ED348201 RC018909 Using Literature by American Indians and Alaska Natives in Secondary Schools.
Literature is a powerful vehicle for the transmission and interpretation of culture.
Reading a variety of literature helps students to understand the principles underpinning values and traditions of their own culture and the cultures of others. Studying the myths, legends, and songs of traditional Native literature helps readers understand contemporary Native literature and appreciate its differences from the mainstream. However, the accepted canons of literature exclude works by American Indians and Alaska Natives. Furthermore, the few literary works about Native Americans that have secured a place in the secondary school curriculum were written by non-Natives, are unauthentic, portray cultural information inaccurately, and perpetuate negative stereotypes. Over the centuries, the stereotypical Native American in literature has shifted from simple, superstitious child of God to blood- thirsty savage to noble savage to victimized dispossessed nomad.