Culture 4 Native American Literature Book Review

 

Culture 4 Native American Literature Book Review

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dorris, Michael. 1992. MORNING GIRL. New York, NY: Little, Hyperion Books for Children. ISBN 0974171166.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
Morning Girl and Star Boy are two children growing up on a Bahamian island in 1492.  This is a historical realistic fiction story that occurs just before Christopher Columbus sets foot on the island.  The story captures typical life for indigenous people of this island during this time.  The two children and their parents live a simple life, each one fulfilling their role within the family. 

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
The family lives on a Bahamian island.  The author describes the setting as a typical island with lots of trees and plants, rocks, and the water near.  The housing is described as simple, it seems to be covering to keep the elements away.  They sleep on mats.  The mother prepares meals and cares for the family.  The father fishes and repairs things.  The children spend their time helping the parents with chores and exploring and playing, doing what children do.

There is a sense of community within their area of the island.  They know and interact with their neighbors and relatives.  A storm takes place on the island and the family bands together to look for Star Boy.  Neighbors and other relatives have damaged homes and some homes were completely destroyed.  The community comes together, and they share food and resources with one another.   

The book is written from the point of view of Star Boy and Morning Girl.  So it is about the things that are important to them.  Morning Girl becomes curious about what she looks like.  She wants to know what others see.  When she asks her dad, he tells her that it is very easy for her to find out what she looks like.  He has her look into his eyes, and there she can see her reflection staring back at her.  She does not realize that she is looking at herself.  She initially thinks that she is looking at two other pretty girls, but they are in fact her.  Star Boy gets lost as a storm approaches.  He describes spending time with his deceased grandfather during the storm.  Talking with his grandfather helped keep him safe until he was found once the storm is over.    

The story is a simple one.  It describes daily life for these indigenous people.  Children of today can relate to Morning Girl and Star Boy.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Scott O’Dell Award

Kirkus Review: “Subtly, Dorris draws parallels between the timeless chafings of sibs set on changing each other's temperaments and the intrusions of states questing new territory.”

E. CONNECTIONS
Students will research what happened in 1492 after Christopher Columbus landed on the island.

Look for these other books by Michael Dorris:
Dorris, Michael. A YELLOW RAFT IN BLUE WATER. ISBN 0312421850
Dorris, Michael. SEES BEHIND TREES. ISBN 0078681357
Dorris, Michael. WORKING MEN. ISBN 0312422792

Dorris, Michael.  GUESTS. ISBN 0786813563

 

 

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2001. RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME. New York, NY: Heartdrum. ISBN 0688173977.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
Cassidy Rain Berghoff removed herself from the world when her best friend died.  Unable to figure out how to fit in to her world without him, she mostly kept to herself until she was hired by the local newspaper to photograph Indian Camp.   The camp is the brainchild of her Aunt Georgia’s.  Cassidy was asked to attend but she declined.  Things get complicated when the grieving mother of her best friend challenges the need for the camp to receive local funding.  As Rain gradually joins the world again, she discovers how to express her grief and feelings.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
The main character, Cassidy Rain Berghoff has a nontraditional family dynamic.  She is a motherless child whose Dad is deployed.  She lives with her older brother, his girlfriend turned fiancée, and her grandfather.  Rain is part Caucasian and part Native American.  Her mother was Muscogee Creek-Cherokee and Scottish-Irish, and her father is Irish-German-Ojibway.  She does not know much about her Native American heritage and when the opportunity presents itself to learn, it is just bad timing for her.  She is just rejoining the world after mourning for six months over the death of her best friend.

Rain’s older brother looks more Native American than she does.  The author describes him having a darker complexion and wearing his hair long until he decides to cut his hair and change his clothes in favor of a more corporate look.  Rain’s brother wants her to go to Indian Camp but Rain declines, then later decides to take a job where she photographs the camp for the local paper.

The story deals with some very emotional themes.  Rain’s mother was struck by lightning and died years earlier, soon after her Dad was deployed and is now stationed in Guam.  Her best friend dies, and she was the last person to interact with him.  While she is mourning over her friend, life goes on around her, when she decides to rejoin the world she finds out that her brother is engaged and his fiancée is pregnant and with that comes other changes that she was unaware of.

This story does give some detail about Native American culture, but it mostly centers on the emotional struggles that the main character is experiencing.  I think that this is a story about over coming grief and getting back to self after traumatic loss.  The culture and setting of the story could be changed and it would still be a captivating story.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers Writer of the Year

National Book Festival Featured Title

Publishers Weekly: “…readers will feel the affection of Rain’s loose-knit family and admire the way that they, like the author with the audience, allow Rain to draw her own conclusions about who she is and what her heritage means to her.”

School Library Journal: “There is a surprising amount of humor in this tender novel. It is one of the best portrayals around of kids whose heritage is mixed but still very important in their lives. It’s Rain’s story and she cannot be reduced to simple labels. A wonderful novel of a present-day teen and her ‘patch-work tribe.”

 

Kirkus Reviews: “Tender, funny, and full of sharp wordplay, Smith’s first novel deals with a whole host of interconnecting issues, but the center is Rain herself. What’s amazing here is Rain’s insights into her own pain, and how cleanly she uses language to contain it.”

E. CONNECTIONS
Students can research organizations that help teens with traumatic loss of a parent, family member or friend.

Books that feature Native American main characters:
Alexie, Sherman. THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. ISBN 0316013684
Tingle, Tim. SALTYPIE:  A CHOCTAW JOURNEY FROM DARKNESS INTO LIGHT. ISBN
1933693673 
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. HEARTS UNBROKEN. ISBN 0763681148
Edwardson, Debby Dahl. MY NAME IS NOT EASY. ISBN 0761459804

 

 

 

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. 2011. THE CHRISTMAS COAT: MEMORIES OF MY SIOUX CHILDHOOD. New York, NY: Holiday House. ISBN 9780823421343.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
Virginia is the daughter of an Episcopal priest.  They live on a reservation in South Dakota.  Every year in the fall and then again in the spring, Theast boxes come.  Theast boxes are boxes that come from church congregations in New England.  New England is east of South Dakota.  Theast is short for the east.  The boxes contain clothing, shoes and other items that people on the reservation might need.  Virginia and her family are always the last to pick from theses boxes.  Virginia’s mama tells them “The others need it more than we do.”  Virginia does not always agree with her mama.

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
This beautifully illustrated picture book tells a story from the author’s childhood.  The illustrations depict life on the reservation during the cold months.  Lots of snow, wind and Native Americans bundled up in their coats and overshoes.  The illustrations of the Native Americans show the details of their dark hair braided or hanging long on girls, cut short for the boys.  The brown skin of the character’s depict the beautiful skin color of Native Americans.  They also depict details in the clothing worn throughout the book for all the characters drawn.  The drawings of the school, church and home of the main character allow a glimpse into what life was like on the reservation during that time.

Virginia’s family is very loving and playful.  The show love towards each other and to the village.  As the family was helping sort the clothing from Theast boxes they began playing dress up and dancing.  They were caught by Mrs. Red Buffalo who appeared not to approve of their playfulness.  The family helps the other people in the village find what they need when it is time to pick from Theast boxes.  Virginia helps watch babies while their mothers’ sort through the clothes. 

This book describes a close nit community lead by leaders who care for the people they serve.  There was a Christmas pageant that the community put on.  After the pageant, there was a visit from Santa Claus and he gave each child a toy and a bag full of candy, peanuts, and an apple.  Then the congregation had a supper complete with corn soup, fry bread and wojape, or chokecherry pudding.  Ending the evening was the Christmas Eve service.

Virginia’s parents were teaching her and her brother to be selfless, caring about the needs of others above their own.  This appeared to be difficult for Virginia when she had outgrown her coat and was hoping desperately to find a new one, only to be disappointed when all that was left was a coat that was too big.  She was very disappointed because it needed to be altered so she had to continue wearing the coat that was too small.  In the end Virginia’s patience does pay off.

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
American Indian Youth Literature Award

Kirkus Reviews: “Virginia's personality shines through in this poignant story that entertains and informs without recourse to stereotypes.”

E. CONNECTIONS
Students will do an act of kindness, giving to those who need it more than themselves.  Create Christmas cards and distribute them to a local nursing home or hospital.

Other Native American picture books:
Capaldi, Gina. A BOY NAMED BECKONING: THE TRUE STORY OF DR. CARLOS MONTEZUMA, NATIVE AMERICAN HERO. ISBN 0822576449
Alexie, Sherman. THUNDER BOY JR. ISBN 0316013722

Bruchac, Joseph. A BOY CALLED SLOW. ISBN 069811616X

 

 

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bruchac, Joseph. 1998. WHEN THE CHENOO HOWLS: NATIVE AMERICAN TALES OF TERROR. New York, NY: Walker Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 0802786383.

B. PLOT SUMMARY
This is a book of twelve Native American Monster tales.  In some of these stories, good triumphs over evil and the human lives to fight another day.  In others, the monster wins.  All the stories are designed to teach children a lesson.  Through these tales, children learn why they should behave and listen to the elders. 

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
This book is comprised of twelve monster tales of the Northeast Woodland Native American culture.  The stories are legends that have been passed down the generations.  The culture has a strong tradition of telling stories orally.  Today some stories have been written down and shared with Natives and non-Natives.  The author and his son cite the sources used for every story.  Some of the citations are from other books and some are from an elder who orally told the story to the author.  Each of the stories in the book are new versions of an original story.  The author comments that staying true to the traditions from which the stories originate was a top priority in writing this book.

There are black and white illustrations throughout the book.  At the beginning of each story, there is a picture of the main characters in the story.  The illustrator brings a visual of the descriptive creatures the author describes in text.  In the illustrations, there are surroundings that depict the location or setting of the story.  For the story Man Bear the beginning illustration is of Swift Runner, the main character running alongside the man bear with what appears to be an elder or ancestor from the past looking on.  The humans in the pictures are drawn with Native American features with expressive facial expression such as fear, surprise, or seriousness.  The hair is of various lengths and styles depicting the differences of the people.  Some characters have short cropped hair, long hair, braided long hair, a mohawk, or no hair at all.   The clothing depicts the setting and the time period of the story.  The main illustration for the story titles Toad Woman is of one of the young men in the story dressed in a button-down shirt, pants that may be blue jeans and shoes with laces.  This picture suggests that the story is set in modern day because of the clothes.  In the main illustration for the story Ugly Face, the characters appear to be wearing thick blankets as coats with moccasins, the lack of modern clothing suggests the setting was sometime in the past.

The stories are written in English but the author gives tribal names for some of the creatures and humans.  For example, The Flying Head is Dagwaynonyent in Seneca and John is called Azon in Abenaki.  In addition to giving readers a lesson in the various languages, the author also describes cultural activities that take place.  In a couple of the stories the author describes them as living in the longhouse with other members of the community.  A family in one story lived in a house.  One character was making moccasins and others were hunting.  In one story two men were on their way to trade furs with English settlers.  There were characters living in a cave and others setting up camp.  The descriptions of activities give clues to the whether the story is modern day or set in the past. 

The stories in this book were not explicitly gruesome.  Details of violence was matter of fact.  Some of the stories left you with unanswered questions and unresolved situations.  At the end of Big Tree People, the last sentence states “And that was the last thing any of the said.”  This was referring to the children in the story.  So, what happened to the children?  The reader has to draw their own conclusion.  I think this may be what makes the monster stories scary to children, the not knowing and the speculation it causes.  Overall this book was entertaining and taught valuable moral lessons about listening to elders. 

D. REVIEW EXCERPTS
No Awards Found

School Library Journal: "An interesting alternative for children who love horror stories. These 12 tales from the Northeast Woodland Native American nations are based on legends and mythical creatures from eight tribes. The authors use their own styles to tell about a wide variety of monsters while remaining as close as possible to the traditions of their ancestors. They have set the stories from 'the very distant past to very recent times.' Now as in the past, these legends offer entertainment and instruction." Booklist: “Young Ju’s mother is a strong figure in the background until the girl suddenly sees her as a person who tells her, ‘In America, women have choices.”

E. CONNECTIONS
Readers should choose their favorite tale from the book and describe why it is their favorite.  Then draw a picture representing the monster in the tale.

Other Native American monster stories:
Moskowitz Strain, Kathy. GIANTS, CANNIBALS AND MONSTERS: BIGFOOT IN NATIVE CULTURE. ISBN 0888396503

Simms, Laura. THE BONE MAN:  A NATIVE AMERICAN MODOC TALE. ISBN 0786800895
Parnell, Fran. THE TERRIBLE CHENOO: THE STORY FROM NORTH AMERICA. ISBN 1846865565
Ballingrud, Nathan. NORTH AMERICAN LAKE MONSTERS. ISBN 1618730592