Morning Star,	1963	Lyons & Carnahan
Carroll, Ruth	Tough Enough's Indians,	1960	H. Z. Walck		While Pa is off fighting a forest fire, Beanie and his brothers and sisters go off to hunt fire-wood, find refuge from the fire under a waterfall, and seek help from a Cherokee Indian family.;
Carroll, Ruth	Tough Enough's Indians,	1960	H. Z. Walck		While Pa is off fighting a forest fire, Beanie and his brothers and sisters go off to hunt fire-wood, find refuge from the fire under a waterfall, and seek help from a Cherokee Indian family.;
Carse, Robert	Friends of the wolf; a novel.	1961	Putnam
Chandler, Edna Walker.	Charley Brave.	1962	A. Whitman
Chandler, Edna Walker.	Cowboy Sam and the Indians	1962	Beckley-Cardy
Chandler, Edna Walker.	Cowboy Sam and the Indians	1962	Benefic Press
Chandler, Edna Walker.	Cowboy Sam and the Indians	1962	Benefic Press
Christensen, Gardell Dano.	Buffalo Horse	1961	Nelson
Christensen, Gardell Dano.	Buffalo kill	1959	Nelson
Christie, Caroline.	Silver Heels : a story of Blackfeet Indians at Glacier National Park	1958	Winston
Clark, Ann (Nolan).	Little Indian basket maker	1957	Melmont Pubs.
Clark, Ann Nolan	Little Indian pottery	1955	Melmont
Clark, Ann Nolan.	Medicine man's daughter	1963	Farrar, Straus
Clark, Electa.	Osceola, young Seminole Indian.	1965	Bobbs-Merrill		Bibliography: p. 198.;
Clymer, Eleanor	Chipmunk in the forest	1965	Atheneum Pubs.
Coatsworth, Elizabeth,	Indian encounters : an anthology of stories and poem/	1960	Macmillan,
Coatsworth, Elizabeth.	Indian encounters : an anthology of stories and poems	1960	Macmillan
Colver, Anne.	Bread-and-butter Indian	1964	Holt
Conrader, Constance.	Blue wampum.	1958	Duell, Sloan and Pearce
Cooper, James Feinmore.	The last of the Mohicans	1964	Parents' Magazine
Culp, John H.	The bright feathers.	1965	Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Nevin, Evelyn C.	The river spirit and the mountain demons	1965	Van Nostrand
Davis, Russell G.	Chief Joseph, war chief of the Nez Percâe	1962	McGraw-Hill
De Leeuw, Cateua	Fear in the forest	1960	T. Nelson		A young orphan boy, whose father was killed by marauding Indians, manages to overcome his morbid fear of the forest when he joins a pack-horse train which travels through the dense forests of Ohio. ;
Dick, Trella Lamson.	Bridger's boy	1965	Follett
Dolch, Edward W.	Once there was a dog	1962	DLM Teaching Resources		Short tales about dogs from the folklore of Poland, Africa, Korea, Yucatan, China, and the American Indian.;
Dolch, Edward W.	Once there was a dog,	1962	Garrard Pub. Co.		Short tales about dogs from the folklore of Poland, Africa, Korea, Yucatan, China, and the American Indian.;
Dolch, Edward W.	Stories from Alaska	1961	DLM Teaching Resources		Folk tales representative of the northernmost state of the United States, from its two native peoples, the Indians and the Eskimos.;
Downey, Fairfax Davis	General Crook: Indian fighter.	1957	Westminster Press
DuBois, Theodora.	Tiger burning bright.	1964	Ariel Bks.
Dwight, Allan.	Guns at Quebec.	1962	Macmillan
Simms, William Gilmore	The Yemassee; a romance of Carolina.	1964	Twayne Publishers
Edmonds, Walter Dumaux.	Wilderness clearing	1963	Dodd		In a wilderness clearing in Western New York State when Indian attack threatened and the British attack was expected, sixteen year old Dick Mount proved to Maggie Gordon that he could meet peril.;
Emmons, Della Gould.	Leschi of the Nisquallies.	1965	T. S. Denison
Wood, Kerry	The great chief, Maskepetoon : warrior of the Crees	1959	Canadiana Co. Ltd.
Evans, Katherine	One good deed deserves another.	1964	A. Whitman		A story of a robber who plans to repay a good deed with evil, but who is tricked by a small boy, based on a theme that is common in animal tales told by Indians of the Southwest and Mexico.;
Evans, Katherine	One good deed deserves another.	1964	A. Whitman		A story of a robber who plans to repay a good deed with evil, but who is tricked by a small boy, based on a theme that is common in animal tales told by Indians of the Southwest and Mexico.;
Evans, Katherine	One good deed deserves another.	1964	A. Whitman		A story of a robber who plans to repay a good deed with evil, but who is tricked by a small boy, based on a theme that is common in animal tales told by Indians of the Southwest and Mexico.;
Fall, Thomas	Edge of manhood	1964	Dial Press
Fall, Thomas.	Edge of manhood	1964	Dial Press
Fernald, Helen Clark.	The shadow of the Crooked Tree.	1965	McKay
Fiedler, Arkady	Orinoko.	1961	Iskry
Firethunder, Billy.	Mother Meadowlark and Brother Snake : an Indian legend	1963	Holt
Fisher, Clay.	Valley of the Bear : a novel of the North Plains Sioux	1964	Houghton
Foltz, Mary Jane.	Awani	1964	Morrow
Franklin, George Cory.	Indian uprising	1962	Houghton
Franklin, George Cory.	Indian uprising	1962	Houghton
Franklin, George Cory	Pioneer horse	1960	Houghton
Franklin, George Cory	Pioneer horse	1960	Houghton
Friskey, Margaret Richards	Indian Two Feet and his horse	1959	Children's		LOCATED IN PICTURE BOOK SECTION;
Friskey, Margaret	Indian Two Feet and his horse	1959	Childrens Press	0516035010 ; 0590424297 (Scholastic : pbk.) ; 9780516035017 ; 9780590424295
Furman, A. L.	Young readers nature stories.	1959	Lantern Press		Nine short stories about animals, like coyotes and raccoons, or men in encounters with them, as an Indian boy in a buffalo hunt, a ranch boy seeking to separate the ranch's horses from a band of wild horses, or a boy who cared for an injured sea gull.;
Gage, Wilson.	Secret of the Indian mound	1958	World Pub.
Garst, Shannon	James Bowie and his famous knife.	1955	J. Messner		A biography of a famous Indian fighter and reputed inventor of the defensive Bowie knife, from his childhood on the Louisiana bayou to his death defending the Alamo.;
Garst, Shannon	John Jewitt's adventure.	1955	Houghton Mifflin		Based on the journal of John Jewitt, published in 1807.;
Garst, Shannon	John Jewitt's adventure.	1955	Houghton Mifflin		Based on the journal of John Jewitt, published in 1807.;
Garst, Shannon	Red eagle	1959	Hasting House
Garst, Shannon.	Red Eagle	1959	Hastings House
Gendron, Val.	Behind the Zuni masks	1958	Longmans
George, Jean Craighead.	La tierra que habla / (paper)	1959	Ediciones, Alfaguara	084410728X ; 9780844107288
Giles, Janice Holt.	Johnny Osage / by Janice Holt Giles. --	1960	Houghton Mifflin	0395077354 : ; 9780395077351
Giles, Janice Holt.	Johnny Osage / by Janice Holt Giles.	1960	Houghton Mifflin
Giles, Janice Holt.	Johnny Osage	1960	Houghton
Gipson, Fred	Savage Sam	1962	Harper & Row Publishers		The son of Old Yeller helps his owners escape from the Apaches in East Texas during the 1870's;
Gipson, Fred.	Savage Sam.	1963	Pocket Books
Grant, Bruce	Pancho : a dog of the plains	1958	World Pub
Gringhuis, Dirk.	Young voyageur	1955	McGraw
Haines, Francis.	Red Eagle and the Absaroka.	1960	Caxton Printers
Hall, Gordon Langley.	Peter Jumping Horse at the stampede	1961	Holt
Hall, Gordon Langley.	Peter Jumping Horse at the stampede	1961	Holt
Hall, Gordon Langley.	Peter Jumping Horse	1961	Holt
Harris, Christie.	West with the White Chiefs	1965	Atheneum Pubs
Hayes, John F.	Buckskin colonist	1960	Copp Clark
Hays, Wilma Pitchford.	Easter fires	1959	Coward-McCann	069830067X ; 9780698300675	A fictional account of the first Indian tribes to hear and accept Christianity and of the great fires they lit to celebrate Easter.;
Hays, Wilma Pitchford.	Easter fires	1959	Coward-McCann.
Hays, Wilma Pitchford	Easter fires	1959	Coward-McCann
Hazletine, Alice Isabel	Red man, white man; legends, tales and true accounts of the American Indians,	1957	Lothrop, Lee & Shepard
Heiderstadt, Dorothy.	Marie Tanglehair	1965	McKay
Heiderstadt, Dorothy.	Marie Tanglehair	1965	McKay
Heinzman, George.	Only the earth and the mountains, a novel of the Cheyenne Nationa. --	1964	Macmillan
Henderson, Le Grand	How baseball began in Brooklyn	1958	Abingdon		A humorous story giving one version "of how baseball was started. It all happened when Pieter Denbooms and his nine brothers met up with nine Canarsie Indians." McClurg. Book News.;
Henty, G. A.	With Wolfe in Canada.	1961	Walker		When young James Walsham leaves England unexpectedly in 1755 and finds himself in America fighting in the French and Indian War, he discovers that he must still contend with the treachery of his old rival.;
Hill, Monica	Rin Tin Tin and the lost Indian	1956	Simon and Schuster
Hoff, Syd.	Little Chief	1961	Harper	0004292669 ; 9780004292663	An Indian boy's kindness encourages a group of frontiersmen to settle in the same green valley as the Indians.;
Hoff, Syd	Little Chief,	1961	Harper		An Indian boy's kindness encourages a group of frontiersmen to settle in the same green valley as the Indians.;
Hoffine, Lyla.	Jennie's Mandan bowl	1960	McKay
Hood, Flora Mae.	Something for the medicine man.	1962	Melmont Publishers
Hood, Flora Mae.	Something for the medicine man	1962	Melmont Pubs.
Howells, Anne Molloy	Captain Waymouth's Indians.	1956	Hastings House		Published in 1968 under title: Five kidnapped Indians.;
Hurley, William.	Dan Frontier goes exploring.	1963	Benefic Press		Dan Frontier helps Ranger Jack Finley explore the wooded land inhabited by Indians near the Ohio River.;
Hurley, William.	Dan Frontier goes exploring.	1963	Benefic Press		Dan Frontier helps Ranger Jack Finley explore the wooded land inhabited by Indians near the Ohio River.;
Hurley, William.	Dan Frontier scouts with the Army.	1962	Benefic Press		Dan Frontier becomes an army scout when Indians threaten to attack Fort Detroit.;
Hurley, William.	Dan Frontier scouts with the Army.	1962	Benefic Press		Dan Frontier becomes an army scout when Indians threaten to attack Fort Detroit.;
Icaza, Jorge	Huasipungo. The villagers, a novel.	1964	Southern Illinois University Press
Icaza, Jorge	Huasipungo	1960	Editorial Losada
Furman, A. L.	Young readers nature stories.	1959	Lantern Press		Nine short stories about animals, like coyotes and raccoons, or men in encounters with them, as an Indian boy in a buffalo hunt, a ranch boy seeking to separate the ranch's horses from a band of wild horses, or a boy who cared for an injured sea gull.;
Saurel, Louis.	Le Hardouin chez les Hurons	1960	âEditions Fleurus		Pour enfants.;
Jackson, Helen Hunt	Ramona, a story.	1959	Printed for the members of the Limited Editions Club at the Plantin Press
James, Harry Clebourne	Hopi Indian butterfly dance	1959	Melmont Pubs.
Karney, Beulah.	The listening one.	1962	Day
Keith, Harold	Komantcia. --	1965	Crowell
Keith, Harold	Komantcia. --	1965	Crowell
Keith, Harold	Komantcia. --	1965	Crowell
Keith, Harold	Komantcia	1965	Crowell
Keith, Harold	Komantcia.	1965	Crowell
Keith, Harold	Komantcia	1965	Thomas Y. Crowell		Captured by Comanches at fifteen, a sensitive Spaniard learns to accept their way of life and becomes a leader among them.;
Kjelgaard, Jim	Wolf Brother	1957	Holiday House		An Apache brave who has been educated among the white men returns to his tribe, now confined to the reservation, and is forced, by an unfortunate meeting with an American Army sergeant, to take refuge with an infamous renegade band.;
Kjelgaard, Jim	Wolf Brother.	1957	Holiday House		An Apache brave who has been educated among the white men returns to his tribe, now confined to the reservation, and is forced, by an unfortunate meeting with an American Army sergeant, to take refuge with an infamous renegade band.;
Kjelgaard, Jim	Wolf Brother	1962	E. M. Hale		An Apache brave who has been educated among the white men returns to his tribe, now confined to the reservation, and is forced, by an unfortunate meeting with an American Army sergeant, to take refuge with an infamous renegade band.;
Kubaésta, Vojtéech	The Day of the bison hunt.	1962	Bancroft & Co.		Caption title.; Ill. signed: V. Kubasta.; Lower cover is a double-page which opens into a pop-up color illustration of an Indian village with tepees, a totem, and men in ceremonial costumes.;
La Farge, Oliver	Laughing Boy	1957	Houghton Mifflin	00812416031 (Covercraft) ; 9780081241608
Lampman, Evelyn (Sibley)	Navaho sister	1956	Doubleday
Lane, Neola Tracy.	Secret of the silver spoons.	1963	Bobbs-Merrill		Paul tries to establish his grandmother's true identity by locating the silver spoons she remembers hiding when she was a little girl.;
Lauritzen, Elizabeth M.	Shush'ma,	1964	Caxton Printers		Bibliography: p. 188.; The life and habits of a bear reflect her sensitivity to the loss of peace and harmony on the land that is home for her and the Navajo. Based on documented information.;
Hoffmann, Eleanor	The charmstone	1964	McNally and Loftin		Shuku, son of Chief Islay of Helo, fights the plots of his wicked stepmother, Ojai, and her equally wicked son, Mogi.;
Leckie, Robert	Danger at Mormon Crossing	1959	Simon and Schuster		While on a camping and hunting trip in the Idaho mountains, Sandy Steele and his friends become involved in a mystery concerning their Indian guide.;
Lenski, Lois	Little Sioux girl,	1958	Lippincott
Lomask, Milton.	Cross among the tomahawks	1961	Douleday
Longstreet, Stephen.	War in the golden weather	1965	Doubleday
James, Harry Clebourne	A day in Oraibi, a Hopi Indian village	1959	Melmont Pubs.
Stinetorf, Louise A.	A charm for Paco's mother	1965	Day
James, Harry Clebourne	A day with Honau, a Hopi Indian boy.	1957	Melmont Publishers
MacLeod, Robert.	The medicine bull.	1963	Day
Marriott, Alice Lee.	The black stone knife. Illustrated by Harvey Weiss.	1957	Crowell
Marriott, Alice Lee	Black stone knife	1957	Crowell
Marriott, Alice Lee	Black stone knife	1957	Crowell
Marriott, Alice Lee	Indian Annie : Kiowa captive.	1965	McKay
Marriott, Alice Lee	Indian Annie, Kiowa captive.	1965	McKay
Marriott, Alice Lee	Indian Annie: Kiowa captive	1965	McKay
McGaw, Jessie Brewer.	Little Elk hunts buffalo : as Little Elk tells it in Indian picture writing	1961	T. Nelson
McGiffin, Lee	Pony soldier.	1961	Dutton
McNamee, James.	My Uncle Joe	1963	Viking
Molloy, Anne Stearns Baker	Captain Waymouth's Indians.	1956	Hastings House		Published in 1968 under title: Five kidnapped Indians.;
Montgomery, Rutherford George	The capture of West Wind. --	1962	Duell, Sloan and Pearce
O'Dell, Scott	Island of the blue dolphins [sound recording]	1960	Recorded Books	1556904673 ; 9781556904677	Unabridged.; Narrated by Christina Moore; Tells the true story of an American Indian girl who lived alone on an island for eighteen years.;
O'Dell, Scott.	Island of the blue dolphins [sound recording]	1960	Recorded Books		Unabridged.; Tells the true story of an American Indian girl who lived alone on an island for eighteen years.;
O'Dell, Scott	La Isla de los Delfines Azules	1964	Noguer	8427931085 (pbk.) ; 9788427931084	Translation of: Island of the Blue Dolphins.; Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.; Accelerated Reader; Interest Level Middle Grade; Book Level 5.4; Accelerated Reader Points 6; Accelerated Vocabulary, Literacy Skills; 04 05 06 07 08; 054; 006; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 1090; 1090;
O'Dell, Scott	La Isla de los Delfines Azules	1964	Noguer	8427931085 ; 9788427931084	Translation of: Island of the Blue Dolphins.; Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.; Accelerated Reader; Interest Level Middle Grade; Book Level 5.4; Accelerated Reader Points 6; Accelerated Vocabulary, Literacy Skills; 04 05 06 07 08; 054; 006; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 1090; 1090;
O'Dell, Scott	Island of the Blue Dolphins.	1960	Dell
O'Dell, Scott	Island of the Blue Dolphins.	1960	Houghton Mifflin	0395069629 ; 9780395069622	Records the courage and self-reliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated island off the California coast when her tribe emigrated and she was left behind.; Reading Counts-Scholastic; Interest Level 6-8; Reading Level 6; Title Point Value 12; Lexile Measure 1000; 1000; 06 07 08; 060; 012;
O'Dell, Scott	Island of the Blue Dolphins.	1960	Houghton Mifflin
O'Dell, Scott	Island of the Blue Dolphins.	1960	Houghton Mifflin
Nicholson, John D.	The white buffalo,	1965	Platt & Munk
Rhoads, Dorothy.	The corn grows ripe	1956	Viking		Tigre, a twelve-year-old Mayan boy living in a modern-day village in Yucatâan, must learn to be a man when his father is injured.;
Conrad, Joseph	The nigger of the "Narcissus"	1965	Printed by the Ward Ritchie Press for the members of the Limited Editions Club		Limited ed. of 1,500 copies, signed by the artist.; Issued in slipcase.; Newman & Wiche. Great and good books,; 372; Limited Editions Club. Bibliography of the fine books published by the Limited Editions Club, 1929-1985,; no. 372;
Allsopp, Joy.	The tale of Teddy the toucan : a story for children	1960	Govt. Information Services		"This story is one of a series of stories based on some of the legends of the Amerindian tribes of British Guiana.";
Parish, Peggy.	Good hunting, Little Indian	1962	Young Scott Bks.
Patrick, Pearl Haley	O'po of the Omaha. Illustrated by Dan Jacobson.	1957	Caxton Printers
Provan, Eldoris Angel.	Drummer for the Americans.	1965	Chilton Bks.
Provan, Eldoris Angel.	Drummer for the Americans.	1965	Chilton Books
Radau, Hanns.	Illampu : adventure in the Andes	1961	Abelard-Schuman
Radau, Hanns.	Illampu : adventure in the Andes	1961	Abelard-Schuman
Rainbow, Elizabeth.	Concha and the silver star	1965	Duell
Ramâirez, Pablo.	Wa O'Ka,	1961	Bobbs-Merrill		A young Indian brave accomplishes three seemingly impossible tasks to win the chief's daughter for his bride.;
Ranney, Agnes V.	Flash of Phantom Canyon.	1963	Criterion Bks
Ray, Ophelia.	Daughter of Tejas.	1965	New York Graphic Society Pubs.
Ray, Ophelia.	Daughter of the Tejas.	1965	New York Graphic Societ Pubs.
Reilly, Robert T.	Massacre at Ash Hollow	1960	Bruce Pub. Co.
Ressler, Theodore Whitson.	Treasury of American Indian tales	1957	Association
Richter, Conrad.	The light in the forest.	1963	Bantam Books
Roberts, Helen M.	Mission tales,	1963	Pacific Books
Roberts, Kenneth Lewis	Northwest passage	1961	Doubleday
Roberts, Kenneth Lewis	Northwest passage	1963	Fawcett Crest/Ballantine,	0449213838 (pbk.) ; 9780449213834	Saga of French and Indian war heroics in which Major Robert Rogers is the leader of the Rogers' Rangers.; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 1010; 1010;
Robinson, Barbara.	Across from Indian Shore	1962	Lothrop
Robinson, Barbara.	Trace through the forest.	1965	Lothrop
Rowland, Florence Wightman.	Pasquala of Santa Ynez Mission	1961	Walck, H.Z.
Davis, Russell.	The Choctaw code	1961	Whittlesey House
Cooper, James Fenimore	The last of the Mohicans	1961	Scribner	0553213296 (Bantam : pbk. : 1981) ; 0808519735 (Econoclad) ; 9780808519737	While guiding a small party of English settlers to the protection of a fort during the French and Indian War, Hawkeye, a frontier scout, and his two Indian friends, the remaining braves of the Mohican tribe, struggle against the evils of Uncas who desires a white maiden for his wife.;
Cooper, James Fenimore	The Pathfinder	1964	Airmont Publishing Co., Inc.
Nelson, May.	The Redbirds are flying	1963	Criterion Bks.
Steele, William O.	The Year of the Bloody Sevens	1963	Harcourt
Steele, William Owen.	The year of the Bloody Sevens	1963	Harcourt
Capron, Louis.	The red war pole	1963	Bobbs
Tavo, Gus.	The buffalo are running	1960	Knopf
Lauritzen, Jonreed.	The legend of Billy Bluesage	1961	Little, Brown
Sandoz, Mari.	The Story Catcher	1963	Westminster Press
Oberreich, Robert.	The blood red belt	1961	Doubleday
Jones, Weyman.	The talking leaf	1965	Dial Press
Clark, Margaret Goff.	The mystery of the buried Indian mask	1962	Watts, F.
Surany, Anico.	The golden frong	1963	Putnam
Lobdell, Helen.	The fort in the forest	1963	Houghton
Lobdell, Helen.	The fort in the forest	1963	Houghton
Haig-Brown, Roderick Langmere Haig	The whale people	1963	Morrow
Haig-Brown, Roderick Langmere Haig	The whale people	1963	Morrow
Hollmann, Clide.	The eagle feather	1963	Hastings House
Hollmann, Clide.	The eagle feather	1963	Hstings House
Sandoz, Mari	The horsecatcher.	1957	Westminster Press		Unable to kill, a young Cheyenne is scorned by his tribe when he chooses to become a horse catcher rather than a warrior.;
Sandoz, Mari	The horsecatcher.	1957	Westminster Press		Unable to kill, a young Cheyenne is scorned by his tribe when he chooses to become a horse catcher rather than a warrior.;
Sandoz, Mari	The horsecatcher.	1957	Westminster Press		Unable to kill, a young Cheyenne is scorned by his tribe when he chooses to become a horse catcher rather than a warrior.;
Sandoz, Mari	The horsecatcher.	1957	Westminster Press		Unable to kill, a young Cheyenne is scorned by his tribe when he chooses to become a horse catcher rather than a warrior.;
Sandoz, Mari	The horsecatcher.	1957	Westminster Press		Unable to kill, a young Cheyenne is scorned by his tribe when he chooses to become a horse catcher rather than a warrior.;
Sandoz, Mari	The horsecatcher.	1957	Westminster Press		Unable to kill, a young Cheyenne is scorned by his tribe when he chooses to become a horse catcher rather than a warrior.;
Schultz, James Willard	With the Indians in the Rockies.	1960	Houghton Mifflin		The adventures of Thomas Fox and Pitamakan, a Blackfoot Indian boy.;
Scott, Paul	Eliza and the Indian war pony,	1961	Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.
Scull, Florence D.	Bear teeth for courage	1964	Van Nostrand
Scull, Florence D.	Bear teeth for courage.	1964	Van Nostrand
Shannon, Terry.	Tyee's totem pole	1955	Whitman
Shannon, Terry.	Wakapoo and the flying arrows.	1963	A. Whitman
Shannon, Terry.	Wakapoo and the flying arrows	1963	Whitman		Wakapoo, a Chumash Indian boy, finds the secret of courage when his peace loving people are attacked on their island home off the coast of Southern California.;
Sharp, Edith Lambert.	Nkwala.	1958	Little, Brown
Sharp, Edith Lambert.	Nkwala.	1958	Little, Brown
Sharp, Edith Lambert.	Nkwala.	1958	Little, Brown
Sharp, Edith Lambert.	Nkwala	1958	McClelland and Stewart	0771081243 : ; 9780771081248
Simmons, Dawn Langley.	Peter Jumping Horse	1961	Holt
Snedden, Genevra Sisson	Docas, Indian of Santa Clara.	1958	Heath		Bibliography: p. 187-189.; Through the eyes of Docas and his playmates one sees the coming of the white man to California and the establishment of one of its famous chain of missions.;
Sorensen, Edna Jennings.	Felipe's long journey : a story of the Andes ; pictures by Ezra Jack Keats.	1961	Watts F.
Sorensen, Edna Jennings.	Felipe's long journey : a story of the Andes ; pictures by Ezra Jack Keats.	1961	Watts F.
Speare, Elizabeth George.	Calico Captive	1957	Houghton Mifflin		During the French and Indian War, young Miriam is captured by Indians and taken to Montreal;
Steele, William O.	Flaming arrows	1957	Harcourt, Brace		An Indian attack on a fort in the Tennessee wilderness makes young Chad Rabun realize that it is wrong to condemn one person for the misdeed of another. ;
Steele, William O.	Wayah of the Real People	1964	Colonial Williamsburg : distributed by Holt
Steele, William O.	Wayah of the Real People	1964	Colonial Williamsburg: distributed by Holt
Steffan, Jack.	Mountain of fire : a novel.	1959	Day
Stevenson, Augusta.	George Custer, boy of action.	1963	Bobbs-Merrill		The boyhood of the great Indian fighter who died in the controversial Battle of Little Big Horn.;
Stevenson, Augusta.	Israel Putnam, fearless boy.	1959	Bobbs-Merrill		A biography of an American patriot who fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, describing his boyhood and youth on the Massachusetts frontier.;
Stevenson, Augusta.	Israel Putnam, fearless boy.	1959	Bobbs-Merrill		A biography of an American patriot who fought in both the French and Indian and Revolutionary Wars, describing his boyhood and youth on the Massachusetts frontier.;
Stevenson, Augusta.	Kit Carson, boy trapper.	1962	Bobbs-Merrill		The boyhood of the frontier trapper, hunter, Indian fighter, scout, and soldier.;
Stevenson, Augusta.	Kit Carson, boy trapper.	1962	Bobbs-Merrill		The boyhood of the frontier trapper, hunter, Indian fighter, scout, and soldier.;
Stevenson, Augusta.	Sam Houston, boy chieftain.	1962	Bobbs-Merrill		A biography of the man who helped make Texas a part of the United States, emphasizing his boyhood in Virginia and his friendship with the Cherokee Indians.;
Stevenson, Augusta.	Sam Houston, boy chieftain.	1962	Bobbs-Merrill		A biography of the man who helped make Texas a part of the United States, emphasizing his boyhood in Virginia and his friendship with the Cherokee Indians.;
Stevenson, Augusta.	Squanto, young Indian hunter.	1962	Bobbs-Merrill		The boyhood of the Wampanoag Indian who lived for a time in England and then returned to New England where he helped the Pilgrim settlers in Plymouth.;
Stevenson, Augusta.	Squanto, young Indian hunter.	1962	Bobbs-Merrill		The boyhood of the Wampanoag Indian who lived for a time in England and then returned to New England where he helped the Pilgrim settlers in Plymouth.;
Strachan, Margaret Pitcairn.	Cabins with window boxes	1964	I. Washburn
Steele, William O.	The year of the bloody sevens.	1963	Harcourt, Brace & World
Cooper, James Fenimore	The last of the Mohicans : a narrative of 1757	1957	World
Haig-Brown, Roderick Langmere	The whale people.	1963	Morrow
Barbary, James.	The fort in the wilderness; an adventure in history.	1965	Norton		First published in England under title: The fort in the forest.; An English officer, in command of a fort on the Canadian frontier during Pontiac's uprising, is captured by the Indians, returned to the English as a hostage, but comes back later to convince Pontiac of French betrayal.;
Barbary, James.	The fort in the wilderness; an adventure in history.	1965	Norton		First published in England under title: The fort in the forest.; An English officer, in command of a fort on the Canadian frontier during Pontiac's uprising, is captured by the Indians, returned to the English as a hostage, but comes back later to convince Pontiac of French betrayal.;
Surany, Anico.	The golden frog : illus. by Leonard Everett Fisher.	1963	Putnam
Tilghman, Zoe Agnes Stratton	Maiom, the Cheyenne girl;	1956	Harlow Pub. Corp.
Tomerlin, John.	Prisoner of the Iroquois.	1965	Dutton
O'Dell, Scott	La isla de los delfines azules	1964	Noguer	8427931085 ; 9788427931084	Medalla Newbery.; Tâitulo original: Island of the Blue Dolphins.; Left alone on a beautiful but isolated island off the coast of California, a young Indian girl spends eighteen years, not only merely surviving through her enormous courage and self-reliance, but also finding a measure of happiness in her solitary life.; Accelerated Reader; Interest Level Middle Grade; Book Level 5.4; Accelerated Reader Points 6; Accelerated Vocabulary, Literacy Skills; 04 05 06 07 08; 054; 006; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 1090; 1090;
O'Dell, Scott	La isla de los delfines azules	1964	Editorial noguer	8427931085 (pbk.) ; 9788427931084	"Tâitulo original: Island of the blue dolphins"--t.p. verso.; Stranded on a beautiful isolated island off the coast of California, a young 19th century Indian girl spends 18 years, not only surviving through her courage and self-reliance, but also finding happiness in her solitary life.; Accelerated Reader; Interest Level Middle Grade; Book Level 5.4; Accelerated Reader Points 6; Accelerated Vocabulary, Literacy Skills; 04 05 06 07 08; 054; 006; Lexile, MetaMetrics, Inc.; Lexile Measure 1090; 1090;
Underhill, Ruth M.	Antelope Singer	1961	Coward-McCann
Baker, Betty.	The shaman's last raid	1963	Harper & Row
Carlson, Natalie Savage.	The Tomahawk family.	1960	Harper		An Indian girl is anxious to do everything her teacher at school tells her, in order to be a good American, but her stubborn brother and her old fashioned grandmother present problems.;
Carlson, Natalie Savage.	The Tomahawk family.	1960	Harper		An Indian girl is anxious to do everything her teacher at school tells her, in order to be a good American, but her stubborn brother and her old fashioned grandmother present problems.;
Van Riper, Guernsey	Jim Thorpe, Indian athlete.	1956	Bobbs-Merrill
Vance, Marguerite.	Esther Wheelwright, Indian captive.	1964	Dutton
Vestal, Stanley	Happy hunting grounds.	1963	Lyons and Carnahan
Waltrip, Lela.	Quiet boy	1961	Longmans
Waltrip, Lela.	Quiet boy	1961	Longmans
Webb, Nancy	Makema of the rain forest,	1964	Prentice-Hall		Bibliographical references included in "Acknowledgments" (p. [3]);
Welch, Ronald C.	Mohawk Valley.	1958	Criterion Books
Welch, Ronald	Mohawk Valley	1958	Criterion Bks.
Welch, Ronald	Mohawk Valley	1958	Oxford University Press	0192710788 : ; 9780192710789
Wheeler, Arville	White Squaw : the true story of Jennie Wiley.	1958	Heath		A fictionalized account of the life of Jennie Sellards Wiley, who spent a year as an Indian captive in Kentucky and eventually escaped and returned to her husband in Virginia.;
Wilcox, Eleanor Reindollar.	Cornhusk doll	1956	Dodd
Wilson, Charles Morrow.	Crown Point : the destiny road	1965	McKay
Wilson, Hazel (Hutchins)	His Indian brother	1955	E. M. Hale		When his father's return from Boston with the family is delayed, young Brad, left to care for their new wilderness home in Maine, must depend on the Indians for survival.;
Wilson, Hazel Hutchins	His Indian brother	1955	Houghton Mifflin		When his father's return from Boston with the family is delayed, young Brad, left to care for their new wilderness home in Maine, must depend on the Indians for survival.;
Wilson, Holly.	Snowbound in Hidden Valley	1957	Messner
Witten, Herbert.	Escape from the Shawnees	1958	Follett		The author: p189.; The great hunter, Gabe Stoner, asked eleven year old Whit Martin to go hunting with him. When he and Gabe ran into a party of Indians, Gabe was wounded and he and Whit were captured by the Indians and taken across the Ohio into Shawnee country. Whit and Gabe escaped from their captors and young Whit managed to survive and to help save the wounded hunter. (Publisher);
Witten, Herbert.	Escape from the Shawnees	1958	Follett
Worcester, Donald Emmet	Lone Hunter and the wild horses	1959	Walck, H.Z.
Worthylake, Mary M.	Children of the seed gatherers.	1964	Melmont Publishers
Leiser, Harry W.	The lost canyon of the Navajos	1960	Criterion Books
Lampman, Evelyn Sibley.	The shy stegosaurus of Indian Springs	1962	Junior Literary guild : Doubleday
Ziner, Feenie.	Dark pilgrim : the story of Squanto.	1965	Chilton Co.

Dear Philip Nel: Some Questions about WAS THE CAT IN THE HAT BLACK: THE HIDDEN RACISM OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE AND WHY WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS

Editor's note on Dec 8 2015: Perry Nodelman's comment and Philip Nel's response are now in the body of the original post. 


December 5, 2015

Dear Phil,

I read your post about your new book, Was the Cat in the Hat Black: The Hidden Racism of Children's Literature, and Why We Need Diverse Books. On one hand, I want to say congratulations, because I know that people buy/read/teach your books, and as such, books that look at racism in children's literature are important.

On the other hand, as an activist scholar from a marginalized population, my thoughts and emotions since reading your post include me uttering "WTF." As I write that last sentence, I imagine a lot of my colleagues in children's literature rolling their eyes--not at you--but at me. The truth is, though, that my WTF won't hurt your career. You're a white male, tenured, at a Research I school. You have all the cred in the world. You also have many books published--books that have been very well received.

But.

I have some questions. I could raise them in an email and thereby have a private conversation with you, but, those private conversations tend to be helpful to those who already have power, so I've chosen to do this publicly.

In your blog post, you said that

"The book is about different manifestations of structural racism in the world of children's books: the subtle persistence of racial caricature, how anti-racist revisionism sustains racist ideas, invisibility as a form of racism, whitewashing young adult book covers, and institutional discrimination within the publishing industry." 

Let's start with structural racism.

You know We Need Diverse Books is trademarked, right? And you know that the organization itself is a grass roots effort comprised largely of people of color who object to the ways that structural racism consistently rewards white, and specifically white males, for the work they do--over the work of people of marginalized communities, right? Are you in conversation with anyone at WNDB about your book, and/or have you had conversations with anyone there about using that phrase in the title of your book?

I hope so, because if not, you might be rendering them invisible and thereby contributing to "invisibility as a form of racism."

Let's look at that invisibility you reference, next. In your post, you offer

"a hearty thanks to those who have read and commented here, answered my questions, offered feedback when I've presented portions of this work, or educated me via your books and articles. I've learned so much from all of you. (Hint: Look for your names in the book's Acknowledgements!) I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you."

Given your status, it seems to me that you could have done more than list people in the Acknowledgements. This is a huge presumption on my part, but my guess is that I am one of the people who may get listed in your Acknowledgments. Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not, but either way, your hearty thank you--though you mean well--will not be received in the way you might think it would be. There is a robust conversation online about people in privileged spaces being informed by the work of people of color--and using that work with little to no acknowledgement. Being listed in an Acknowledgement is not what people want to see.

Do you quote from Twitter, Tumbr, and various blogs, and do you cite the individuals? I hope so! In a way, this ask is similar to my asking about your use of the We Need Diverse Books phrase. By that, I mean that it is hard to say when a bit of information or knowledge ought to be attributed to a specific person. With social media, the voices we read are much more diverse than they've ever been before. It can mean that ideas and points of view seep into our own heads and shape our thinking and then become our thinking, and then it seems unnecessary to cite a specific person who was instrumental in ones own thinking! But it IS necessary. The community of people participating in conversations about children's books is larger than it has ever been before--thanks to social media--but scholars should not replicate injustices of the past wherein white males profit through the work of those who they and their ancestors, overtly and subtly, oppressed and oppress.

Actually--I think people could fairly wonder about the project itself. It could have been an edited volume, with you using your stature as a means to lift the names and work being done by people who aren't white males.

Course, in wondering that, I make some assumptions that you and I see things from a similar vantage point! Our conversations on your blog suggest that isn't necessarily the case. But you also said in your blog post, that some of those posts (where we conversed via the comments) contain "admittedly flawed" thinking, so maybe you're in a different space today than you were then and could, therefore, lift those voices.

You said that your book is:

"attempting to do for children's books what The New Jim Crow does for the justice system." 

We do need to get more people to think about racism in children's literature, and there's a lot of people who have been doing that for a very long time. You say that it is a "tall order" to do for children's literature what Michelle Alexander's book does for the justice system.

But.

You're inadvertently placing yourself on the same plane as a Black scholar like Michelle Alexander? I'm stuck right there. Stuck without words to capture what that feels like to me. A huge problem in children's literature is white saviors sweeping in to help or rescue characters of marginalized populations. And here you are, doing that very thing. Did you realize what that would feel like to people of color? Did you imagine any of us, reading those words, as you wrote them? Did you imagine us as your audience?

You say that you'll also look at institutional discrimination within the publishing industry. Seems to me that gives you space to write about institutional discrimination within the academy, too. I'm guessing you've read the various articles online about the experiences of people of color in the academy. We both know how white our field of study is, so it seems that your book might address barriers we face, as scholars. Does it?

My sense from that line in your post about flawed thinking in earlier posts suggests to me that you're in a more reflective space than you've been in the past, but the things you said also suggest that the flawed thinking is still there. We care so very much about children's books, and the work we do. In that care, we are often blind to what we say and how we say it. Maybe it is the flow of a new project that inadvertently blinded you to the way your words in that post read? Indeed, there are likely things I've said in this letter that are similarly blind and I hope that people will note them in comments.

All that said, I look forward to your book but hope that it is a bit more... reflective of your own privilege than your blog post about the book is.

Debbie

__________

Perry Nodelman's (Nodelman is amongst the key scholars in children's literature) comment, submitted on Dec 5, 2015 at 1:21 PM:

You raise important concerns here, Debby--ones that are constantly on my mind these days as I continue to think about and write about children's literature. I recently became painfully aware of my own unconscious expression of white privilege as I looked through old articles I was considering uploading to Academia.edu, and came upon one on Scott O'Dell's Sing Down the Moon which was published in Horn Book in 1984. It's full of praise for a novel about the “Long Walk” of 1863, in which American soldiers forced the entire Navajo nation to relocate after destroying their villages and crops. Among other things, I say in this essay that I admire O'Dell's choice of not providing his young Navaho narrator with a name for much of the book--a choice which I saw in 1984 as universalizing her and making her a sympathetic and believable character, and which I now see as a commentary on the deprivation of her personhood that in fact confirms and reinforces that deprivation. I also celebrate O'Dell's depiction of the Navajo stoicism and refusal to express anger at what is happening to them--another confirmation of a hoary stereotype.

Worst of all, it become apparent to me as I read through this old essay that I simply took it as an absolute truth that no one who was Navajo or even remotely like a Navajo would ever be part of the audience of the book: "Sing Down the Moon is about people unlike ourselves," I conclude, clearly and unconsciously assuming that all the readers of this book would all be white like me. I am wrestling now with whether or not I should upload this essay as evidence of how ignorant I was and much I've learned about these matters in the last three decades--much of it from you, Debby. Uploading it would have to potential to be very embarrassing; not doing so would misrepresent who I once was. I’m tending to choose to upload it.

At any rate, I find these issues of unconscious racism--my own and that of other white people, especially other white men--deeply troubling. I don't want to have to remain silent about the racism that I find so troublesome, but I'm also aware of the troubling aspects of my choosing to speak about what so troubles me. My own solution to this dilemma is to forefront in anything I write about these topics my awareness of the potentially poisonous aspects of my speaking about them—to acknowledge my white male privilege and to attempt to become aware of how it might be distorting how I see things and read texts before and during and after my readings of those texts. I want to acknowledge and accept the possibility that I might yet once more be seriously embarrassing myself, in the faith that even if I do, my doing so will help to further a cause I profoundly believe in by confirming the blindness of my privilege. And I would hope that any discussion of these matters by other white men like me would be equally aware of and forthright about the minefield they enter in writing about race, equally open to exploring the possibility of their blindnesses, and equally unwilling to assume a kind of authority that unconsciously replicates the very kinds of unconscious repression they want to argue against.

_________

Philip Nel's response, submitted on December 7, 2015 at 3:35 PM:

Dear Debbie,

Thanks for your critique of my unpublished manuscript. Here are some responses to your queries.

Yes, I cite We Need Diverse Books in the manuscript, and in the conclusion (a manifesto for anti-racist children’s literature) recommend WNDB as a resource. My hope is that citing WNDB several times in the manuscript, and in the title, will draw attention to the excellent work they do. I did not know that the phrase is copyrighted. Prompted by your query, I have sought their permission to use it in the subtitle and, if they prefer it not be in the subtitle, will remove it. (The original subtitle was "Structures of Racism in Children's Literature." I changed that after being told that it was too academic. I thought the current subtitle more clearly expressed the idea to a general audience.)

As is the case in all of my scholarship, this book builds on a lot of research, all of which I cite. I’ve learned from books, scholarly articles, blog posts, tweets, journalism, conference papers, and more. There are children's literature scholars, critical race theorists, children's & YA literature authors, theorists of affect, among many others. Then, in the Acknowledgments, I name people who have been especially helpful. But I haven't finished compiling the Acknowledgments yet, and I didn't want to publish an incomplete Acknowledgments on the blog — so, that's why I left that part of the blog post deliberately vague.

Michelle Alexander's work is amazing. The New Jim Crow should be required reading for every citizen. Even approaching her level of brilliance would be a tall order. So, if the blog post implied that I'm in her league as a writer or scholar, that's not my intent. I aspire to her level of work, which — to be frank — is how I approach all book projects. I want to write something better than I'm capable of, and so I look to other, better scholars as my role models. There are several such models for Was the Cat in the Hat Black? Alexander's The New Jim Crow is one. Robin Bernstein's Racial Innocence is another.

I do address my Whiteness in the book, yes. Indeed, I've been deeply concerned about how my subject position (straight White male) may impair my thinking about racism. I wrote a little about that here: http://www.philnel.com/2015/04/04/painofracism/

In conclusion, I think that the book will address your concerns. I’d be glad to send you a copy when it comes out.

Thanks for writing.

Best regards,

Phil

Portrayals of American Indians in SLJ's 2010 "Top 100 Children's Novels" - compiled by Elizabeth Bird - PART ONE

In his July/August 2009 editorial in Horn Book Magazine, Roger Sutton poses a question about eligibility for the Coretta Scott King Award. I was looking at Horn Book's articles online, trying to find Neil Gaiman's speech (the one he gave when he won the 2009 Newbery). I was doing that because I'd just read an interview with Gaiman, in which he said something that surprised me, and I wondered if he repeated it in his Newbery speech. He did not.  Here's what he said in the interview:

"The great thing about having an English cemetery is I could go back a very, very, very long way. And in America, you go back 250 years (in a cemetery), and then suddenly you’ve got a few dead Indians, and then you don’t have anybody at all, unless you decide to set it up in Maine or somewhere and sneak in some Vikings.”

I blogged that remark and provided some context for how I interpret it, too. [Update, April 18, 9:00 PM---Mr. Gaiman responded, clarifying his remarks, so please do go read what he said.] I'm reading his words after having spent the better part of the previous 24 hours studying (again) the ways that American Indians appear in Elizabeth Bird's Top 100 Children's Novels. I conclude that the ignorance on display in the Top 100 novels is alive and well---frighteningly so---in Mr. Gaiman. While he exhibits ignorance about American Indians in that remark, his book (at #80 on the list)  does not actually have anything to do with American Indians. Neither does L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900. It is #40 on the list. Baum, however, was outright racist in the editorials he wrote for the Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer. Here's an excerpt from the editorial dated December 20, 1890:

"The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians. Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are. History would forget these latter despicable beings, and speak, in later ages of the gory of these Grand Kings of forest and plain that Cooper loved to heroism."

Turning, now, from ignorance and racism of authors, to portrayals of American Indians in Elizabeth Bird's Top 100 Children's Novels. Here's my list (see notes at bottom):

#99 - The Indian in the Cupboard, by Lynne Reid Banks, published in 1980
#94 - Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome, published in 1930
#90 - Sarah, Plain and Tall, by Patricia MacLachlan, published in 1985
#87 - The View from Saturday, by E. L. Konigsburg, published in 1996
#85 - On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1937
#78 - Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes, published in 1943
#68 - Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech, published in 1994
#63 - Gone Away Lake, by Elizabeth Enrich, published in 1957
#61 - Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, published in 2000
#59 - Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke, published in 2003
#50 - Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell, published in 1960
#46 - Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls, published in 1961
#42 - Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1935
#41 - The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare, published in 1958
#34 - The Watsons Go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis, published in 1995
#31 - Half Magic, by Edward Eager, published in 1954
#25 - Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868/1869
#24 - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling, published in 2007
#23 - Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1932
#17 - Maniac Magee, by Jerry Spinelli, published in 1990
#16 - Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh, published in 1964
#13 - Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, published in 1977
#1 - Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White, published in 1952

If I studied the Library of Congress info for these books, I think only one---Julie of the Wolves---would be categorized in some way as having to do with Native people. None of the authors above is known to be an American Indian, with the possible exception of Wilson Rawls. He said his mother was part Cherokee. He does not assert that identity for himself.

In a video interview, Elizabeth Bird talked about the lack of diversity on her list. There, she talks about how she developed the list. It was a tremendous amount of work, and I'm grateful to her for doing it. Her list provides us with a snapshot that is worth mulling over, for lots of reasons. My particular lens, of course, is American Indians. At 2:48, Elizabeth notes that the list lacks diversity.



It lacks diversity, I agree. Sherman Alexie, Joseph Bruchac, Louise Erdrich, Cynthia Leitich Smith, Richard Van Camp---none of the more successful Native writers are on the list. But overall, it does not lack for portrayals of American Indians.

I say that in jest, of course, because most of those portrayals are in some way, stereotypical or biased. If you are a librarian, and you use this list to build your collection, you will not be providing your readers with a single worthy image of American Indians. A few of them are innocuous---like the Indian blanket in Charlotte's Web---but most are problematic. From "Honest Injun" to sitting "Indian style" to hunting Indians, there's a lot to say.

In the coming days I will work with my notes and develop some observations, but I am pasting the notes below and invite your thoughts. (I apologize in advance for inconsistencies in style and format of presentation. Some of what you'll find was posted before to American Indians in Children's Literature.) If you use some of this info for something you write, please cite this blog as the source of your information.

---------------------



DEBBIE REESE'S NOTES ON PORTRAYALS OF 
AMERICAN INDIANS IN ELIZABETH BIRDS 
TOP 100 CHLDREN'S NOVELS

Number 99 is The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks, published in 1980. See Feb 10, 2010.

Number 94 is Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransom, published in 1930.

• On page 16, Roger is "keeping a sharp lookout lest he should be shot by a savage with a poisoned arrow from behind a tree."
• On page 137, the children come across what they call a "Red Indian wigwam" from which emerges "a very friendly savage".  Ransom's use of "Red Indian" was (is?) common in the United Kingdom.
• On page 231, Nancy shouts "Honest Injun" .
• On page 267, Nancy writes that John had "come at risk of his life to warn you that savage natives were planning an attack on your houseboat."

I think I'll have to find some time to study Swallows and Amazons.... 

Number 93 is Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink, published in 1935. I wrote about it on Feb 10, 2010. 


Number 90 is Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan, published in 1985. On page 17 is "Indian paintbrush".

Number 87 is The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg, published in 1996. Early in the book, there is a discussion of what constitutes diversity. Mrs. Olinski tells Mr. Rohmer that the Academic Bowl team includes "a Jew, a half-Jew, a WASP, and an Indian." (p. 22). Mr. Rohmer tells her the first three don't count, and that the proper term for the Indian is "Native American".  (The Indian on the team is East Indian.) 

Number 85 is On the Banks of Plum Creek, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  The word "Indian" appears 12 times in the book, most of them about their time in Indian Territory. 

• On page 143, Mary tells Laura to keep her sunbonnet on or "You'll be as brown as an Indian, and what will the town girls think of us?"
  

• On page 218, Laura says "I wish I was an Indian and never had to wear clothes!" Course, Ma chides her for saying that, especially for saying it "on Sunday!"

I've written a lot about Wilder's books (see set of links at the bottom of this page), specifically, Little House on the Prairie, which I expect will be in the top tier of Elizabeth's survey. 

Number 78 is Johnny Tremain, written by Esther Forbes, published in 1943.  I'm going to have to reread that one...  I pulled it up on Google books and it looks like Forbes may have done a reasonable job describing the way the colonists dressed for the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773. The popular perception in America (thanks to a lithograph titled "The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor" done in 1846, 73 years after the event took place) is that the colonists dressed in fringe, face paint and feathered headdresses, but they did not do that. Here's what Forbes wrote in Johnny Tremain about the colonists getting ready (p. 140):

...they started to assume their disguises, smootch their faces with soot, paint them with red paint, pull on nightcaps, old frocks, torn jackets, blankets with holes cut for their arms...

See? No fringed buckskin. On page 141, Forbes writes that Johnny "had a fine mop of feathers standing upright in the old knitted cap he would wear on his head..."

I have notes on this somewhere....  I don't recall red paint and feather caps, but the rest of what Forbes writes matches what I recall. I'm mostly glad to see the accuracy of her description of the disguises, but disappointed when I get to page 143:

"Quick!" he [Rab] said, and smootched his face with soot, drew a red line across his mouth running from ear to ear. Johnny saw Rab's eyes through the mask of soot. They were glowing with that dark excitement he had seen but twice before. His lips were parted. His teeth looked sharp and white as an animals.

The character, Rab, in his painted face, becomes animal like. That is a familiar frame: Indian people and animals, very much alike. And of course, it is wrong.

In her discussion of Johnny Tremain, Bird includes a clip from the 1957 Disney film of the movie. In the clip, the colonists, some in fringed clothes, some in knit caps with feathers stuck into them, some with headbands and feathers, and some with painted faces, sing "Sons of Liberty."

Number 73 is My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George, published in 1959. The word "Indian" appears on six different pages.

• On page 22, Sam writes that he read that river birch "has combustible oil in it that the Indians used to start fires."
• On page 31, he remembers that Indians made dugout canoes with fire.
• On page 43, he refers to feathers in an Indian quiver.
• On page 65, Sam has pancakes that are flat and hard, which he imagines Indian bread is like. 
• On page 108 is a reference to "playing cowboys and Indians."
• On page 141, it is springtime, but aspens and birch trees "were still bent like Indian bows."

Number 66 is Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech. On February 5, 2007, I published Beverly Slapin's review of the book here. In a nutshell? Not recommended! [Note, April 16, 2010: Also see my review essay, "Thoughts on Sharon Creech's Walk Two Moons", published on Feb. 25, 2010.]

Number 63 is Gone Away Lake written by Elizabeth Enrich in 1957. I did a search of content (used Google Books) and found four uses of "Indian" in the book.

• Page 141: "Now and then (unnecessarily since they never looked back), he would freeze and stand still as an Indian in the shadows."

• Page 198: "She just sat there, Baby-Belle did, with her arms folded on her chest staring at Mrs. Brace-Gideon severely, like an Indian chief or a judge or somebody like that."

• Page 217: "the pale little crowds of Indian pipes and the orange jack-o'-lantern mushrooms that pushed up the needles."

• Page 756: "in the distance, by the river's edge, a tiny Indian campfire burned with the colors of an opal."

In Gone Away Lake, one of the characters is named Minnehaha, which is from Longfellow. I don't know why she's named that. It is commonly regarded as an "Indian" name, but it is not. We can thank (or blame) Longfellow for so much of the mistaken information that circulates!

Number 61 is Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli, published in 2000.   On page 10, Spinelli writes that Stargirl wears outrageous clothes to school. Among them is "An Indian buckskin." 

Number 59 is Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, published in 2003.   On page 206, Flatnose tells Basta that it will be hard to find Meggie, Mo, Elinor, and Dustfinger's trail in the dark. Flatnose replies "Exactly!" and "We're not bloody native trackers, are we?" 

Number 50 is Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell, published in 1960.  I have not yet read this...  And that is a huge problem, given its status... 

Number 46 is Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, published in 1961.  

• On page 10, "The land we lived on was Cherokee land, allotted to my mother because of the Cherokee blood that flowed in her veins." 
• Page 43, "I reached way back in Arkansas somewhere. By the time my fist had traveled all the way down to the Cherokee Strip, there was a lot of power behind it.
  
• On page 143, where Rubin says "A long time ago some Indians lived here and farmed these fields."
• On page 254, Billy recalls that he "had heard the old Indian legend about the red fern. How a little Indian boy and girl were lost in a blizzard and had frozen to death. In the spring, when they were found, a beautiful red fern had grown up between their two bodies. The story went on to say that only an angel could plant the seeds of a red fern, and that they never died; where one grew, that spot was sacred."
  

According to Bird, much of the book is based on Rawls childhood in Scraper, Oklahoma where he lived until he was 15 or 16. Given his birthyear (1913), he was in Oklahoma from 1913 to 1928 or 1929. Scraper is in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, and is near Tahlequah, which is where the Cherokee Nation's offices are located. I was surprised, on reading Scholastic's guide for the book, to learn that Rawls's mother, Winnie Hatfield Rawls, was part Cherokee. The guide says (page 6):

"...she had been given some land in Oklahoma by the federal government. (The United States gave land to some Native Americans who had been displaced from their original land.)"

Gave?! Gave?!   Nope. The guide is referring to the process by which the United States government forcibly moved several Indian Nations from their homelands TO what came to be called Indian Territory, and then, took that land from them, too, through acts passed by Congress that were designed to break up their identity as Native Nations and allot them parcels of land.


But going back to the book itself, Rawls, who (if the guide is correct) was part Cherokee. It seems to me he was not at all familiar with that identity. He has the character, Rubin, saying "A long time ago some Indians lived here...." Was Billy part Cherokee? Maybe he was hiding that identity. Maybe Rawls and his family hid that identity. The violence inflicted on Native people during that time prompted many to hide it...  I'm curious about the legend, too. I wonder if that is a story from the Cherokees oral tradition? And I wonder why, when Billy went to Tahlequah to get the puppies, he doesn't mention any Cherokees there?



Number 42 is Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Published in 1935, I've had a lot to say on American Indians in Children's Literature about the book. Scroll down to the bottom and see the set of links, or, look over in the sidebars...


Number 41 is The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, published in 1958. Given its setting (1687, in Connecticut), there are references to fights with Indians, fights with Indians and wolves, and Indian attacks (see pages 40, 51, 59, 145, 187, 191, and 192).


Number 34 is The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis.

• Page 50: "...looked like we were in the Wild West and I was a wagon train and Byron was the Indians circling, waiting to attack
• Page 88: "This looked like the Indians circling the wagons again, but this time it was Byron who had to be the white people!"
  

Number 31 is Half Magic by Edward Eager, published in 1954. On page 45, the children are approached by a "ragged Arab" to whom Martha says "How!" Mark hisses to her, under his breath "What do you think he is, an Indian?"


Number 25 is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868 and 1869.

• On page 201, "Laurie opened the parlor door and popped his head in very quietly. He might just as well have turned a somersault and uttered an Indian war whoop, for his face was so full of suppressed excitement and his voice so treacherously joyful that everyone jumped up..."
• On page 245, "It was a pictorial sheet, and Jo examined the work of art nearest her, idly wondering what unfortuitous concatenation of circumstances needed the melodramatic illustration of an Indian in full war costume, tumbling over a precipice with a wolf at his throat, while two infuriated young gentlemen..."

Number 24 is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, published in 2007.  Reading it aloud with my daughter when it came out, we surprised when we got to page 216. At that point in the book, Harry is looking at a photograph of Albus Dumbledore's family. We were surprised to read:

"The mother, Kendra, had jet-black hair pulled into a high bun. Her face had a carved quality about it. Harry thought of photos of Native Americans he'd seen as he studied her dark eyes, high cheekbones, and straight nose, formally composed above a high-necked silk gown."

Number 23 is Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder, published in 1932. I wrote about this on March 19, 2010, quoting the passage from the book where Pa, as a kid, played that he was hunting Indians. Here's the specific passage (from page 53), but do go read my entire entry on that day.

"I began to play I was a mighty hunter, stalking the wild animals and the Indians. I played I was fighting the Indians, until all woods seemed full of wild men, and then all at once I heard the birds twittering 'good night.' 

Number 20 is The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan, published in 2005.

• On page 171: "It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingos and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and stuff like that.
  

Number 17 is Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli, published in 1990.

• On page 80, a kid sits "Indian-style" and, 
• On page 150, John tells Maniac what he imagines: "the blacks sweeping across Hector one steaming summer night; torches, chains, blades, guns, war cries; marauding, looking, overrunning the West End; climbing in through smashed windows, doors, looking for whites, bloodthirsty for whites, like Indians in the old days, Indians on a raid... That's what they are, Giant John nodded thoughtfully, "today's Indians."

Number 16 is Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, published in 1964.

• On page 4, Harriet and Sport talk about what they will be when they grow up. Writing about character names and professions in her notebook, she says "You've got to have a doctor, a lawyer---" and then, Sport interrupts, saying "And an Indian chief."
• On page 96, Ole Golly blushes when Mr. Waldenstein calls her attractive. The text reads "The crimson zoomed up Ole Golly's face again, making her look exactly like a hawk-nosed Indian. Big Chief Golly, Harriet thought, what is happening to you?"
  

Number 13 is Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, published in 1977. This is from page 128:
After lunch, they trotted through the drizzle to the Smithsonian to see the dinosaurs and the Indians. There they came upon a display case holding a miniature scene of Indians disguised in buffalo skins scaring a herd of buffalo into stampeding over a cliff to their death with more Indians waiting below to butcher and skin them. It was a three-dimensional nightmare version of some of his own drawings.


Number 1 is Charlotte's Web by E. B. White, published in 1952. The word "Indian" appears twice, both times in reference to a blanket that Lurvy won.