In Minnesota,聽Waziyatawin鈥檚聽daughter came home from school one afternoon shaken and deeply disturbed by that day鈥檚 read-along. 聽
The book? 鈥淟ittle House on the Prairie.鈥� Her mom says the then-8-year-old was upset by hearing her teacher deliver the novel鈥檚 phrase, 鈥淭he only good Indian is a dead Indian.鈥� When Dr.聽Waziyatawin,聽a Dakota historian with a doctorate in American history from Cornell University, petitioned the Yellow Medicine East District in 1998 to stop teaching the book in third grade, her request was rejected.聽
In Kansas, Laura McLemore, who was named after the Little House series鈥� author Laura Ingalls Wilder, dedicates herself to preserving the legacy of the author, dressing up as the fictionalized Laura character to make the pioneer-era books come alive for school kids.聽
In Boston, when James Noonan, a聽research affiliate at Harvard Graduate School of Education, read the book to his 3-year-old daughter last year, he says he struggled to find a 鈥渕iddle path,鈥� pointing out racism and talking about the perspectives of the Native characters not included in the series. 鈥淚'm not trying to censor it. I'm trying to ask important questions about it and not let Ma's perspective speak for itself,鈥� says Dr. Noonan.聽
These divergent responses reflect a still-unsettled struggle over how society should deal with books 鈥� especially ones long revered as classics 鈥� that contain racism. The 鈥淟ittle House on the Prairie鈥� 鈥媠eries, 鈥媤hich follows the fictionalized Ingalls family as they settle in Kansas, 鈥媓as for decades been a third-grade reading staple, translated into more than 40 languages a鈥媠 well as adapted 鈥媐or TV.
Known more for their cozy depictions of pioneer life, Ms. Wilder鈥檚 novels also include instances of racism and comparisons of Native people with animals. Many Native Americans have long felt uncomfortable with the books 鈥� with National Book Award winner Louise Erdrich writing her own series, 鈥淭he Birchbark House,鈥� in response.聽
The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)聽last month聽unanimously decided to remove Wilder from the name of a children鈥檚 literature award, changing the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award to The Children鈥檚 Literature Legacy Award. While the 鈥淟ittle House,鈥� books are 鈥渄eeply meaningful鈥� to some readers, they are associated with 鈥渧ery real pain,鈥� for others, the ALSC said in a statement.聽
The decision was met with disappointment by those who argue for the literary value of the series, and relief from many who have spent years pointing out the books鈥� racism.聽
At the heart of the debate lie questions about how adults can best respect children:聽Should parents and teachers protect children, especially children of color, from potentially harmful reading materials; or is it possible for children, with guidance, to read books like the 鈥淟ittle House鈥澛爏eries critically?聽The emotional resonance also deepens because, to many, beloved children鈥檚 books aren鈥檛 only things you read 鈥� they also become touchstones of childhood.
Laura as 鈥榝eisty feminist鈥�
In teaching colonial history, adults should be honest with children, who have 鈥渁n inherent sense of right and wrong,鈥� says Waziyatawin. Books like 鈥淟ittle House,鈥� 鈥渃loud鈥� the encroachment of Native lands with a sense of righteousness that makes it difficult for children to see the injustice in those actions, she says in a phone interview. For example, rosy depictions of the Ingalls family homesteading on the land obscure the fact that they were actually squatting illegally on the Osage nation鈥檚 land. 鈥淭he overall message is that [the Ingalls] are good and righteous people, and if they hate Indians, if they think Indians are expendable, or if they think Indians should be removed, then that must be a good thing.鈥�
Dr. McLemore, the fifth-grade teacher in Maize, Kan., who dresses up as Wilder, reads the books to her students. She says the books provide an opportunity to teach lessons about American history, examine maps and other artifacts, and convey messages about self-reliance, perseverance, and resilience. She previously served as the president of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association, which opposed the name change.
鈥淲hen I look at the real Laura she was just a feisty, strong-willed feminist. She was basically a feminist in a time it wasn't popular to be a feminist鈥saying,] 鈥業'm going to make a mark for myself in the world,鈥欌�� McLemore聽says.
鈥淭hese books are worthwhile,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭hey are a piece of the classical genre of children's literature. They deserve to be kept in libraries and they deserve to be kept as part of our culture. I don't believe that this award is going to change the fact that people all around the world still read and love these books.鈥澛�
ALSC is clear on the question of reading Wilder鈥檚 books: 鈥淲e are not demanding that anyone stop reading Wilder鈥檚 books, talking about them, or making them available to children,鈥� it says in a statement. 鈥淲e hope adults think critically about Wilder鈥檚 books and the discussions that can take place around them.鈥�
The decision is part of ALSC 鈥渆stablishing itself as an organization that truly cares about all children,鈥� says聽Edith Campbell, an associate librarian at Indiana State University who works to improve representation of people of color and Native people in literature.
鈥淸Children's] books are just a very small part of it. It's a critical part because children's books are what we use to聽socialize children to get them to understand what it means to be a United States citizen,鈥� Ms. Campbell says. 鈥淎nd if we're telling them through these books that聽whiteness is what's right, what's correct, and what's acceptable and that who you are and what you bring to the table is not acceptable, we're talking about trauma and we're talking about stress.鈥澛�
Reading, and teaching, critically聽
What it means to read critically is an ongoing debate.聽
Native American parents have written to Debbie Reese for years about their children鈥檚 experiences of embarrassment, shame, and outrage while reading the 鈥淟ittle House鈥澛燽ooks as third graders.聽
鈥淯sing literature to try to teach [US history of racism] is problematic,鈥� says Dr. Reese, who runs the blog, American Indians in Children鈥檚 Literature. Arguing for the teaching value of the Little House books聽鈥渁ssumes that all the students are white and only white kids need to learn racist history through literature. And along the way everybody else who this book is about just needs to grin and bear it. They're being used for the benefit of someone else.鈥澛犅�
In the original 1935 version of 鈥淟ittle House on the Prairie,鈥� a description reads, 鈥淭here were no people. Only Indians lived there.鈥� A concerned reader in 1952 pointed out the line to the publisher, who changed 鈥減eople鈥� to 鈥渟ettlers.鈥� Other classic works of literature have been changed to excise racist content, including Hugh Lofting鈥檚 鈥淒octor Dolittle,鈥� Roald Dahl鈥檚 鈥淐harlie and the Chocolate Factory,鈥� and the 鈥淏abar the Elephant鈥� series.聽聽
The barriers to respectfully teaching and reading about colonial history and Native Americans are high, say experts.
Reese, a member of Nambe Pueblo tribe in New Mexico, suggests classrooms 鈥渟tart with Native people in the present day鈥as] most people don鈥檛 even know we鈥檙e still here.鈥� She also catalogs best books by Native American authors on her blog.聽
鈥淭he Birchbark House鈥� series聽by Louise Erdrich follows a young female Ojibwe protagonist around the same time period as the Little House series. Some suggest it as a companion read to 鈥淟ittle House.鈥�
As for Waziyatawin, the debate around the books is a lesson for parents and educators.聽
鈥淔rom my perspective it's really an issue about power and about good decisions about curriculum for our children,鈥� she says.
