Today's post is lengthy. I created it first not as a blog post, but as an addition to the
online MG writing course I am currently taking through the
Children's Book Academy. I noticed that a number of writers in the course with me had some form of American Indian content in their books or planned books. To address that, I wrote the following guest post, which I hope will be sent out with the other course materials. I'd love it if
Mira Reisberg would use it as a part of all of her courses going forward. She has a wonderful opportunity to educate writers on diversity as part of their craft education. I would also love it if agents and editors would seriously consider these points when evaluating manuscripts.
(And in other Indian news this weekend, the Carolina Indian Circle Powwow).
Writing About Native Americans
by Kara Stewart
By way of introduction, I am Kara Stewart. I am an enrolled
member of the
Sappony
tribe, one of the eight state-recognized American Indian tribes in North
Carolina. Tribes can be federally recognized or state-recognized. There are 567
federally recognized tribes in the United States, the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Indians, located in North Carolina, being one of them and included in the count of North Carolina’s
eight tribes.
I have been a Reading Specialist and Literacy Coach in the
public schools (elementary level) for 18 years. I am currently serving my 4th
term on the North Carolina State Advisory Council on Indian Education. Although
I am not currently serving on the Sappony Tribal Council, I have served 3 terms
previously and plan to again. I am involved in our tribal activities and
events, as well as Native efforts at the state level.
I’d like to give you some thoughts and suggestions for
writing to and about American Indians. Tara Houska, Couchiching First Nation,
attorney and Indian Country Today Media Network columnist, who has been in
recent news, says that 87% of American Indian content in schools today is
pre-1900s. She doesn’t just mean textbooks.
Here are some images you may have seen of American Indians. They have become so ingrained in American culture, that most non-Natives don't give them a second thought.
Some more statistics:
●
At 16.93%, the suicide rate for American Indians/Alaska
Natives of all ages was much higher than the overall U.S. rate of 12.08.
Suicide was the eighth leading cause of death for American Indians/Alaska
Natives of all ages and the second leading cause of death among youth ages
10–24 (2013 CDC statistics for period 1999-2011). **I have actually seen higher numbers in more recent years, particularly among youth.
●
Federal government studies have consistently shown that
American Indian women experience much higher levels of sexual violence than
other women in the U.S. Data gathered by the U.S. Department of Justice
indicates that Native American and Alaskan Native women are more than 2.5 times
more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted than women in the USA in general
(5 vs. 2 per 1,000). (Steven W Perry,
American Indians and Crime- A BJS Statistical Profile 1992-2002, Bureau of
Justice Statistics, US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs,
December 2004.)
Here are just a few of hundreds of images from books:
And lest you think this is all in the past*:
*For more about cultural appropriation and Natives, please familiarize yourself with the fabulous Dr. Adrienne Keene’s blog, Native Appropriations
I am not saying by any means that books are to blame for the
crazy high Native suicide rates, crazy high assault rates on Native women or
addiction problems. Generational trauma, genocide, poverty, institutionalized
racism - these all contribute. But a thread that holds all these together with
literature is identity. Identity
(along with institutionalized racism) is at the heart of these issues. Books
contribute to identity. Books are these images in words. Let me say that again.
Books are these images in words.
Children’s literature is one area where we, as writers,
parents and educators, CAN make a difference to Indian children (and ALL
children). Books are a HUGE part of school from whole class instruction and
read alouds to guided reading book sets and media center choices. We can learn
to write, purchase and read books that are accurate and authentic about Indian
people instead of those that promote the stereotypes we just saw.
The images I just showed you are blatant stereotypes. I know
you would recognize that you do a disservice to Indian children (and all children)
by textualizing these blatant inaccuracies. But if you are a non-Native writer,
would you recognize inaccuracies if you think you have done your due diligence,
have researched your Native subject for years and spoken to some members of the
tribe you write about? Or even know them in real life?
Consider Blue Birds by Caroline Starr Rose. It has been
highly acclaimed. But what happens when we actually look at it from a Native
perspective? Debbie Reese, of American Indians in Children’s Literature,
has reviewed it.
If you are non-Native, I’d like to give you some resources
and suggestions for writing about American Indians. First, it is not enough to
research the tribe and the history you intend to write about. Certainly, you
need to ground your writing in a particular tribe and a particular time period
- and when you consider Tara Houska’s statistic on how little contemporary
Native cultures are portrayed, I’m assuming you will decide you should probably
write about a tribe set in the contemporary world since there is already an
overabundance of historical (and inaccurate historical) writing about Indians
and you would be contributing to the identity issues in living, breathing
Indian children by writing yet another historical book about Indians (an
exception might be something along the lines of if you are a Native writer and
know details about an event in your tribe’s history that need to be told and
your tribe wants them told).
So researching is certainly part of it. But it is not
enough. If you are not Native, you may not be familiar with the thriving world
of Indian Country today. Make yourself familiar with it. If you are not a
member of the tribe you intend to write about, you need to find a way to
immerse yourself in their culture. This could be tricky if you don’t know them.
But it needs to be done. You need to tell them who you are, why and what you
intend to write about them. Do not expect them to welcome you with open arms. You need to learn all you can from them. And you
need to respect what they say. Even if you have one Native character in your
book, that character needs to be presented accurately.
I have written two picture books, one of which won the 2014
Lee & Low New Voices Honor Award, both about various aspects of my tribe.
Even as an enrolled tribal member, I never would have dreamed of writing them
or seeking publication if I had not gotten approval by the tribal council, and
equally as important, approval of the people or representations of the people
in the stories. As a writer, I owe it to the people I represent to show them my
final (not first draft) intention with my story and ask them if this body of
work represents them in the way they want to be shown. Not one person. Not two
people. Not just an Indian friend, who may or may not be clued in to the larger
issues in Native America today. Ask the people themselves, “Are you comfortable
being represented this way?”
And if they have suggestions or objections - I listen. I
change my story. I owe this to the people I will be making money off by the
sale of my work, little as the money may be. I do not deny or claim that my research showed me otherwise. I
change my work. You do know that much of ‘history’ that you research is not accurate,
right? You do know who writes history, right? The victors. So the Native voice
of what we know happened in history
has not, in most cases, been recorded. When you Google or go to the library or
any of the standard research tools we use today, you must be aware that these
are the Eurocentric versions of history.
One way to combat that is to go to the tribe’s official
website. But even here, be careful. Indian politics is very tricky to navigate.
There are official websites of official tribes, and then there are ‘wannabee’
tribes (not state or federally recognized) that pop up and have websites and
misleading information.
Let me give you a list of resources to start with:
As part of the North Carolina State Advisory Council on
Indian Education, and Chair of the Culturally Responsive Instruction Committee,
we have come up with these
Culturally Responsive Instructional Resources,
which are helpful to writers as well as educators. If you look down the orange
left side-bar, you will see Text Resources. You may want to read the books on
the Recommended list as well as the Non-Recommended list to get a feel for why
they are on the list they are on. Another helpful resource under Text Resources
is the Criteria From How To Tell the Difference: A Guide for Evaluating
Children’s Books for Anti-Indian Bias (adapted from oyate.org). Although
intended for analysis of published text for bias, it would be an excellent tool
for writers to learn to use to analyze their own writing for bias.
A third resource I recommend,
Indian 101 for Writers, is something I wrote
a few years ago explicitly for writers in collaboration with my author pal,
Alison DeLuca. We wrote this because there seemed to be no other resource like
this to address writers who are thinking of writing about Native Americans. It
is a 5-part traveling blog series (between my blog at the time and her blog),
in interview format. There are many, many links and resources in it. If you
take the time to read through them, it should give you a better idea of what is
involved in presenting Native people accurately.
The first post opens with many links to articles about white privilege and institutionalized racism. The following posts deal more specifically with Native content.
Another great resource is author Cynthia Leitich Smith's (Muscogee) blog post, Writing, Tonto and The Wise-Cracking Minority Sidekick Who Is Always the First to Die. She has listed out specifics for authors who wish to write cross-culturally about Native people.
And lastly, but perhaps most importantly for non-Native
writers, ask yourself, “Why do I want to write about Native people?” What is it about us that you think is
important enough to step outside of your culture to write about - especially
knowing the loaded history and contemporary issues with our people? Is there a
story you could tell about your own culture that would be equally compelling?
Are you perhaps looking for a hook for your audience? Do you just feel an
affinity for Indian people or have always found us fascinating? If so, is there
a way to better serve, such as volunteering or working with Native
authors?
I know why I write about my people. I have
Navajo and Dine friends, Lumbee, Cherokee and Choctaw friends and more. And we
hang. And I love them. But would I feel comfortable writing about
their culture? No. I would not. I would
be very out of my element. And their culture is not mine for the taking. Food
for thought.
