How to Tell the Difference: A Guide for Evaluating Children’s Books for Anti-Indian Bias by Doris Seale, Beverly Slapin and Rosemary Gonzales explained our very basic criteria. This book has been helpful to so many authors, parents and educators over the years that we believe we have helped raise all of our expectations, which in turn has enriched the publishing industry.
How to Tell the Difference was published in 2000 and the content is reproduced in A Broken Flute. Since then, we have continued to compile and clarify criteria to help us discern honest portrayals in children’s books containing retellings of traditional Indian Stories as well as contemporary stories and representations of Indian Peoples. How to Tell the Difference is currently out of print and unavailable. We hope that by publishing our original criteria in A Broken Flute and our revised criteria on our website, we will fill the gap left by How to Tell the Difference until we can determine how best to distribute this material in the future.
Criteria from How To Tell The difference: A Guide for Evaluating Children’s Books for Anti-Bias:
LOOK AT PICTURE BOOKS:
1) In ABC books, is “E” for “Eskimo” or “I” for Indian Present?
2) In Counting books, are “Indians” counted?
3) Are Children shown as “playing Indian”?
4) Are animals dressed as “Indians”?
5) Do “Indians” have ridiculous names, like “Indian Two Feet,” or “Little Chief”?
LOOK FOR STEREOTYPES:
1) Are Native peoples portrayed as savages, or primitive craftspeople, or simple tribal people, now extinct? OR Are Native peoples shown as human beings, members of highly defined and complex societies?
2) Are Native societies oversimplified and generalized? Are Native people all one color, one style? OR Are Native societies presented as separate from each other, with each culture, language, religion, dress, unique?
3) Is the art a mishmash of “generic Indian” designs? OR Is attention paid to accurate, appropriate design and color: are clothes, dress, houses drawn with careful attention to detail?
LOOK FOR LOADED WORDS:
1) Are there insulting overtones to the language in the book? Are racist adjectives used to refer to Indian peoples? OR Is the language respectful?
LOOK FOR TOKENISM:
1) Are Native people depicted as stereotypically alike, or do they look just like whites with brown faces? OR Are Native people depicted as genuine individuals?
LOOK FOR DISTORTION OF HISTORY:
1) Is there manipulation of words like “victory,” “conquest,” or “massacre” to justify Euro-American conquest of the Native homelands? Are Native Nations presented as being responsible for their own “disappearance?” Is the U.S. government only “trying to help?” OR Is history put in the proper perspective: the Native struggle for self-determination and sovereignty against the Euro-American drive for conquest?
LOOK FOR VICTIMIZATION:
1) Does the story encourage children to believe that Native peoples accepted defeats passively? OR Does the story show the ways in which Native people actively resisted the invaders or continue to work for self-determination and sovereignty today?
2) Are Native heroes only the people who, in some way or another, are believed to have aided Europeans in the conquest of their own people? OR Are Native heroes those who are admired because of what they do for their own people?
LOOK AT THE LIFESTYLES:
1) Are Native cultures presented in a condescending manner? Are there paternalistic distinctions between “them” and “us?” OR Is the focus on respect for Native peoples and understanding of the sophistication and complexity of their societies?
2) Are Native peoples discussed in the past tense only, supporting the “vanished Indian” myth? Is the past unconnected to the present? OR Is the continuity of cultures represented, with values, religions, morals, an outgrowth of the past, and connected to the present, and taking the people into the future?
3) Is a society portrayed in a distorted or limited way? Are religions described as “superstitions,” with backward or primitive connotations? OR Are Indian religions and traditions described accurately, in the context of their civilizations?
4) Is there an ethnocentric Western focus on material objects, such as baskets, pottery, rugs? OR Does the writer show any understanding of the relationship between material and non-material aspects of life?
5) Are Native peoples shown as “relentlessly ecological”? OR Are Native societies described as coexisting with nature in a delicate balance?
LOOK AT DIALOG:
1) Do the People speak in either a sort of “early jawbreaker” or in the oratorical style of the “noble savage”? OR Do the People use language with the consummate and articulate skill of those who come from an oral tradition?
LOOK FOR STANDARDS OF SUCCESS:
1) In modern times, are Indian people portrayed as childlike and helpless? Does a white authority figure – pastor, social worker, teacher- know better than Native people themselves what is “good for them?” Are Indian children “better off” away from their families? OR Are Native adults seen as mature individuals who work hard and make sacrifices, in order to take care of their families, and for the well-being of the people?
2) Do Native people and their communities contrast unfavorably with the “norm” of white middle-class suburbia? OR Are Native people and their communities seen as their own cultural norm?
3) Does it take “white” standards for Native people to get ahead? OR Are Native values of cooperation, generosity, sharing, honesty, and courage seen as integral to growth and development?
LOOK AT THE ROLE OF WOMEN:
1) Are women completely subservient to men? Do they do all the work, while the men loll around, waiting for the next hunt? OR Are women portrayed as the integral and respected part of Native societies that they really are?
LOOK AT THE ROLE OF ELDERS:
1) Are elders treated as a dispensable burden upon their People to be abandoned in times of trouble or famine? Are they portrayed as querulous, petulant, demanding, nagging, irritating, and boring? OR Are elders treated as loved and valued custodians of a People’s history, culture, and life ways? Are they cherished in the words of the writer as they were and are in the reality of the lives of the People?
LOOK FOR THE EFFECTS ON A CHILD’S SELF-IMAGE:
1) Is there anything in the story that would embarrass or hurt a Native child? OR Are there one or more positive role models with which a Native child can identify?
LOOK AT THE AUTHOR’S OR ILLUSTRATOR'S BACKGROUND:
2) Is the background of the author and illustrator devoid of the qualities that enable them to write about Native peoples in an accurate, respectful manner? Is there an ethnocentric bias which leads to distortions or omissions? OR Is there anything in the author’s and illustrator’s background that qualifies them to write about Native peoples? Do their perspectives strengthen the work?
We also encourage you to check out Oyate's additional criteria for evaluating books.