Jillian B. Harper. Cultural Authenticity in Native American Children‟s Books: An Examination of Cumberland, Robeson, and Swain Counties‟ Elementary School Collections as Accessed Through Their Online Catalogs. A Master‟s Paper for the M.S. in L.S degree. April, 2010. 130 pages. Advisor: Sandra Hughes-Hassell. Abstract: The purpose of this study was to critically examine the cultural authenticity of materials held by the elementary school library collections in three North Carolina counties. Specifically, I looked at Cumberland and Robeson Counties in the southeastern part of the state and Swain County in the western part of the state. These counties are home to some of the largest Native student populations in North Carolina; by searching the elementary school online catalogs for each county, using a list of titles that are recommended as being culturally authentic, as well as a list of titles that are problematic in terms of cultural authenticity, I looked at whether or not the collections contained a balance of materials, or if they tended towards holdings that perpetuate misrepresentation and stereotypes. Further analysis of the results enabled a discussion about the role of the school media specialist as an advocate for students, addressed the importance of cultural authenticity, and suggested strategies for working with collections that may not be particularly culturally authentic. Headings: School libraries – Native American materials School libraries – North Carolina School libraries – Collection Development Children‟s literature – Native American Children‟s literature – cultural authenticity CULTURAL AUTHENTICITY IN NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN‟S BOOKS: AN EXAMINATION OF CUMBERLAND, ROBESON, AND SWAIN COUNTIES‟ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COLLECTIONS AS ACCESSED THROUGH THEIR ONLINE CATALOGS by Jillian B. Harper A Master‟s paper submitted to the faculty of the School of Information and Library Science of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Library Science. Chapel Hill, North Carolina April 2010 Approved by _______________________________________ Sandra Hughes-Hassell 1 Acknowledgments I finally beat the alligator, and finished off the elephant! This would not have been possible without help and guidance from many people. Dr. Hughes-Hassell – thank you for being a teacher librarian and leading by example! To the SILS Library staff, who cheerfully checked out stacks of books I put on hold; Rebecca Vargha, for letting me have extended access to A Broken Flute; and Lara Bailey, for answering my paper questions – many thanks! Thank you also to Beth Rowe for a helpful research consultation and potential source ideas. Merci to Anne Berler and Erin Nelson for feedback about organization and data presentation – more helpful than you know! Danke to Courtney Kennedy for conversations about WHY culturally authentic stories really DO matter and make a difference in kindergarten classrooms. Grazie also to my family, for appreciating stories, a good book (or 500), and for listening to me carry on about culturally authentic children‟s literature, probably a lot more than you wanted. I very much appreciate the assistance! 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................................... 1 List of Tables and Figures ............................................................................................................................... 4 Liz‟s Story ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 Raven‟s Story .................................................................................................................................................. 6 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 Literature Review .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Multicultural Children‟s Literature ............................................................................................................................ 11 History of Multicultural Children‟s Literature ........................................................................................................... 12 Evaluation of Multicultural Children‟s Literature ...................................................................................................... 14 Native American Children‟s Literature ...................................................................................................................... 17 History and Development of Native American Children‟s Literature ........................................................................ 18 Evaluating Native American Children‟s Literature .................................................................................................... 19 Cultural Authenticity .................................................................................................................................................. 22 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................. 27 Choosing the North Carolina Counties to Examine ................................................................................................... 27 Compiling a List of Recommended and Not-Recommended Resources to Check Against Library Holdings ........... 29 Searching the Catalogs ............................................................................................................................................... 30 Drawbacks/limits of methodology ............................................................................................................................. 34 Results ........................................................................................................................................................... 35 Titles that Were Not Recommended .......................................................................................................................... 35 Recommended Titles .................................................................................................................................................. 38 Analysis and Discussion ................................................................................................................................ 45 Titles that Appeared on Both Lists ............................................................................................................................. 46 Recommended Titles Held by All Three Systems ...................................................................................................... 49 Titles That Are Not Recommended ............................................................................................................................ 53 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 57 Appendices .................................................................................................................................................... 61 Appendix # A: The History of Multicultural Children‟s Literature ............................................................................ 61 3 Appendix # B: Evaluating Multicultural Children‟s Literature .................................................................................. 62 Appendix # C: Gilton‟s Multicultural Evaluation Criteria ........................................................................................ 63 Appendix # D: Russell‟s Evaluative Guidelines for Cultural Consciousness ............................................................. 64 Appendix # E: Slapin and Seale‟s Evaluative Criteria and Focus .............................................................................. 65 Appendix # F: Guides to Selecting Books and Sources of Current Reviews ............................................................. 68 Appendix # G: List of North Carolina Counties Participating in Title VII Program .................................................. 71 Appendix # H: Recommended Children‟s Literature ................................................................................................. 72 Appendix # I: Titles That Are Not Recommended, Per A Broken Flute .................................................................. 101 Appendix # J: Questions to Ask When Selecting American Indian Books for Classrooms ..................................... 120 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................ 122 4 List of Tables and Figures Tables Table 1: Non-Recommended Titles Held ..................................................................................... 35 Table 2: Circulating totals for Each County System ..................................................................... 36 Table 3: Cumberland County Top Five Circulating Non-Recommended Titles .......................... 36 Table 4: Robeson County Top Five Non-Recommended Circulating Titles ...............................