Native American/American Indian

Title: Jingle Dancer

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith

Illustrator: Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

ISBN: 31389012560867

Copyright: 2000

Summary: Jenna, a girl of Muscogee and Ojibway decent, dreams of dancing the jingle dance in the next powwow. By watching several videos of her grandmother, Jenna learns the dance only to realize that she does not have the traditional jingles for her dress. With the approval of her grandmother, Jenna visits neighbors and relatives to ask each to lend her a jingle from their dress. Grandma and Jenna sew the jingles on her dress, and Jenna is able to perform in the traditional powwow.

Question

Yes

No

N/A

Comments

1

Does the story positively represent HUGS?

● Black/African American

● Hispanic/Latino/a

● Native American/American Indian

● Asian American/Pacific Islander

● LGBTQIAA

● Women

● Elderly

● Characters with visible disabilities, etc.

X

2

Is there a clear effort made to avoid tokenism?

● tokenism- all characters look the same with only slight variations.

● ex: women have bows and men have a tie

X

3

Is the author qualified to write on the topic?

● have they done research on the topic?

● do they identify as the race/ethnicity represented in the book?

X

4

Does the book use multilingual/bilingual text?

X

5

Was the book published within the last 8 years?

X

6

Is this book void of racial stereotypes?

● Black/African American

● Hispanic/Latino/a

● Native American/American Indian

● Asian American/Pacific Islander

● LGBTQIAA

X

7

Is this book void of gender stereotypes?

● Females in more than caretaker roles, males in more than “tough” roles

● Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles?

X

8

Does this book use inclusive language?

X

9

Are various family units depicted?

X

10

Is the setting credible?

X

11

Are races represented across all settings?

● Ex: Native American/American Indians outside of Thanksgiving

X

12

Does this book encourage a positive self-image for children?

X

13

Is this book void of class stereotypes?

X

14

Is this book void of sexual orientation stereotypes?

X

15

Is this book void of religion stereotypes?

X

16

Are cultural settings realistically represented?

X

Comments: This book does an excellent job of explaining traditions to students, while also portraying the importance of each tradition. Our author teaches about hard work and dedication and is a good source for teaching about the Native American/American Indian culture. I would use this book in my classroom.

Title: How Raven Stole the Sun

Author: Maria Williams

Illustrator: Felix Vigil

ISBN: 0-7892-0162-8

Copyright: 2001

Summary: This story is a traditional one of the Tlinglit tribe that is brought to life with illustrations that display the traditional lifestyle. The Raven, often an important character, is pure white who wanted nothing more than light from a guarded box. By disguising himself as the Chief’s grandson, the Raven tricks him into opening the boxes- exposing the moonlight. Eventually the Chief catches him, sending him to stay in a small room as punishment. The Raven manages to escape through a small smoke hold- explaining why Ravens are black as smoke instead of white like they once were.

Question

Yes

No

N/A

Comments

1

Does the story positively represent HUGS?

● Black/African American

● Hispanic/Latino/a

● Native American/American Indian

● Asian American/Pacific Islander

● LGBTQIAA

● Women

● Elderly

● Characters with visible disabilities, etc.

X

2

Is there a clear effort made to avoid tokenism?

● tokenism- all characters look the same with only slight variations.

● ex: women have bows and men have a tie

X

3

Is the author qualified to write on the topic?

● have they done research on the topic?

● do they identify as the race/ethnicity represented in the book?

X

4

Does the book use multilingual/bilingual text?

X

5

Was the book published within the last 8 years?

X

6

Is this book void of racial stereotypes?

● Black/African American

● Hispanic/Latino/a

● Native American/American Indian

● Asian American/Pacific Islander

● LGBTQIAA

X

Characters are animals.

7

Is this book void of gender stereotypes?

● Females in more than caretaker roles, males in more than “tough” roles

● Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles?

X

Characters are animals

8

Does this book use inclusive language?

X

9

Are various family units depicted?

X

10

Is the setting credible?

X

11

Are races represented across all settings?

● Ex: Native American/American Indians outside of Thanksgiving

X

12

Does this book encourage a positive self-image for children?

X

13

Is this book void of class stereotypes?

X

14

Is this book void of sexual orientation stereotypes?

X

15

Is this book void of religion stereotypes?

X

16

Are cultural settings realistically represented?

X

Comments: This book could be instrumental in teaching students the stories and folk tales that each tribe holds dear are different. It does an excellent job at describing different Native American cultures, and also the reasoning behind the raven’s color. I would use this book in my classroom.

Title: Buffalo Woman

Author: Paul Goble

Illustrator: Paul Goble

ISBN: 0-6897-1109-3

Copyright: 1987

Summary: The story of a young hunter who marries a woman from the Buffalo Nation. His relatives do not approve, so they send her away. Because her husband loves her so much, he follows and undergoes the Buffalo Chief’s tests to become part of their tribe so he can be with the one he loves. His commitment to the Buffalo woman, the two peoples relationship is strengthened.

Question

Yes

No

N/A

Comments

1

Does the story positively represent HUGS?

● Black/African American

● Hispanic/Latino/a

● Native American/American Indian

● Asian American/Pacific Islander

● LGBTQIAA

● Women

● Elderly

● Characters with visible disabilities, etc.

X

2

Is there a clear effort made to avoid tokenism?

● tokenism- all characters look the same with only slight variations.

● ex: women have bows and men have a tie

X

3

Is the author qualified to write on the topic?

● have they done research on the topic?

● do they identify as the race/ethnicity represented in the book?

X

4

Does the book use multilingual/bilingual text?

X

5

Was the book published within the last 8 years?

X

6

Is this book void of racial stereotypes?

● Black/African American

● Hispanic/Latino/a

● Native American/American Indian

● Asian American/Pacific Islander

● LGBTQIAA

X

7

Is this book void of gender stereotypes?

● Females in more than caretaker roles, males in more than “tough” roles

● Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles?

X

8

Does this book use inclusive language?

X

9

Are various family units depicted?

X

10

Is the setting credible?

X

11

Are races represented across all settings?

● Ex: Native American/American Indians outside of Thanksgiving

X

12

Does this book encourage a positive self-image for children?

X

13

Is this book void of class stereotypes?

X

14

Is this book void of sexual orientation stereotypes?

X

15

Is this book void of religion stereotypes?

X

16

Are cultural settings realistically represented?

X

Comments: This Native American tale is full of gender and race stereotypes and has no problem sharing all of the problems in the Native American community. Pictures are also full of tokenism, as each character looks the exact same. I would not use this book in my classroom.

Title: All Colors of the Earth

Author: Sheila Hamanaka

Illustrator: Sheila Hamanaka

ISBN: 978-0688-17062-2

Copyright: 1999

Summary: This simple book portrays each culture in how they relate to the earth. People of each culture are no less important than anyone else and all play a valuable part in the world. This book provides beautiful descriptions of all the colors of the earth and the people on it.

Question

Yes

No

N/A

Comments

1

Does the story positively represent HUGS?

● Black/African American

● Hispanic/Latino/a

● Native American/American Indian

● Asian American/Pacific Islander

● LGBTQIAA

● Women

● Elderly

● Characters with visible disabilities, etc.

X

2

Is there a clear effort made to avoid tokenism?

● tokenism- all characters look the same with only slight variations.

● ex: women have bows and men have a tie

X

3

Is the author qualified to write on the topic?

● have they done research on the topic?

● do they identify as the race/ethnicity represented in the book?

X

4

Does the book use multilingual/bilingual text?

X

5

Was the book published within the last 8 years?

X

6

Is this book void of racial stereotypes?

● Black/African American

● Hispanic/Latino/a

● Native American/American Indian

● Asian American/Pacific Islander

● LGBTQIAA

X

7

Is this book void of gender stereotypes?

● Females in more than caretaker roles, males in more than “tough” roles

● Are females as well as males depicted in leadership roles?

X

8

Does this book use inclusive language?

X

9

Are various family units depicted?

X

10

Is the setting credible?

X

11

Are races represented across all settings?

● Ex: Native American/American Indians outside of Thanksgiving

X

12

Does this book encourage a positive self-image for children?

X

13

Is this book void of class stereotypes?

X

14

Is this book void of sexual orientation stereotypes?

X

15

Is this book void of religion stereotypes?

X

16

Are cultural settings realistically represented?

X

Comments: This is a great story to teach children about the world around them and the people in it. People are created to resemble the colors of the earth- therefore everybody will not look the same because the earth is made up of different tones, colors, shapes, etc. This book does an excellent job of displaying that we are all part of the earth and love the earth just like we should love one another. I would definitely read this book in my class