What to do with the ragedebreese_nambeApril 13 2009, 15:56:50 UTC
When I'm doing workshops and lectures, I ask the audience to USE the information they gained.
Go to local bookstores and libraries. Get a copy of LHOP (or whatever book you're honing in on), take it to the clerk/librarian, and tell them what's wrong with it. With LHOP, tell them that when Pa took his family into Indian Territory, the Native peoples were not the savages that Wilder's portrays in her book. By then, Native Nations had negotiated over 800 treaties with foreign governments (e.g.: U.S., France, Spain) and that portraying them as ignorant and bloodthirsty savages is factually incorrect.
At that bookstore and library, ASK for a book that accurately portrays American Indians. For example, ASK for Louise Erdrich's BIRCHBARK HOUSE. If they don't have it, order it, and take the time to tell the clerk/librarian WHY it is a good book and WHY they should have it available.
That is putting your knowledge into action. The clerk/librarian might think you're a nut, but they also might be grateful for the knowledge. Either way, they're likely to take the info to their supervisors.
I learned so much from Beverly Slapin and Doris Seale, and I continue to learn from them. Both have reviews that are on my site (American Indians in Children's Literature).
My daughter, Liz, and I both have pieces in A BROKEN FLUTE.
Go to local bookstores and libraries. Get a copy of LHOP (or whatever book you're honing in on), take it to the clerk/librarian, and tell them what's wrong with it. With LHOP, tell them that when Pa took his family into Indian Territory, the Native peoples were not the savages that Wilder's portrays in her book. By then, Native Nations had negotiated over 800 treaties with foreign governments (e.g.: U.S., France, Spain) and that portraying them as ignorant and bloodthirsty savages is factually incorrect.
At that bookstore and library, ASK for a book that accurately portrays American Indians. For example, ASK for Louise Erdrich's BIRCHBARK HOUSE. If they don't have it, order it, and take the time to tell the clerk/librarian WHY it is a good book and WHY they should have it available.
That is putting your knowledge into action. The clerk/librarian might think you're a nut, but they also might be grateful for the knowledge. Either way, they're likely to take the info to their supervisors.
I learned so much from Beverly Slapin and Doris Seale, and I continue to learn from them. Both have reviews that are on my site (American Indians in Children's Literature).
My daughter, Liz, and I both have pieces in A BROKEN FLUTE.
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