Beverly Slapin's HOW TO WRITE A HISTORICAL YOUNG ADULT NOVEL WITH AN INDIAN THEME (FOR FUN AND PROFIT)

Update: Friday, Feb. 8, 2008---Two thoughts

First, it isn't enough to read what Beverly Slapin wrote below... You have to do more than laugh or talk about it with others. She makes many powerful points, doing so with humor. Consider how you might act on what you read. Could you, for example, ask teachers to reconsider using those books in the classroom? Could you avoid buying those books as gifts?

Second, visit Oyate's website and order books from their catalog. It is the single-best-place I know to get terrific books by and about Native peoples. They have books from U.S. and Canadian publishers. They have books published by large publishing houses who can afford to send their authors out on book tours, and books published by tiny publishers that can ill afford to send books to review journals. Oyate has music and video, too, and excellent teaching materials. And, it is a not-for-profit organization.

[Note: This post may not be published elsewhere without the written permission of its author, Beverly Slapin.]

1. Name your characters in the traditional Indian way, using the formula that has been followed for decades: an adjective or participle followed by a noun. The adjective should be a color, the participle should imply animal or supernatural skills, and the noun should be an animal or natural occurrence or weapon. Young children are always named with a diminutive adjective followed by a predator (if a boy) or cute baby animal or form of flora (if a girl), and elders should always have the adjective “gray” in their names. If you are uncomfortable with the idea of making up names, go to authentic Indian sources. Just be sure that you cite them in your “author’s note.”

A good example: “There I found the Indian burial ground, with dozens of white headstones bearing the names of the Native American children from all tribes who had died while at the school. The names, with the tribes inscribed underneath, were so lyrical that they leapt out at me and took on instant personalities…. [T]heir personalities came through to me with such force and inspiration, I had to use them. I am sure that in whatever Happy Hunting Ground they may reside, they will forgive this artistic license, and even smile upon it.”[1]

2. Take get extra points for using the terms “brave,” “maiden,” and “papoose,” instead of “man,” “woman,” and “baby.” Don’t bother with “squaw.” It’s controversial. Also take extra points for the number of times you refer to Indian eyes and hair as “dark” or “black.” And remember: Almost all of your male characters should be referred to as “warriors,” whether or not they have ever seen battle.

A good example: “She had a round, moon face, with large, half-moon eyes of black…. She did not smile, but her dark eyes continued their piercing stare as if they were on the mission of a vision quest…. Her dark eyes rested on mine…[2]

3. Never, ever have your Indian characters use contractions. Indians did not do that. And, whenever possible, make sure your Indians eschew articles, conjunctions, adverbs. The clunkier the dialogue, the more authentically Indian it will appear. And if you want to create really authentic Indian speech, think Tonto.

A good example: “Attean learn…. White man come more and more to Indian land. White man not make treaty with pipe. White man make signs on paper, signs Indian not know. Indian put mark on paper to show him friend of white man. Then white man take land. Tell Indian cannot hunt on land. Attean learn to read white man’s signs. Attean not give away hunting grounds.”[3]

4. Make sure that you use as many relentlessly garbled metaphors as you can. That way, your protagonist will sound more Indian.

A good example: “Yet hope tiptoed on softly moccasined feet, setting my heart beating with excitement.”[4]

5. Or, if you choose to tell the story in the third person, you can do even more with illogical similes.

A good example: “Broken blades of corn stuck up out of the blackness, like dead warriors waiting for the Great Spirit to call them…. She gave no sound, but her heart cried out like a wounded eagle.”[5]

6. And if you wish to combine similes with metaphors, jump in with both feet and let your imagination run wild as a buffalo fleeing a railroad train.

A good example: “Your legs are your friends. You must teach them to run like the antelope. Then your enemies will not be able to catch you. Your eyes are your friends. You must teach them to see like the eagle so that you are a great hunter and your enemies cannot approach without your knowledge. Your ears are your friends. They will tell you what your eyes cannot see in the night. Teach them to hear the beetle that crawls on the ground. Then you will be able to hear the snake that slithers in the grass and it will not be able to bite you. Your arms and your hands are your friends. They must be strong and quick like the cougar’s.[6]

7. If your Indian protagonist is speaking, make sure that she or he leaves the narration every once in a while to give an ethnographic exposition to the reader. It is imperative that this explanation begins with “It is the custom of our people to….” This form of writing not only teaches young readers very interesting facts about how your Indians lived, but it also shows their teachers how much you know about how your Indians lived.

A good example: “It is the custom of our people to burn the possessions of the dead. And thus I burned our tepee.”[7]

8. Make sure that your Indian narrator represents the world in one way and then contradicts this representation. Nobody understands Indian worldviews anyway, so you don’t have to be too careful.

A good example: “My brother Nanolatch is ‘He Who Leaps with the Salmon.’ Nana means ‘Salmonwife’ but no one ever calls me that. It is my sacred name. When you say it aloud, you set the spirits loose. You can never predict what will happen then.”[8]

9. Make sure that your Indian narrator portrays Indian belief systems and ceremonies as mindlessly violent.

A good example: “I’d have to grow up and be a warrior—decorate my body with eagle feathers, dance the secret Sun Dance. Some of them torture themselves during the dance to show how brave they are. They hang themselves from a pole by leather thongs pulled through their chest muscles. I could do that. I’m brave enough.”[9]

10. If your Indian narrator is a young woman, have her mount a quasi-feminist critique of what you perceive to be a patriarchal society.

A good example: “Have a successful Initiation or fail, the end is the same for all Kwakiutl girls. We will marry some boy we did not choose and leave this village. A wish twists sharply in my belly—not to be born…female, but to be male.”[10]

11. If your protagonist is a white boy, make sure that your Indian character exists in order to teach him all about hunting, honor, dignity, loyalty, decency, and the necessity of washing up before dinner.

A good example: “Tom, I want to explain. I want to and I don’t know the words. I always hated men who could talk and talk, but now I almost wish I was one of them. Then I’d know what to say to you to make you know. I am a Choctaw, Tom, and I must follow the Choctaw way….I lived my whole life believing it and I’ll die believing it. It can’t be any other way, boy. It will come surely and in its time, as winter does when the fall has gone. I don’t like the winter, when the trees are old-looking and the animals lose their flesh, but I know it has to come.”[11]

12. If your protagonist is a white boy, make sure that he, after having lived in an Indian camp for a while, runs things ever more efficiently than the Indians ever did themselves.

A good example: “Jimmy discovered how hard it was to get things going. He had wanted to leave by dawn, but it was quite another matter to pack up ten saddles and nine travois, then round up the horses and direct fifteen women, thirty-five children, and three elders.”[12]

13. Through the voice of your white protagonist, make sure to describe Indians in ways that connote the three B’s—barbarism, brutality and bloodthirstiness.

A good example: “To Jimmy’s horror, some held spears in the air, dangling scalps from a recent raid on a wagon train. Jimmy clamped his hand over his mouth and swallowed the bile rising in his throat. He had heard about such things, but he hadn’t thought friendly Indians killed people. A sickening, sweet odor brought tears to his eyes. He was afraid and angry at the same time….But now this—this atrocity!…He counted six scalps, all caked with blood. One was a woman’s long red hair, one a girl’s blond pigtails, four were men’s scalps, three dark, one gray. Jimmy thought about his family. His little sister wore pigtails, his uncle Lefty had gray hair. Molly’s hair was long and flowing. He pictured their house pierced with burning arrows and his mother crying for help….He hated himself for thinking that living with Indians would be carefree.”[13]

14. If your Indian narrator is an old man, have him remember the past with the oratorical skill of a white person trying to sound Indian.

A good example: “I wear white man’s clothes. Some of my grandchildren’s grandchildren do not speak Choctaw. Our great traditions seem fragile now. But that day as I watched Moshi ride away on his horse, I felt the eagle spirit race through my blood.”[14]

15. Feel free to take words from well-known Indian leaders and ascribe them to your characters, even though they are from totally different nations. Make sure to appear humble in your “author’s notes” so that no one will accuse you of stealing anything.

A good example: “The Crow people did not live on the coast, like Sings-the-Best-Songs and Drums-Louder and the people of the Wolf Clan, but I have lent Chief Plenty-Coup’s words to Sings-the-Best-Songs because they are more beautiful and more apt than any I could invent.”[15]

16. If you don’t know something about a particular tribe, just make stuff up, and rationalize, rationalize, rationalize.

A good example: “I’ve tried to take a little from several of the peoples of the northwest coast—Kwakiutl, Haida, Nuu-chah-nulth, and others. I cannot claim to know enough about their rich heritage to draw them, any of them, accurately. In any case, this is a work of fiction. But it is dedicated to them, and the wolves, whose hunting prowess they respected and admired.”[16]

17. Always remember, you are the author; you are creating your tribe, you are entitled to invent anything you want.

A good example: “While I tried to provide authenticity in depicting the pre-contact life of the Kwakiutl, I still had to remain true to my characters, who created their own world and understood it through their viewpoints. Certain aspects, like their names, tattooing, the Salmon Being chant…are my own interpretations. The ceremonies and rituals in the transformation potlatch have been altered and simplified to suit this story.”[17]

18. If you run out of things to say in your “author’s note,” feel free to invent otherworldly rationales to justify what you have created.

A good example: “The image of a girl carrying a spear formed behind my eyes, but I didn’t know if a Native American woman would have been allowed to become a warrior….The more I read, the more I found that what I’d imagined was entirely plausible.”[18]

19. And finally, don’t be afraid that your writing will be considered stupifyingly abysmal. You have captured the Indian way of talking, the Indian way of thinking, and, well, the Indian way of being.

A good example: “I see no happiness ahead…. I see no village in the moons to come where my wickiup will be a place of warm contentment. Once my heart was certain in the ways of our people, and my moccasins were set in the path I knew to be good. Now I travel in the moccasins of another and know not the path I follow or where it will lead.”[19]

20. Above all, stand firm in your belief that Native American people are expendable and that you, with your myriad talents and numerous awards, are a suitable alternative who can best tell their stories.

A good example: “In doing historical research, I ran across the story of the Indian School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and the heart-wrenching accounts of young Native Americans…. Here was a story that must be told, I decided… There I found the Indian burial ground, with dozens of white headstones bearing the names of the Native American children from all tribes who had died while at the school. The names, with the tribes inscribed underneath, were so lyrical that they leapt out at me and took on instant personalities…. In one respect I hoped to bring them alive again and show their plight and their accomplishments to young readers today…. [T]heir personalities came through to me with such force and inspiration, I had to use them. I am sure that in whatever Happy Hunting Ground they may reside, they will forgive this artistic license, and even smile upon it.”[20]

—Beverly Slapin

---

[1] Rinaldi, Ann, My Heart Is On the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl, Carlisle Indian School, Pennsylvania, 1880. Dear America Series. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1999, pp. 195-196.

[2] Ellington, Charlotte Jane, Dancing Leaf. Johnson City, Tenn.: The Overmountain Press, 2007, pp. 124-126.

[3] Speare, Elizabeth George, The Sign of the Beaver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983, p. 31.

[4] Landman, Tanya, Apache Girl Warrior. London: Walker Books, Ltd., 2007, p. 68.

[5] Von Ahnen, Katherine, Heart of Naosaqua. Boulder, Col., Roberts Rinehart, in cooperation with the Council for Indian Education, 1996, p. 38.

[6] Burks, Brian, Runs With Horses. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1995, p. 4.

[7] Landman, op.cit., p. 26.

[8] Schwartz, Virginia Frances, Initiation. Allston, Mass.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2003, p. 13.

[9] Osborne, Mary Pope, Adeline Falling Star. New York: Scholastic, 2000, p. 111.

[10] Schwartz, op. cit., pp. 31-32.

[11] Ashabranner, Brent, and Russell G. Davis, The Choctaw Code. Greenville, S.C.: 1961, 2006, pp. 32-33.

[12] Gregory, Kristiana, The Legend of Jimmy Spoon. San Diego, Cal.: Harcourt, 1990, 2002, p. 130.

[13] Ibid., pp. 37-38.

[14] Fitzpatrick, Marie-Louise, The Long March. Hillsboro, Ore., Beyond Words, 1998, n.p.

[15] Branford, Henrietta, White Wolf. Cambridge, Mass., Candlewick Press, 1998, p. 91.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Schwartz, op. cit., p. 265.

[18] Landman, op. cit., inside back cover.

[19] Von Ahnen, op. cit., p. 94.

[20] Rinaldi, Ann, op. cit., pp. 195-196.

.

A Review of Ruth Bornstein's BRAVE BUNNY

[Note: Beverly Slapin at Oyate compared Indian Bunny and Brave Bunny (for background see the blog post on August 14, 2006). She sent her review to me. With her permission, I'm posting it below. Her review may not be published elsewhere without her written permission. Remember to visit the Oyate site to order children's books about American Indians. And if you want more of their reviews, you won't regret getting Oyate's Through Indian Eyes: The Native Experience in Books for Children, and A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children. --Debbie]

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In 1973, Golden Gate Junior Books published Ruth Bornstein's little book, INDIAN BUNNY. In the same year, it was picked up by Scholastic, "by arrangement with Children's Press." Bornstein dedicated INDIAN BUNNY "to Noah, Jonah, Adam, and Jesse," whom we can presume to be her children. Here is the entire text of INDIAN BUNNY:

One day a bunny said,

Good-by, I'm going to be an Indian.

I'll follow the stream

And I'll walk along a hidden forest trail

—so silently

that not even the deer will hear me.

In the stream I'll find a tadpole

and he'll tell me how he turns into a frog.

I'll come to a meadow

and do a deer dance when the sun is high.

I'll climb a tree

and look far out.

An eagle will come to his nest,

so I'll hide in my friend the Owl's house

and watch him.

I'll climb down and find a feather the eagle

has floated down to me.

Then I'll follow the hidden trail

to the place where the animals meet.

and I'll watch them.

And when the sun is low

I'll silently steal away.

I'll gather round stones

to mark a place.

And I'll rub two sticks together

to make a fire.

I'll sit by my fire.

Maybe I'll hear the drums far off—

faintly

faintly.

And I'll beat my drum in the night.

My friend the Owl will hear me.

And when the moon is high

and I crawl into my tepee,

my friend will fly over to say,

Sweet dreams.

That's all of it. A quiet, gently told tale with soft cadence; perfect to read in a dim light to little kids warmly tucked in bed. A sweet little goodnight story for the littlest kids to fall asleep to. Except that it's racist in its inception and imagery. A little bunny goes off and plays Indian, doing all the things that "Indians" do in the imaginations of non-Indian kids and their parents.

In 2003 (thirty years later), Gibbs Smith Publisher morphed INDIAN BUNNY into BRAVE BUNNY. Ruth Lercher Bornstein dedicated BRAVE BUNNY to "Jacob, Gabriel, Joseph, Rebekah, Kalia, and Olivia," whom we can presume to be her grandchildren. According to the publisher, BRAVE BUNNY was edited by Jennifer Grillone. The CIP summary: "A bunny decides that it is time to go into the world to meet and learn from other animals, especially his friend Owl."

So what kind of editing was done? The second line and the last line.

One day a bunny said,

Good-by, I'm going out into the world.

And when the moon is high

and I crawl into my tepee,

my friend will fly over to say,

Good night, Brave Bunny.

Some green and blue tint was added to the pictures. That's all. "Brave Bunny" is still sneaking around, wearing a feather, doing a "deer dance," rubbing two sticks together to make a fire, beating a drum, and going to sleep in his "tepee." I wonder how much Jennifer Grillone was paid for her "editing," and who thought it was a good idea to bring this offensive little book back into print.—Beverly Slapin

Highly Recommended: POWWOW DAY by Traci Sorell

Powwow Day

Written by Traci Sorell (Cherokee)

Illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw)

Published in 2022

Publisher: Charlesbridge

Reviewed by Jean Mendoza

Review Status: Highly Recommended

Powwows are an Indigenous tradition that many non-Native readers (child or adult) have at least heard of, though misconceptions abound. Most seem to emphasize the entertainment -- the drums, the singing, the dancing -- with little awareness of the reasons Native people hold powwows in the first place. 

That awareness can be gained from several contemporary picture books by Native creators. There's White Earth Anishinaabe author Marcie Rendon's photo-essay Powwow Summer: A Family Celebrates the Circle of Life (1996/2013; photos by Cheryl Walsh Belleville). The protagonist of Jingle Dancer (2000/2021) by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) gets ready for a powwow, and in Bowwow Powwow (2018) by Brenda Child (Red Lake Ojibwe), the main character dreams about a highly unusual powwow. And I don't want to forget Josie Dances (2021) by Denise Lajimodiere (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe), in which a girl, her mom, and three other family members prepare for her to dance at the next powwow.

A 2022 addition to that list is Powwow Day, by Cherokee author Traci Sorell and illustrator Madelyn Goodnight, Chickasaw. 

Here's what the book jacket says about Powwow Day:

Today is powwow day. Then River remembers: no dancing for her this year. Even though she's feeling  better lately, she's still not strong enough. Maybe she can at least dance Grand Entry? Join River and her family as they enjoy a cultural tradition -- their tribal powwow. As River tries to make peace with her temporary limitations,  she reminds herself that her beloved jingle dress dance is to honor the Creator, the ancestors, and everyone's health -- including her own.

And here are 4 reasons why AICL strongly recommends Powwow Day.

Reason #1: The story line is emotionally resonant.

Many children have had to temporarily stop doing something they love due to illness or injury. It won't be hard for them to empathize with River's sadness, frustration, and (ultimately) hope as she stands apart from activities that mean a great deal to her.

Reason #2: The illustrations emphasize a Native child's personal experience of a public traditional event. 

Every time I look through this book, I find something else to appreciate about Madelyn Goodnight's depictions of the characters and the event. Tenderness and a sense of loving community are on every page.  Illustrations and photos of powwows can feel impersonal or disconnected from the individuality of the people pictured. But Goodnight's powwow-goers have a range of skin tones, facial shapes, hair styles, and expressions. And several of them wear glasses! Each dancer's regalia is unique. 

Yes, there's beautiful, bright, sound-filled spectacle, but the personal elements are foregrounded, showing River's deeply-felt connections to her family and community. No one, least of all River, is there to be entertained.

Reason #3: It's tribally specific, indirectly.

Powwow Day doesn't name River's Native Nation, but the author's use of the term "tribal powwow" suggests that this event may be smaller, more local, than the intertribal powwows that draw participants and audiences from far and wide. The back matter is more specific about the tribal origins of powwows and of the jingle dress dance. In her note, Traci Sorell also makes clear that she didn't attend powwows until college; they were not part of her Cherokee heritage. That's an important point to make for many non-Native readers who tend to assume that all tribes had powwows, historically (a variant of the "Native tribes are all alike" stereotype).

Reason 4: It doesn't have to stand alone.

Sharing Powwow Day with children, along with any or all of the other 4 powwow-themed books I mentioned earlier, can begin to give them a multi-dimensional picture of what powwows are like. Kids can watch for details and make comparisons. What does each book say about the jingle dress dance, and other dances? About the drums? What does each main character do to get ready for a powwow? What's depicted in the background at each powwow? (For example, can they spot the rows of portable toilets in Powwow Day? That's a most welcome feature of contemporary powwows.)

If you teach about powwows, we'd love to hear what you're doing, and what place books like Powwow Day have in your planning.

EDITED by Jean 2/10/23: Some cool additional information from author Traci Sorell, via comment on Facebook: "We do share the tribe in the art on the Grand Entry page. Look for the black flag behind the eagle staff. It's the flag of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa in MI's UP. The short story "Secrets and Surprises" I wrote in ANCESTOR APPROVED continues with this family and begins in the tribe's rez up in the Soo."

AICL's Year In Review for 2023

AICL'S YEAR IN REVIEW: 2023

American Indians in Children's Literature is pleased to share our annual year-end list of books we want you to know about. We'd like multiple copies of them to be in every classroom, school, and public library. (Download AICL's 2023 Year In Review pdf if you wish.)

Our emphasis is books by Native writers and illustrators whose Nations are on the continent we know as North America. Most are ones that came out in 2023. In some way, they've touched our hearts as parents of Native children or as former school teachers who want children to have accurate and honest books about Native peoples. 

For each book, we list the Tribal Nation of the author/illustrator and we encourage you to use that information when reading the book. For example, in the picture book category you'll see A Letter for Bob by Kim Rogers. We encourage you to introduce the book by saying something like:

"This is A Letter for Bob. It is written by Kim Rogers, an enrolled member of the Wichita Affiliated Tribes. The illustrations are by Jonathan Nelson. He's Diné." 

You'll modify that according to the way you're using the book. The main point is that we want you to be tribally specific. That means you specify the author and illustrator's Tribal Nation. If possible, show students the websites of the author/illustrator and of their Tribal Nations. 

Now, it is important to say a few things about claims to Native identity. In October of 2023, Native people in the US and Canada were shocked to learn that an iconic singer, Buffy Sainte-Marie, is not Native. People who follow Native news media know that–in the past few years–there have been several expose’s of individuals who assert a Native identity and use that identity in their professional or academic work. It touches children’s literature, too. In 2023, we withdrew our recommendations of books by Buffy Sainte-Marie, Joseph Bruchac, Marge Bruchac, James Bruchac, and Art Coulson (click on their names for details). One way that investigations of such claims begin is by someone noticing that the ways a person asserts that identity shifts over time in problematic ways. The shift may be in the tribal nation(s) being claimed, or by shifts in language used to make the claim. 

Sometimes, however, a change marks an effort to be more accurate. Using Debbie as an example, she used to say “Nambé Pueblo” but now says “Nambé Owingeh” because “Pueblo” is an externally imposed word, while Nambé and Owingeh are Tewa words (Tewa is the language spoken at Nambé). She also says she is “tribally enrolled” because she meets the requirements at Nambe to be included on the tribal census. Her father and grandmother are enrolled at Nambé. Her mother is from Ohkay Owingeh; her mother’s father is from Hopi. Debbie does not list either one in her email signature line because she grew up at, and is enrolled at, Nambé. In a biographical statement, she might include both because they are part of her life and experiences as a Native woman. She would have a lot more to say about Ohkay Owingeh because she spent a lot of time there as a kid and very little time at Hopi.  

In some cases, the membership or citizenship requirements of a person’s Nation mean that a person’s child cannot be included on a tribal census but they are considered part of the community. We encourage you to read Christine Day’s note in We Still Belong. Her main character cannot be enrolled in the Nation her mother is enrolled in. 

There are hundreds of Tribal Nations, which means there are hundreds of ways in which a person’s nation decides who its citizens are. We are not suggesting that there is a single ‘best’ way of stating a Native identity. Indeed, we learn more about Native identity each year. This year, we learned that some Tribal Nations issue ‘descent’ cards to children of family members who–like the character in Christine Day’s book–can’t be enrolled in their mother’s Nation. Many Nations have moved away from “blood quantum” requirements to lineage. We encourage you to read an interview that NPR did with Elizabeth Rule (she is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and her book, Indigenous DC, is on our list this year in the Crossover section).

You will also see “not Native” because there are non-Native writers (like John Coy and Debby Dahl Edwardson who are on last year’s list, or Charles Waters on this year’s) whose writing includes Native content or characters in respectful ways. Several books on this year’s list also are illustrated by non-Native artists.

Before moving on to our list, we want to note that claims – like the one made by Buffy Sainte-Marie – have a harmful impact on Native people who were disconnected or removed from their Native families and communities. Across North America, there are Native people trying to find their way home. It is not an easy process. For many it is full of obstacles put there by agencies that sought to destroy Native Nations. When false claims are called out, people who are trying to find their families and those who are trying to build relationships with their families may feel vulnerable and fearful of being challenged about their search. That vulnerability is an unseen harm done by false claims. 

In our list you will find an author’s Tribal Nation in parenthesis after their name. We use an author’s identity as they name it (and the spellings/capitalizations of their personal names) on their own website (sometimes we write to them to ask for clarification). If they do not have a website, we use what their publisher uses.  We are happy to make edits as needed! Let us know.

Though our list is organized by age/grade levels, we encourage you to use picture books with readers of any age, and we want every teacher and librarian to read all the books. They are far better than the books most people read in their childhood. These will help you understand who Native people really are. We welcome your questions and comments about these introductory paragraphs, or the books we list, below.

And join us in celebrating the growing number of books we list each year!* Many win awards, and the range of what we’re all able to read is outstanding! Across genre, format, and author/illustrator’s Tribal Nations, Native literature is something to pay attention to!

Comics and Graphic Novels 

Cohen, Emily Bowen (Jewish and a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation). Two Tribes, illustrated by the author. Heartdrum (2023). US.

Van Camp, Richard (Thlicho Dene), The Spirit of Denendeh, Vol. 2: As I Enfold You in Petals, illustrated by Scott B. Henderson (not Native) and Donovan Yaciuk (not Native). Highwater Press (2022). Canada.

Van Sciver, Noah (not Native), Paul Bunyan: The Invention of an American Legend includes an introduction by Lee Francis (Pueblo of Laguna), stories and art by Marlena Myles (enrolled Spirit Lake Dakota), and a postscript by Deondre Smiles (citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe). Toon Graphics (2023). US.

vermette, katherena (Red River Métis),  A Girl Called Echo Omnibus, illustrated by Scott Henderson (not Native) and Donovan Yaciuk (not Native). Highwater Press (2023). Canada.

Board Books 

Taos Pueblo Winter, illustrated by Leonard Archuleta (Taos). Seventh Generation. US. 

Taos Pueblo Spring, illustrated by Frank Rain Leaf (Taos). Seventh Generation. US.

Taos Pueblo Summer, illustrated by Janell Lujan (Taos). Seventh Generation. US.

Taos Pueblo Fall, illustrated by Deanna Autumn Leaf Suazo (Taos). Seventh Generation. US

Picture Books 

Barrett, Elizabeth S. (Red Lake Ojibwe). Mashkiki Road: The Seven Grandfather Teachings, illustrated by Jonathan Thunder (Red Lake Ojibwe). Minnesota Historical Society Press (2022). US.

Bunten, Alexis (Unangan and Yup'ik). What Your Ribbon Skirt Means to Me, illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt (Diné of the Kiiyaa'áanii Clan). Christy Ottaviano Books (2023). US. 

Cooper, Nancy (member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation), Biindigen! Amik Says Welcome, illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley (Ojibwe, member of Wasauksing First Nation). Owl Kids (2023). Canada.

Dupuis, Jenny Kay (Member of Nipissing First Nation). Heart Berry Bling, illustrated by Eva Campbell (not Native). Highwater Press (2023). Canada.

Goodluck, Laurel (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian), Rock Your Mocs! illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (member of the Chickasaw Nation). Heartdrum (2023). US.

Greendeer, Danielle (Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Citizen, Hawk Clan), Anthony Perry (citizen of the Chickasaw Nation), and Alexis Bunten (Unangan and Yup'ik). Keepunumuk: Weeachumun's Thanksgiving Story, illustrated by Garry Meeches Sr. (tribe). Charlesbridge (2022). US. 

Harjo, Joy (member of the Mvskoke Nation), Remember. Illustrated by Michaela Goade (enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska). Random House (2023). US. 

Janicki, Peggy (Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation). The Secret Pocket, illustrated by Carrielynn Victor (a descendant of Coast Salish ancestors). Orca Book Publishers (2023). Canada.

Lindstrom, Carole (Anishinaabe/Metis and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe) Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior. Illustrated by Bridget George (Bear Clan from Kettle and Stony Point First Nation). Roaring Brook Press (2023). US.

Lindstrom, Carole (Anishinaabe/Metis and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe.) My Powerful Hair, illustrated by Steph Littlebird (member of Oregon’s Grand Ronde Confederated Tribes). Harry N. Abrams (2023). US.

Newell, Chris (citizen of Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township). If You Lived During the Plimoth Thanksgiving, illustrated by Winona Nelson (member of Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa). Scholastic (2021), US. 

Rogers, Kim (enrolled member of Wichita and Affiliated Tribes). Just Like Grandma, illustrated by Julie Flett (Cree-Métis). Heartdrum (2023). US. 

Rogers, Kim (enrolled member of Wichita and Affiliated Tribes). A Letter for Bob, illustrated by Jonathan Nelson (Diné). Heartdrum (2023). US.

Sapiel, Minquansis (Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Nation). Little People of the Dawn, illustrated by Minsoss Bobadilla-Sapiel (Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Nation). Black Bears and Blueberries (2023). US.

 

Sorell, Traci (enrolled citizen, Cherokee Nation), Powwow Day, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (member of the Chickasaw Nation). Charlesbridge (2022). US.

Sorell, Traci (enrolled citizen, Cherokee Nation), Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World Series, illustrated by Arigon Starr (enrolled member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma). Kokila (2023). US.

Early Chapter Books 

Buckley, Patricia Morris (Mohawk). The First Woman Cherokee Chief: Wilma Pearl Mankiller, illustrated by Aphelandra (Filipino and Oneida ancestry). Random House Books for Young Readers (2023). US.

Day, Christine (citizen of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe). She Persisted: Maria Tallchief, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger (not Native) and Gillian Flint (not Native). Philomel Books (2021). US.

Goodluck, Laurel (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Tsimshian). She Persisted: Deb Haaland, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger (not Native) and Gillian Flint (not Native). Philomel Books (2023). US.

Quigley, Dawn (enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe). Jo Jo Makoons: Fancy Pants, illustrated by Tara Audibert (Wolatoqiyik). Heartdrum (2022). US.

Quigley, Dawn (enrolled citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe). Jo Jo Makoons: Snow Day, illustrated by Tara Audibert (Wolatoqiyik). Heartdrum (2023). US.

Sorell, Traci (citizen, Cherokee Nation). She Persisted: Wilma Mankiller, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger (not Native) and Gillian Flint (not Native). Philomel Books (2022). US.

For Middle Grades 

Anselmo, Anthony (Sault Ste Marie Band of Ojibwe), The Spirit of the North Wind. Black Bears and Blueberries (2023). US.

Coombs, Linda (member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah). Colonization and the Wampanoag Story. Crown Books for Young Readers (2023). US.

Day, Christine (Upper Skagit), We Still Belong. Cover art by Madelyn Goodnight (citizen of Chickasaw Nation). Heartdrum (2023). US.

Hobson, Brandon (Cherokee Nation), The Storyteller. Scholastic (2023). US.

Hopson, Nasugraq Rainey (tribally enrolled Inupiat). Eagle Drums. Roaring Brook Press (2023). US.

John-Kehewin, Wanda (Cree), Hopeless in Hope. Portage and Main/Highwater Press (2023). Canada.

Martinez, Lorinda (Lok' aa' Diné'e). Running With Changing Woman. Salina Bookshelf (2023). US.

Waters, Charles (not Native) and Sorell, Traci (Cherokee Nation), Mascot. Charlesbridge (2023). US.

Young, Brian (Diné). Heroes of the Water Monster. Cover art by Shonto Begay (Diné). Heartdrum (2023). US.

For High School

Boulley, Angeline (enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians), Warrior Girl Unearthed. Cover art by Michaela Goade (enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska). 

Dimaline, Cherie (Metis Nation of Ontario), Funeral Songs for Dying Girls. Tundra Books (2023). Canada.

Graves, Byron (enrolled member of the Red Lake band of Ojibwe), Rez Ball. Cover illustration by Natasha Donovan. Heartdrum (2023). US.

Mosionier, Beatrice (Metis), In Search of April Raintree, 40th Anniversary Edition. Foreword by katherena vermette (Metis); afterword by Raven Sinclair (Cree/Assiniboine/Salteaux, Gordon's First Nation). Portage and Main/Highwater Press (2023). Canada.

Smith, Cynthia Leitich (citizen of the Muscogee Nation). Harvest House. Cover art by Britt Newton (citizen of the Muscogee Nation). Heartdrum (2023). US.

Crossover Books (written for adults; appeal to teens/young adults)

Blackhawk, Ned (Western Shoshone), The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of US History. Yale University Press (2023). US.

Powers, Susan. A Council of Dolls. Harper Collins (2023). US.

Rule, Elizabeth. Indigenous DC: Native Peoples and the Nation's Capital. Georgetown University Press (2023). US.

_____

*AICL differs from review journals like Horn Book or School Library Journal. Publishers send them books. At AICL, some publishers send us books, but for the most part, Debbie and Jean buy books themselves, or check them out from a library. It is just the two of us, talking with each other about books. There are some we haven’t yet read and they will–no doubt–be on next year’s list.

 

Not Recommended: Nancy Bo Flood's SOLDIER SISTER, FLY HOME

Some months ago, I learned that Lori Piestewa was being written about in a book by Nancy Bo Flood. My immediate reaction was similar to the reaction I had in 1999 when I read Ann Rinaldi's My Heart Is On The Ground. In preparation for her book on Native children at Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Rinaldi visited the cemetery there. She used the name of one of the children buried there as a name for one of her characters. That--and many other things about her book--astonished me. What happened to Native Nations and our children because of those schools is something we have yet to recover from. Rinaldi using the name of one of those children was wrong.

Flood is doing that, too.

Soon after the Iraq War began in 2003, Lori Piestewa was killed in Iraq. Her death was felt by people across Native Nations, who started a movement to rename "Squaw Peak" in her honor. Janet Napolitano (she was the governor of the state of Arizona at that time; the Hopi Nation is in Arizona) supported the move. Though it was a difficult change to make (due to governmental regulations), it did take place. What was once "Squaw" Peak (squaw is a derogatory term) is now Piestewa Peak. Each year, there are gatherings there to remember Lori Piestewa. Her family is at those gatherings, as are many Native people.

Tess--the main character in Flood's Soldier Sister, Fly Home--is Navajo. The story opens on the morning of a "ceremony" for Lori. Tess and her parents will go to it, but her older sister, Gaby won't be there because she is in the service. Tess is angry that her sister enlisted in the first place, but also angry that Gaby can't be at the service. The reason? Gaby and Lori were friends (p. 14):

Lori was the first of my sister's friends to join, the first to finish boot camp, the first deployed to Iraq. "Nothing fancy, nothing dangerous," Lori had emailed. "I'll help with supplies, help the soldiers who do the fighting. They're the real warriors. Before you know it, I'll be back."

It is implied that Lori wrote to Gaby. That passage feels wrong to me, too. Several news articles report that Lori sent an email to her mother. In it, she said "We're going in," and "Take care of the babies. I'll see you when I get back." Whether she used Lori's actual words or ones she made up and attributed to Lori doesn't matter. What matters is that she did it in the first place.

The "ceremony" for Lori that Tess and her parents go to bothers me, too. It is going to be held in a gymnasium in Tuba City. When they get there, Tess sees that there are "three large wide drums clustered together." Three different times during this "ceremony," the drumbeat is described as "boom-BOOM."

In newspaper accounts, I find that there was a memorial service held for her in a gymnasium in Tuba City on April 12, 2003, but I don't find any descriptions of it. What is important, is that it was a memorial. Not a "ceremony." At these kinds of Native gatherings (many are held in gyms, so that is not a problem with Flood's story), there is a drum and honor guard, but no "ceremony" of the kind that is implied. And characterizing the sound of the drum as "boom-BOOM" is, quite frankly, laughable.

On page 14 of Soldier Sister, we read that Tess's mother is going to give Lori's family a Pendleton blanket. Tess remembers her sister in that gym, standing at center circle ready to play basketball (p. 15):

Today Lori's mother stood in that circle, wrapped in a dark-purple blanket. Purple, the color of honor. Fallen Warrior. On each side of her stood two little children, Lori's children. Did they hope Lori would come home and surprise them?

Surprise them?! That part of that passage strikes me as utterly callous and lacking in sensitivity for Lori's children and family.

It is possible that, at the actual service that happened that day (news accounts indicate her family was given Pendleton blankets are other memorials since then), someone gave Lori's family a Pendleton blanket. It may have been one of the Chief Joseph blankets. They're available in purple. Pendleton blankets figure prominently throughout Native nations. I've been given them, and I've given them to others, too.

I doubt, however, that a purple one was chosen because purple signifies honor to Hopi or Navajo people. Purple carries that meaning for others, though. In the US armed services, for example, there's the Purple Heart.

All of what I find in Soldier Sister, Fly Home 

that is specific to Lori Piestewa, is cringe-worthy. 

In the back of the book, Flood writes at length about getting Navajo consultants to read the story to check the accuracy of the Navajo parts of the story and her use of Navajo words, too. There is no mention of having spoken to anyone at Hopi, or anyone in Lori Piestewa's family, about this story.

In her "Acknowledgements and Author's Note," Flood writes that (p. 153):

A percentage of the royalties from the sale of this book will be contributed to the American Indian College Fund to support the education of Lori's two children.

That, too, is unsettling. Using her children to promote this book is utterly lacking in grace. It may sound generous and kind, but the reality is that most authors have day jobs. They can't support themselves otherwise. Various websites indicate that an author may receive 10% (or up to 15%) of the sale of each book. Amazon indicates the hardcover price for this book will be $16.95 (it is due out in August of 2016). If we round that to $17.00 and use the 10% figure, Flood could get $1.70 per book. How much of that $1.70 does she plan to send to the American Indian College Fund? Did she talk with Lori's parents (Lori's children live with them) about this donation?

Update, August 24, 2016: An anonymous commenter wrote to say that in the final copy of the book, Flood revised the Author's Note. It now reads as follows:

The Piestewa family is pleased that a percentage of the book's royalties will support the education of Lori's two children. An additional donation will be made to the American Indian College Fund.

Given that Flood specifically names many Navajo people who helped her with this book, the lack of naming of Hopi people makes me very uneasy. Without their names, it feels very much like Flood is exploiting a family and a people. For that reason alone, I can not recommend this book.

I could continue this review, pointing to problems in the ways Flood depicts Tess as a young woman conflicted over her biracial identity. Doing that would help other writers who are developing biracial characters, but I think I'll save that for a stand-alone post.

Soldier Sister, Fly Home by Nancy Bo Flood, published by Charlesbridge in 2016, is not recommended.

Update: January 26, 2016

There aren't nearly enough Native people in children's and young adult literature. It is a small community, and a good many of us write to each other, sharing news, concerns, etc. As I read Flood's book, I was talking with Joe Bruchac about author notes. What he says below is similar to what I said in my post about beta readers. I'm glad to share his remarks (with his permission) here:

I also am feeling increasingly leery about books which mention the names of people from whatever native nation the non-native person has written a book about as those who provided guidance in some unspecified manner.

For one, not every native person from a particular nation is an expert on that nation's culture, language, and history. I suggest doing what I have tried to do as much as possible, which is to work directly with tribal historians, linguists, and others from that particular nation who are regarded as expert, as elders, and spokespeople and so on-- recognized as such by their own tribal nation. (Such as Wayland Large, the tribal historian of the Shoshone Nation who reviewed my manuscript Sacajawea before it was published.)

I know of a few books in the past that mentioned supposedly American Indian people who were advisors, but were in fact not even Indian. One example is the infamous book brother eagle sister sky.

For another, when there is merely a list of names without any indication of what those people said or did to assist I wonder if there really was any actual significant input from those folks, or just a random conversation now and then.

I may have used this term before when discussing things with you but I find that a great number of books about American Indians by non- Indians tend to engage in what I call "cultural ventriloquism." They create a supposedly native character who is nothing more than a dummy through which the non-native authors voice is spoken. As a result, the worldview and the viewpoint is distinctly not Native American, but a mere pretense.

I first heard "cultural ventriloquism" back in the early 2000s, at a conference in Madison at the Cooperative Children's Book Center. Joe was talking, then, about Ann Rinaldi's My Heart Is On the Ground. 

I am still working on my next post about Flood's book, mulling over what I will emphasize. I've got several thoughts in my head. When that post is ready, I'll provide a link here, to it.

Update, September 1, 2016
I finished my second post on the book.