Proceed with Caution: Using Native Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales American Folktales in the Classroom

Debbie Reese To counter fl awed representations found throughout popular culture and the media, the author draws on her identity as a woman from the Nambe to help teachers select children’s books that are realistic in their presentation of Native peoples, as well as factually, historically, and culturally accurate.

raditional stories include myths, legends, correct version of any given story. During a tell- and folktales rooted in the oral storytell- ing, listeners can speak up if they feel an impor- Ting traditions of a given people. Through tant fact or detail was omitted, or want to offer story, people pass their religious beliefs, customs, a different version of the story. In this way, the history, lifestyle, language, values, and the places people seek or arrive at a communal truth rather they hold sacred from one generation to the next. than an absolute truth (Silko, 1996). Ruoff (1990) As such, stories and their telling are more than notes that a storyteller may revise a story accord- simple entertainment. They matter—in signifi - ing to his or her own interpretation, or according cant ways—to the well-being of the communi- to the knowledge of the audience, but in order for ties from which they originate. Acclaimed Acoma it to be acceptable to the group from which the Pueblo writer Leslie Marmon Silko writes that the story originated, it should remain true to the spirit oral narrative, or story, was the medium by which and content of the original. the Pueblo people transmitted “an entire culture, In my years as an elementary school teacher, a worldview complete with proven strategies for I was often disappointed in the ways that Ameri- survival” (Silko, 1996, p. 30). In her discussion of can Indians are portrayed in children’s books. In hunting stories, she says: graduate school, I read the works of American Indian scholars whose research is critical of rep- These accounts contained information of criti- resentations of American Indians in textbooks. cal importance about the behavior and migration For example, Angela Cavendar Wilson, a Wahpe- patterns of mule deer. Hunting stories carefully tunwan Dakota professor of Indigenous History, described key landmarks and locations of fresh asserts that American Indian history books should water. Thus, a deer-hunt story might also serve as be called “non-Indian perceptions of American a map. Lost travelers and lost piñon-nut gatherers Indian history” (1998, p. 23) because they are Language Arts have been saved by sighting a rock formation they fi lled with “misinterpretations, mistranslations, recognize only because they once heard a hunting lack of context, and lack of understanding” (p. 25). story describing this rock formation. (p. 32) Based on my study of children’s books about

Native Americans, I believe Wilson’s statement ●

Similarly, children’s book author Joseph applies to that genre as well. Broadly speaking, Vol. 84 Bruchac writes, representation of Native Americans in children’s literature is dominated by two categories of writ-

. . . rather than being ‘mere myths,’ with ‘myth’ ●

ing: they tend to be either well-loved classics (like No. 3 being used in the pejorative sense of ‘untruth,’ Little House on the Prairie [Wilder, 1935] or Sign those ancient traditional tales were a distillation of the Beaver [Speare, 1983]) that portray Native ●

of the deep knowledge held by the many Native peoples as primitive savages who merely grunt January 2007 American nations about the workings of the world or speak in broken English, or they are best sell- around them. (1996, p. ix). ers (like Brother Eagle, Sister Sky [Jeffers, 1991]) that present Native peoples as romantic but tragic Thus, storytelling is a means of passing along heroes who speak with elaborate, poetic prose information, but it does not mean there is only one about living in harmony with the earth. While

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LLA_Jan2007.inddA_Jan2007.indd 245245 112/8/062/8/06 1:10:541:10:54 PMPM LLA_Jan2007.indd 246 A _ J a Language Arts ● Vol. 84 ● No. 3 ● January 2007 Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales n 2 0 0 7 . i n d d and knowledgewhenreading abookabout (Bishop, 1997). ture presentedaccuratelyandauthentically to seePuebloIndianandNative American cul- children’s books)withacriticaleyeanddesire approach curriculummaterials(e.g.,textbooks, language groups. As ateacherandresearcher, I Mexico, amongwhichthereareseveraldifferent very different fromtheother19pueblosinNew tribal nations.Forinstance,myhomepueblois distinctions betweenandacross American Indian American Indianstudies,Iknowtherearegreat experiences inaspecifi edge anyoneacquiresbasedupontheirlived 1998). Culturalintuitionisthatbodyofknowl- me with“culturalintuition”(Delgado-Bernal, do asPueblopeople. This childhoodprovided I learnedhowtodoarangeofthingsthatwe emonies andgatherings, dance. Iwenttoreligiouscer- language) nameandtaughtto child, Iwasgivena (our ervation. As aPuebloIndian Mexico, andraisedonourres- was bornattheIndianhospitalinSantaFe,New a PuebloIndianwomanfromNambePueblo.I emanates frommyculturallensandidentityas ture books. folktales, retold,packaged,andmarketedaspic- I discussmyanalysisoftwoNative American learning anythingusefulaboutus?Inthisarticle, rately? Are childrenwhoreadthesefolktales gious, cultural,andsocialvaluespresentedaccu- American folktales”forchildren? Are ourreli- in picturebookformat,andmarketedas“Native when theyareretoldoutsideourcommunities, woman, Iwonder, whatdoourstorieslooklike Indian Pueblo a folktales? As Native American ment holdtruewhenlookingatretellingsof those people,butdothey?Does Wilson’s state- people, andweexpectthemtoaccuratelyrefl 6,394,587, respectively(Turvey, 2001). back children’s books,withsalesof6,172,525 and are amongthetop12all-timebest-sellingpaper- better knownandoutsellnewerbooks.Infact,they tle HouseonthePrairie Birchbark House books suchas there arebetterrepresentationsofNativepeoplein

2 4 I drawuponbothmycultural intuition Much ofwhatIbringtobearonmyresearch Traditional storiesoriginatefromaspecifi 6 Jingle Dancer (Erdrich, 1999) and c place. As ascholarin Sign oftheBeaver (Smith, 2000) , books like Traditional stories originatefrom a specifi them toaccuratelyrefl people, butdothey?

or c people,andweexpect Lit- c ect The The are are

246 Indian Tale ald McDermott’s Pueblo Indians.Forexample,whenIreadGer- requires asubstantiveknowledge base. when selectingbooksabout Native Americans for thistypeofdetail.Making informedchoices those lessknowledgeable about theneedtoask what sheusesinherclassroom,andinforming Pueblo children,helpinghertobeselectivein mation couldserveasaguidetoteacherof story. This seeminglyinsignifi which specifi if McDermotthadprovidedinformationabout Arrow totheSun to childrenthere. This particularconcernwith Pueblo havefi and Suinanotethatthepeopleatanygiven in teaching,givenaspecifi cultural authenticity;itisoneofappropriateness from readingthebook. This isnotaquestionof Pueblo woulddisagreeandforbidtheirchildren used withtheirchildren,whileeldersatanother Smolkin andSuinaiswithregardtoaudience. and Suina,2003). A primaryconcernraisedby and additionalconcernswiththebook(Smolkin a casestudyof Pueblo Indianpeople,servingasinformantsfor sentation ofmyPuebloIndianculture.Other McDermott’s storyisnotaccurateinitsrepre- Euro-American, notPuebloan.Inmyview, then, and caresforthem. The stain ofillegitimacyis into anextendedfamily/communitythatloves true either. Inmyexperience,childrenareborn not knowhisfather. To me,thatdoesnotring mott’s protagonistisostracizedbecause hedoes safe placesofworshipandinstruction.McDer- places oftrialandbattle,butIknowkivasare elements. McDermott’s kivasarefrightening the KivaofLightning”wherehefi the KivaofSerpents,Bees,and self bypassingthrough“theKivaofLions, max ofthestory, theboymustprovehim- there areotherproblemsaswell.Inthecli- tion isnotincludedanywhereinthebook,and Pueblo didthisstoryoriginate? That informa- in NewMexico,andmore . Inwhich book isabout. There are19different ect those (1974) c Puebloserved astheoriginof nal sayregarding whatistaught Arrow tothe Sun, could havebeenaddressed Arrow totheSun: A Pueblo would saythebookcouldbe such, eldersatonePueblo able atadifferent Pueblo. As are notnecessarilyaccept- ally acceptableatonePueblo Depictions thatarecultur- , I wonderedwhatPueblothe c audience. Smolkin cant bitofinfor- express similar ghts those 1 This 112/8/06 1:10:55 PM 2 / 8 / 0 6

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P M raises the question, however, about what Ameri- English, from an oral performance to a printed Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales cans know about Native Americans. text, and from a visual performance to an illus- Studies show that children and adults in the trated rendering is fraught with diffi culty. It think that American Indians are a means turning a living, dynamic entity into some- vanquished people of the past and that they all thing that is relatively static. Lost in the process looked pretty much the same. Specifi cally, chil- are elements such as tone, volume, and pacing dren and adults say that American Indians lived of voice. Also gone are the gestures that make a in the distant past and wore buckskin, feathered story come alive, and the input of the audience. headdresses, lived in tipis, and hunted buffalo Equally signifi cant is consideration of the cul- (Doering, 1998; Brophy, 1999; League of Women tural lens and bias of the person who collected the Voters, 1982/1999). A March 2006 search of the story. Folklorist Stith Thompson (1929) noted that Children’s Literature Database, for example, indi- Schoolcraft’s work is “marred by the manner in cated that 36 of the 42 books about American which he has reshaped the stories to suit his own Indians published in 2000 are works of historical literary taste. Several of his tales, indeed, are dis- fi ction. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that, even torted beyond recognition” (p. xv). Ethnographer in 2006, most children’s books represent American Dennis Tedlock (1971) showed that BAE ethnol- Indians as people of the past, not present. ogist added explanatory material to the stories he collected at Zuni Pueblo As educators, it is critical that we provide children in the 1880s for the benefi t of those unfamil- with literature that expands their knowledge, that iar with Zuni culture, and he portrays the diversity within the added didactic, moralistic pas- 500+ federally recognized tribes There is much to know about American Indians that is sages directed to the audience. in the United States. For that Specifi cally, writes Tedlock, matter, they should learn what obscured by the ubiquitous and fl awed representations found Cushing used simile and added it means to be “federally recog- oaths such as “Souls of my nized” or “state recognized” or throughout popular culture and the media. ancestors!” that are not used by “tribally enrolled.” There is much the Zuni people. to know about American Indians that is obscured by the ubiquitous and fl awed repre- Those existing problems are compounded by sentations found throughout popular culture and the the biases of children’s book authors who use the media. To counter these misrepresentations, children stories as source material for retellings that are need books that are realistic in their presentation of marketed as picture-book folktales. This began as Native peoples, as well as factually, historically, and early as 1894. In The Yellow Fairy Book, Andrew culturally accurate. Lang included several “Red Indian” stories from the BAE, and as I demonstrate in this article, such practices continue today. In the remainder of this COLLECTING, RECORDING, article, I discuss the fi ndings of my comparative AND RETELLING NATIVE STORY analysis of two children’s picture-book retellings: The practice of collecting, translating, and writing Turkey Girl by Penny Pollock and Dragonfl y’s down Native American traditional stories began Tale by Kristina Rodanas. with the Jesuits and early explorers in North America, and later, with Henry Rowe School- POLLOCK’S TURKEY GIRL: craft’s Algic Researches published in 1839 (and A ZUNI CINDERELLA STORY republished in 1999 by Dover). In the late nine- Most people are familiar with the story of Cin- teenth and early twentieth centuries, the Smith- derella. With some variation from one telling to sonian’s Bureau of American Ethnology (BAE) the next, the plot is a familiar one, as outlined in began to systematically collect the stories. Mov- the Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales (Goldberg, ing traditional stories from a Native tongue to 2000). In the United States, there are several pic- ture-book folktales categorized as Native Amer- 1. To see Reese’s list of recommended books and resources ican variants of the Cinderella story, including about American Indians, go to her website “American Rafe Martin’s Rough-Face Girl (1992) and Robert Indians in Children’s Literature” at http:// americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2006_ D. San Souci’s Sootface: An Ojibway Cinderella 05_07_americanindiansinchildrensliterature_archive.html. Story (1994).

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LLA_Jan2007.inddA_Jan2007.indd 247247 112/8/062/8/06 1:10:551:10:55 PMPM LLA_Jan2007.indd 248 A _ J a Language Arts ● Vol. 84 ● No. 3 ● January 2007 Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales n 2 0 0 7 . i n d d refer totheversionofstoryfrom stories. Intheanalysisbelow, Iuse“Quam”to tellers andmapsoftheplacesmentionedin Portrayals, were subsequentlypublishedin could beusedforeducationalpurposes,andsome Some wereplacedinZuniHighSchoolwherethey ber Alvina QuamtranslatedthestoriesintoEnglish. ends, myths,andhistoryofZuniPueblo. Tribal mem- Speaking intheirnativetongue,theyrecordedleg- ries astoldbyZunistorytellers. Portrayals in severalpublications. 1884, andhisstudyresulted among themfrom1879through study theZunipeople.Helived In 1879,theBureausenthimto with theBureauofEthnology. lier, Cushingwasanethnologist is apicturebook. As notedear- the ZuniPeople,publishedin1972.Neitherone use intheirversionsofthe Turkey Girlstory. This whoops. Itistheformerthat PollockandCushing broken Englishpepperedwith gruntsandwar phrases suchas“manymoonsago,”ortheyuse ples speakineloquent,romanticprose,using In theimaginationofwhite America, Native peo- Storyteller’s Style key Maiden”in Folk Tales to Cushing’s “ThePoor Turkey Girl”inhis where Ifound“TheTurkey Girl.”(n.p.) tions ishiscollectionofZunifolktales,which a memberofthetribe. Among hismanycontribu- that henotonlymovedinwiththem,became Zunis. Cushingcametoadmire theZunissomuch who traveledtoNewMexicoin1879studythe that citesthesourceforherretellingasfollows: the book. view ofthepeoplewhosefolkloreisfocus the bookaccuratelyrefl lore Society. The criterionfortheirawardisthat the 1996 Aesop Accolades bythe American Folk- Book, Kirkus, lock’s retellingwasfavorablyreviewed by by PennyPollock,waspublishedin1996.Pol-

2 4 To analyzePollock’s retelling,Icompared it I amgratefultoFrankHamiltonCushing, Turkey Girl: A ZuniCinderella Story, 8 Turkey Girl isacollectionofsto- , publishedin1901,andto“The Tur- alongwithphotographsofthestory- and The Zunis:Self-Portrayals Booklist, includes anauthor’s note ects thecultureandworld- Self- anditislistedamong The Zunis:Self- America, Nativepeoplesspeakin ago,” ortheyusebrokenEnglish eloquent, romanticprose,using peppered withgruntsandwar phrases suchas“manymoons The Zunis. In theimaginationofwhite retold Horn Zuni , by whoops. 248 for heruntil“SunFatherfellasleepbehindthe pen, fi request, andatthelastminute,racesbacktotheir the dance,girldecidestoignoreturkey’s place” or, headds,allwillbeasitwas before. At ing tousbeforeSun-Fatherreturnshissacred the turkeysays:“You willprovethatbyreturn- them. The girlsaysshewillnotforget, towhich the turkeytellshernottoforget toreturnfeed After transformingherclothesandappearance, ert withyourtears. You shallgotothedance.” and says“MaidenMother, donotwaterthedes- Thunder Mountain.” A large turkeystepsforward her cheeks”takesturkeystothe“plainsbelow Turkey Girl,withtearsthat“streakedtheduston be heldinHawikuh.”Onthedayofdance, harvest moon,theDanceofSacredBirdwill and Earth-Mother. Infourdays’ time,beforethe the textreads:“Hearme,childrenofSun-Father Mountain.” Later, whenthedanceisannounced, a younggirllivedaloneintheshadowof Thunder opening sentenceis:“Inthedaysofancients, seem mysticalandexotic.Forexample,Pollock’s style hastheeffect ofmakingtheZunipeople Quam doesnotspecify. PollockreferstoPueblo “doeskin”; Cushingsaysit ismadeofcottonand Pollock saystheprotagonist’s dressismadeof “youths” andQuamdoesnotnotethematall. describe maledancers,whileCushingcallsthem more thanreality. Sheusestheword “braves”to well, butthesechoicesrefl we willgetyoureadyintimetogoseethedance.” no fear, mychild,”“gowashup,comeback, and transformation, theturkeyspeaksplainly:“Have which wastobeheldatthevillageplaza.”In tending herfl is statedinamatteroffactway:“Onedaywhile Instead ofanelaboratedanceannouncement,it a maidenlived“invillagecalledMatsakya.” ancients,” thesettingisestablishedas“longago” the Turkey Girlstory, insteadof“inthedays Zuni storytellersin Some ofPollock’s wordchoicesfi nding itempty. The turkeyshadwaited ock sheheardofa Yah Yah Dance return, andthenfl their MaidenMother, neverto them, theyhadleftMatsakiand she hadbrokenhertrustwith mountain.” Then, seeingthat trast tothelanguageusedby ing, andstandsinstarkcon- throughout Pollock’s retell- The Zunis. This styleisevident ect popularculture Intheirtellingof ew away. t herstyle 112/8/06 1:10:55 PM 2 / 8 / 0 6

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P M Proceed with Caution: Using Native American Folktales jewelry as “jewels,” while Cushing describes Pollock’s and Cushing’s turkeys clean and them as “rich ornaments” and Quam does not dress the protagonist, transforming her and her specify. Pollock describes the dancers as “pound- clothing. Seeing her refl ection in the water, the ing” and “stomping” their feet. Neither Cushing girl is confi dent her beauty will assure her accep- nor Quam remark on the footwork of the dancers. tance. Pollock’s text reads: “Now everyone would Quam’s straightforward style makes the story see she was fi t company for more than turkeys.” more realistic. Artistically, some may deem Pol- And, upon arriving at the dance, her beauty stuns lock’s version more pleasing to the ear. Lost, the people: “The musicians, setting the rhythm however, is any suggestion that the Pueblos are a with their fl utes, drums, and notched sticks, living people who continue to tell the Turkey Girl missed a beat when they saw her. Her beauty was story in their communities today. In effect, Pol- so great, everyone stopped to stare.” And she was lock’s Pueblo Indians are cast among the roman- accepted: “The Turkey Girl danced every dance, tic, vanished Indians of days long past. Children her heart beating in time with her stomping feet. reading her book may love its similarities to Cin- At last she was among the proud maidens and derella, but the information they glean about the handsome braves.” Quam’s protagonist is also people of Zuni Pueblo is inaccurate. transformed into a “beautiful maiden” by the tur- keys and goes to the dance, but her beauty is not noticed or marked by anyone at the dance. When Cultural Differences she arrives there, she joins her sisters and dances. Much has been written about the ways that cultures Pollock’s protagonist is surprised when the tur- differ from each other. Some characteristics of keys speak to her: “The young girl sank to the Euro-American society are emb