Cultural perspectives vary widely on subjects such as religion and cosmology, origin and creation, and warfare and other aspects of history. Many books reflect a single perspective on complex ideas or events, or contain at least some historical or cultural inaccuracies, either in text or illustrations. In some cases, a book containing errors can still be a useful teaching resource if parents, teachers, and librarians are aware of its errors and are careful to avoid perpetuating misinformation. Common examples of stereotypes we encountered are described below. On the contrary, there is wide diversity among American Indian peoples.
Tribes have distinct histories, cultures, beliefs, languages, and physical characteristics.
However, some books oversimplify, combine disparate traits, or fail to identify the cultural affiliation of their characters. This image has been perpetuated for decades by the press, advertising, and Hollywood. This tendency to combine characteristics or discount differences is also prevalent in descriptions and illustrations of American Indian material culture. Some authors fail to research their subjects, preferring, for example, to show their characters traveling in birchbark canoes while living in tipis, or painting Southwestern-style pots while sitting beside totem poles. Indian cultures are dead or dying.