I discovered Oyate about 7 years ago, when I was researching children’s literature for Web English Teacher. I was surprised that it recommended against teaching books that seemed to be quite popular in classrooms, books such as The Sign of the Beaver or even the much loved Little House on the Prairie series.

As I read the rationales behind these recommendations, however, I understood what I had missed before. Just as many Americans are unhappy with the way our country is misrepresented in some parts of the international arena, American Indians are unhappy with the false stereotypes of their nations that are often reinforced by well meaning but misguided non-native writers. Oyate seeks to educate people. In doing this, Oyate takes action against an injustice and builds a better world for all children.

If your curriculum includes any of these titles (or several others), you might consider visiting this site to gain another point of view:

1. Carilyn Alarid and Marilyn Markel, Old Grandfather Teaches a Lesson: Mimbres Children Learn Respect
2. Lynne Reid Banks, The Indian in the Cupboard or The Return of the Indian
3. Sharon Brown, Kit’s Indian Summer
4. Alice Dalgliesh, The Courage of Sarah Noble
5. Susan Jeffers, Brother Eagle, Sister Sky
6. Ben Mikaelsen, Touching Spirit Bear
7. Ann Rinaldi, My Heart Is On the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl
8. Cynthia Rylant, Long Night Moon
9. Marc Simmons, Millie Cooper’s Ride: A True Story from History
10. Kathy Jo Wargin, The Legend of the Petoskey Stone

Posted Mon, 19 Nov 2007 00:01:43 and filed under Literature, eNotes. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.