LOOK FOR THE AUTHOR’S OR ILLUSTRATOR’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE STORY:
1) Does the author completely fabricate a story in the vague style of a Native legend? OR Does the author situate the stories in the context of her culture and family?
2) Does the author fail to acknowledge or pay tribute to the source of the story? OR Does the author acknowledge and honor the source of the story?
3) Does the author acknowledge a vague, unnamed “elder” to validate the story? OR Does the author’s acknowledgment genuinely reflect her own relationship to the story?
4) Is the illustrator culturally disconnected from the story? OR Is the illustrator genuinely connected to the story?
LOOK FOR THE AUTHOR’S OR ILLUSTRATOR’S UNDERSTANDING OF THE STORY:
1) Does the author attempt to portray a cultural outsider’s version as having importance beyond the children’s book that contains the particular story? OR Does the author understand and relate the deep significance of the story?
2) Does the author’s note obfuscate the origins of the story? OR Does the author’s note clearly and distinctly tell the origins of the story?
3) Does the author rationalize major changes to a story? OR Does the author adhere to the original oral story?
4) Does the author seek to justify a retelling from outside the culture by implying that the culture itself has disappeared? OR Does the author honor the continuing existence of the culture and the life of the people from an insider perspective?
5) Does the author’s own cultural belief system overlay the belief system of the people whose stories are being told? OR Does the author’s own cultural belief system honor the belief system of the people whose story is being told?
6) Is the author’s “humor” an arrogant, insulting, offensive and mean-spirited portrayal of the people whose stories are allegedly being told? OR Does the author’s humor reflect the culture from which both the author and the story originate?
7) Is the author culturally disconnected from the story? Does the author try to make parallels with European-based cultures that do not in fact exist? OR Is the author genuinely connected to the story?
8) Is the author a cultural outsider with no ties to the story, other than having gone shopping? OR Is the author a cultural insider directly connected to the community?
9) Does the author use the word “story” or “tale” or “myth” or “legend” to minimize the importance of traditional oral histories? OR Does the author accept the validly of Native oral stories as true tribal histories?