Three Northern Californian Children's Books
21. Linda Yamane (Ohlone), The Snake That Lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Other Ohlone Stories.
Sometimes I run across written collections of traditional stories and they seem out-of-context and subsequently flat, as this one does -- I presume that if I were Ohlone, or were reading it in an Ohlone context, it would have more power for me. Consequently, I'm gonna file this one under "not written for me".
Two things yet of note:
22. Lee Ann Smith-Trafzer (Maidu) and Clifford E. Trafzer (Maidu), Creation of a California Tribe.
A contemporary Maidu elder, his two grandchildren, and the traditional stories he tells to his grandchildren, that they then tell their classrooms, and that, finally, he tells their classrooms.
The framing story about the grandfather, his grandchildren, and their classrooms is a touch stiff and idealized. There's a bit where Travis, the grandson, is answering the ill-informed questions of his fourth-grade classmates with a grace, composure, and fluency that I could only hope for. (In truth, I cringed all through that early scene with the teacher reading Travis's essay aloud to the class and then inviting the other students to ask questions of Travis about his being Maidu. My own experiences in classroom settings were not good, and I kept expecting that scene to go south fast. Surprisingly, it never did -- what is this mysterious fantasy world Travis lives in? However, even though I think Travis did extraordinarily well, I still would have liked it if he had sidestepped the trap of speaking of Maidu people in past tense.)
The traditional stories told within the frame, however -- a story about Coyote and the creation, a story about Bat and Lizard and fire, a story about Salt Man and what he does for the taste of roasted salmon, and a story about Thunder Boy -- were all lovely. I loved in particular how strongly rooted in place they were: grass fires and earthquakes and salmon and particular northern Californian towns and cities.
I'll wait another year or two before sending this to my nephew, I think -- he's a bit young for it yet -- but I do hope he gets some pleasure from it.
Stories retold from Dalbert Castro and Tom Young.
23. Chiori Santiago, illus Judith Lowry (Maidu), Home to Medicine Mountain.
Story of the time the artist's father and uncle decided that they weren't going to stay at the residential school in Riverside for the summer (the schools would pay railroad fare to school, but not home again to the children's families), and hopped a freight train back to Susanville.
I thought this one would be a hard read -- Shi-shi-etko and Shin-chi's Canoe both tore me up -- but the homesickness here was much easier for me to take, somehow. Most of the story is Benny Len's first year at school, and his thoughts about how strange, cold, and alienating it is, plus the various things he misses about being back home, most especially spending time with his grandmother. Finally the school year ends and Benny Len discovers he doesn't get to go home -- their family can afford the train ticket only every other year. His big brother Stanley, however, promises Benny Len that he'll fix it, somehow.
And the very next night, Stanley wakes up his little brother, the two of them make themselves blanket rolls, and with the older brother's instruction, they hop a boxcar back home. The two days that they spend riding the top of the boxcar are marvelous: beautiful scenery, a loving brother, and the sure knowledge that one is going home and will soon see one's family... (Aw, drat, I did tear up after all!)
(Additional tags: traditional stories, residential schools, Ohlone author, Maidu author, Maidu illustrator, Japanese-American / Native American author [no tribe given])
Sometimes I run across written collections of traditional stories and they seem out-of-context and subsequently flat, as this one does -- I presume that if I were Ohlone, or were reading it in an Ohlone context, it would have more power for me. Consequently, I'm gonna file this one under "not written for me".
Two things yet of note:
- one of the stories is told twice, in English and Spanish;
- The book begins with profiles of the original storytellers, including photos and short biographies of each. I too often see genero-attributions for traditional stories, as if "Native informant" is a generic category of non-person, and it was lovely to see this level of attention given to the elders who had put in the work toward making sure that these stories would be preserved.
22. Lee Ann Smith-Trafzer (Maidu) and Clifford E. Trafzer (Maidu), Creation of a California Tribe.
A contemporary Maidu elder, his two grandchildren, and the traditional stories he tells to his grandchildren, that they then tell their classrooms, and that, finally, he tells their classrooms.
The framing story about the grandfather, his grandchildren, and their classrooms is a touch stiff and idealized. There's a bit where Travis, the grandson, is answering the ill-informed questions of his fourth-grade classmates with a grace, composure, and fluency that I could only hope for. (In truth, I cringed all through that early scene with the teacher reading Travis's essay aloud to the class and then inviting the other students to ask questions of Travis about his being Maidu. My own experiences in classroom settings were not good, and I kept expecting that scene to go south fast. Surprisingly, it never did -- what is this mysterious fantasy world Travis lives in? However, even though I think Travis did extraordinarily well, I still would have liked it if he had sidestepped the trap of speaking of Maidu people in past tense.)
The traditional stories told within the frame, however -- a story about Coyote and the creation, a story about Bat and Lizard and fire, a story about Salt Man and what he does for the taste of roasted salmon, and a story about Thunder Boy -- were all lovely. I loved in particular how strongly rooted in place they were: grass fires and earthquakes and salmon and particular northern Californian towns and cities.
I'll wait another year or two before sending this to my nephew, I think -- he's a bit young for it yet -- but I do hope he gets some pleasure from it.
Stories retold from Dalbert Castro and Tom Young.
23. Chiori Santiago, illus Judith Lowry (Maidu), Home to Medicine Mountain.
Story of the time the artist's father and uncle decided that they weren't going to stay at the residential school in Riverside for the summer (the schools would pay railroad fare to school, but not home again to the children's families), and hopped a freight train back to Susanville.
I thought this one would be a hard read -- Shi-shi-etko and Shin-chi's Canoe both tore me up -- but the homesickness here was much easier for me to take, somehow. Most of the story is Benny Len's first year at school, and his thoughts about how strange, cold, and alienating it is, plus the various things he misses about being back home, most especially spending time with his grandmother. Finally the school year ends and Benny Len discovers he doesn't get to go home -- their family can afford the train ticket only every other year. His big brother Stanley, however, promises Benny Len that he'll fix it, somehow.
And the very next night, Stanley wakes up his little brother, the two of them make themselves blanket rolls, and with the older brother's instruction, they hop a boxcar back home. The two days that they spend riding the top of the boxcar are marvelous: beautiful scenery, a loving brother, and the sure knowledge that one is going home and will soon see one's family... (Aw, drat, I did tear up after all!)
(Additional tags: traditional stories, residential schools, Ohlone author, Maidu author, Maidu illustrator, Japanese-American / Native American author [no tribe given])