In
Little Hiawatha, a Native American boy named Hiawatha rowed his canoe down the
river. He arrived on an island and wanted to be a brave hunter and hunt for a
deer, a bear, and a rabbit. Hiawatha drew his bow and arrow at a rabbit, but
the rabbit got away. He found strange foots prints and followed them, he found
a giant grasshopper and it scared him. Hiawatha ran away and the rabbit laughed
and made fun of him for being so scared. He finally cornered the rabbit, drew
his bow and arrow at him, but could not do it once he saw how fearful the
rabbit was. Hiawatha broke his bow and arrow and decided to he did not want to
be a hunter anymore. He decided to explore the island instead and found some
paw prints on the ground. He followed the paw prints and found a bear cub.
Hiawatha chased the bear cub because he wanted to play with him. The bear cub
ran into his den and Hiawatha accidentally jumped on the cub’s mom instead, and
woke her up. The cub’s mom chased Hiawatha all over the island, the animals on
the island saw that Hiawatha was in trouble so they helped him get away from
the cub’s mom. Hiawatha escaped the bear from the help of the animals on the
island, got in his canoe and rowed back down the river. 
In
the bibliography, “‘I’ is not for Indian: The Portrayal of Native Americans in
Books for Young People,” it asks questions on what to look for in books that
discriminate Native Americans. The first question asked is, “Is the vocabulary
demeaning? Are terms like “squaw” "papoose", "chief",
"redskin", "savage", "warrior" used?” Even though
those words were not used in the book, I do believe that they used the word
“hunter” and “brave hunter” to perceive the Native American “theme.” By going
on Google and searching the word warrior, it means “a brave or experienced
soldier or fighter.” This definition is very similar to a brave hunter.
The
only information I could find on who wrote the story, who illustrated it, or if
they have any reference to the Native American culture, was that it was from
Disney. There were many names the book was claimed under, Disneyland Records,
Walt Disney, Walt Disney Productions, Little Golden Book, and Silly Symphony.
There was many names, but not one person/persons were named to the illustration
to the book. This means that there could have been no knowledge to any Native
American culture or there could have been few.
The
third question asked in “‘I’ is not for Indian: The Portrayal of Native
Americans in Books for Young People,” is “Are the Indians all dressed in the
standard buckskin, beads and feathers?” Hiawatha was dressed with only a pair
of pants, moccasins, a bow and arrow, and a headband with a white/red feather
attached. The illustrations portrayed the typical stereotype of how a Native
American wears their clothes. The animals in the illustrations have a fearful
look on their face throughout the whole book until the very end when Hiawatha
is leaving in his canoe. It shows the typical stereotype that Native Americans
are wild and something to be fearful of.
When
Hiawatha arrived to the island the animals were fearful of him. When he could
not catch the rabbit and when he found the giant grasshopper he was mocked and
laughed at. I believe that the animals are portrayed as European Americans
laughing at Hiawatha hunting. They laughed at him, and then made him angry
because they were laughing about how he was not brave when he saw the
grasshopper. In the late 19th century, Native Americans were forced to go to
school where they had to learn how to be “civilized” by European Americans
because they were perceived to be crazy, out of control people. Native
Americans were not allowed to speak native tongue, they had to dress, speak,
and act like European Americans. In this story Little Hiawatha, he decides that
he should not be a hunter and decides that exploring the island and going to
play with the bear cub would be better. The contrast from when he came to the
island from when he left is, when he came to the island he was brave
(fearless), ready to hunt, and had a temper. When he gave up what he knew and
stopped being “Native American” he was happy, wanted to play with the animals,
he was fearful like the animals were in the beginning, and he trusted the
animals to help him even though they were just picking on and laughing at him.
I think the underlying message was they were showing that once he stopped being
“Native American” he was nicer and no one was afraid of him. When Hiawatha gave
up his hunting and went to explore the island, he was able to be fearful like
the other animals. In translation, when he gave up his Native American culture,
he was able to be like everyone else.
I
would not recommended this book to a child or parent. The only time I would
recommend this book is to a student who is analyzing a children’s book. In the
bibliography, “‘I’ is not for Indian: The Portrayal of Native Americans in
Books for Young People,” it asks questions on what to look for in books that
discriminate Native Americans. One of the questions asked is, “Is there
anything that would make a Native American child feel embarrassed or hurt to be
what he is? Can the child look at the book and recognize and feel good about
what he/she sees?” I do not feel that a Native American child would not feel
great about what he/she sees. This book does not capture what being Native
American is about. Hiawatha is a “Hollywood” Native American, he is not perceived
as a true Native American and what their culture is about. I also would not
what a child to be educated about Native Americans through this book because
this is what Hollywood would want everyone to perceive a Native American to be.
Reference List
Caldwell-Wood, Naomi and Mitten,
Lisa. (June 29, 1991). Selective Bibliography and Guide for "I" IS
NOT FOR INDIAN: THE PORTRAYAL OF NATIVE AMERICANS IN BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
[Bibliography]. Retrieved from http://www.nativeculturelinks.com/ailabib.htm
(June 14, 2009). Walt
Disney's Story of Little Hiawatha by Disneyland Records [Blog Post]. Retrieved
from http://www.mousevinyl.com/content/walt-disneys-story-little-hiawatha-disneyland-records
Gutierrez-Gomez, Cathy.
(2010). Tips for Choosing Culturally Appropriate Books & Resources About
Native Americans [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/39579/
(September 24, 2014).
American Indian Boarding Schools [Web Post]. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_boarding_schools
