Children’s Picture Book Analysis and Evaluation: Little Hiawatha

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