Hello all, hope everything is well in the world of Children's Literature! This week our class discussion and book The Heart of a Chief by Joseph Bruchac focused on a young Indian boy struggling with stereotypes involving his Native American culture and heritage. The book mainly dealt with the main Character's struggle with a stereotypical Indian school mascot and a battle over putting a Casino on Indian land.
The first thing that came to my mind when we began this discussion was a memory of growing up playing "Cowboys and Indians"! My older brother and I never gave a second thought to a seemingly innocent game that turns out to be incredibly disrespectful! I also pondered the implications of Central Michigan University having an Indian mascot! I have some good friends attending that university and have on several occassions attended sporting events involving their Indian mascot, a Chippewa Indian! At the time, I did not realize how dehumanizing this display of mockery was to Native Americans. Now, after our class discussion and watching the video about sports mascots, I have completely changed my beliefs about Indian mascots. I realize how incredibly hurtful mascots used for entertainment can be to the insider culture.
I would also like to discuss a disturbing event that occured in my field placement classroom Wednesday morning. During morning activities, I came upon two second grade students intensely arguing. I overheard the first student declaring himself an American Indian. The second student shouted back that the first student could not be an Indian! At this point I interjected the conversation and asked the second student why he thought student one was not an Indian! Through both words and physical expression this student explained that student one did not have any feathers and lifted two fingers behind his head to represent a feather. This unfortunate confrontation was a perfect example of the stereotypes children often believe about Native American Indians. This was further expressed in the Reese in which she explains how students commonly misinterpret all Indians as possessing feathered clothing or accessories! This issue is also reproduced in inaccurate diverse Children's Literature about American Indians. I am certainly beginning to realize the overwhemling need for accurate and respectful representations of Native Americans in Children's Literature!
The last comment I would like to make concerning this weeks discussion deals with an encounter with my roommate earlier this week. When I was writing my textual response for our book, my roommate came in my room to see what I was up to. After I said I was writing a paper about Indians, she responded by putting her hand over her mouth and making a "Waaa Waaa Waaa" sound to imitate her perception of Indians. She continued on and asked if I was writing about "the dot or the feather kind?" By this she meant to ask if I was writing about Indians from India or Native Americans. Since I had just read our book about the Penacook tribe and researched the harmful effects of stereotypes, I found this display incredibly offensive and disrespectful! However, I was also stumped as how to respond to these actions. This is a question I am still struggling with, especially since in the past I have used the same cultural stereotype to discribe Ameican Indians! Any advice and comments would be greatly appreiciated!
Have a great week :)
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1 comment:
Wow Beckie, you sure had a lot going on this week. What timing, that the very week you are reading about issues concerning Native Americans, you have two different encounters in your professional and personal life showing lack of understanding and lack of respect. It's tough to know the right way to respond to both of the situations you describe--they both present difficulties in different ways. You have to be careful how you respond to children, you want to educate them and help them understand where their knowledge is lacking, and to support the student who is being misunderstood. When it's a friend you are dealing with it can be even trickier. In both cases, a good way to start is by trying to understand why they are saying the things they are, ask for clarification of what they are expressing. Then you can give the information they are lacking, and try to share the perspective they are missing. The timing of these conversations can be difficult, as can a mind that is not ready to listen, but you can hope to make a little dent, to start making people think. This is not a complete answer, but a place to start. You can bring these concerns to class as well.
Claire
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