An index to Resources for Selecting Native American books.
MUST READ -- Books to Avoid (explanation for the change) Oyate.org for several years published a list of books that they recommended as not being appropriate for children. The Lincoln Nebraska Public Schools Multicutural Committee took it upon themselves to suggest appropriate alternative to the "books to avoid" titles. Here is a report of those suggestions from Lincoln's newspaper the Journal Star. (Online) http://journalstar.com/news/local/education/books-to-avoid/article_5d0d1834-c648-5adb-bc7e-239252337d66.html
This article will provide a sense of the reasons for any particular title being on the "to avoid" list. For more detailed information don't miss a professional book (available at many public libraries): Through Indian Eyes: The Native Experience in Books for Children by Doris Seale et.al.
"Native Americans in Children's Literature," a blog entry on Jennifer Porter's blog Life on Misfit Acres. Porter is a mother who homeschools her child (a seventh grader in 2012) and writes about what she has concluded after researching appropriate books in answer to her daughter's comment/question -- "I am sick and tired of these books about the so-called terrible Indians when it was the white people who stole their land. Aren't there any books told by the Indians?" Locate the entry at: http://porterjennifer.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/native-americans-in-childrens-literature/
Judging Authors by the Color of Their Skin? Quality Native American Children's Litererature by Michelle Pagni Stewart. Search for this article in google docs. Or check the library's database for:
