Essay: Literature is Life: Indigenous Voices in Kid Lit
American Indian Youth Literature Shines in 2020
By Naomi Bishop
In my 10-year career as a librarian, I have seen children's and youth books by Native American authors and illustrators become more visible, yet, the statistics show that only 1% of books published for kids in the U.S. are by indigenous writers. In 2017, 1.6 million American Indian and Alaska Natives were under the age of 18. Indigenous stories are all around us and the art and culture lives in cities and towns across America, but US publishers are overwhelmingly ignoring the contributions of 574 Tribal Nations. As a young Native librarian, I am often asked about my tribe and if there are kid’s books about my tribe, the Akimel O'odham people. I tell people that ask me this question that while there are a few kids’ books about Pimas, they are often not written by us and often contain outdated information. I tell people that the real stories of the Pimas are told by elders, aunts, uncles, cousins, great grandparents, grandparents, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.
“The stories we share are from our family and the art and nature all around us are our living books. ”
Two books that I love dearly and read as a young adult were Pima Legends and A Pima Past. My grandpa told me to read these two books when I was a teenager. In Pima culture, stories are shared every time we meet, gather, celebrate, pray, travel and experience life together. The stories we share are from our family and the art and nature all around us are our living books. My grandpa could not read or write the Pima language, because it was not a written language until linguist created a system in the 1960s and 70s. He told me the stories of helping linguists with pronunciation. He told me stories of his childhood and taught me words in O'odham. The language he spoke was not passed down to his children because he was punished for speaking it and he struggled to learn English. The O’odham language continues today and there is now a writing system and early childhood education with language learning.
It is not easy to understand literature unless you know and learn the language and culture. This is why youth literature is so important. As language revitalization efforts for tribes expand in communities and schools, we have the opportunity to learn and share our stories through pictures and words published on paper with future generations. There have been many amazing American Indian Youth Literature Award winners and honor books that share tribally specific literature by Native authors and illustrators with the world. Publishers that publish these works are doing the important work of sharing these voices and stories with the world.
“Reading a book out loud to a child or reading a book as a teenager helps us connect with one another and helps us in life. ”
Each year AILA awards honor books by authors from different tribes and celebrates our thriving cultures, languages and arts. When tribal communities share language and literature with the world, it provides people from all over the globe the opportunity to read and enjoy these books together. Reading a book out loud to a child or reading a book as a teenager helps us connect with one another and helps us in life. When a book is published the author’s voice, art, style, language, and humanity is recognized and honored. I expect to see the future of AINA literature to change the curriculum of kids across the US and the world. I yearn for the time when tribal communities publish their own works and when these works are supported by and recognized by all libraries and bookstores. I dream of the day when a Native author and illustrator wins the Newbery or Caldecott. I know the publishing world is starting to see that what people want and need to read are books from Native writers and artists such as Darcie Little Badger and Eric Gansworth. There is so much richness in art and storytelling and the time is now for American Indian Youth Literature to shine. Thank you, Arthur and Levine Querido, for your contributions to the world of publishing Indigenous authors. I am thrilled to read and share these new books with librarians, parents, educators, and young people in my community.
Naomi Bishop, MLIS, is Akimel O'otham/Pima and a member of the Gila River Indian Community. She served as President of the American Indian Library Association (AILA) from 2017-2018. Naomi chaired the American Indian Youth Literature Awards Committee from 2014-2018. She has presented on the topic of American Indian Youth Literature at local and national library and education conferences. She created an online module for librarians and educators on Indigeneity and Colonialism for Project Ready: Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.She received the AILA Rising Leader Award in September of 2018.
References:
Huyck, David and Sarah Park Dahlen. (2019 June 19). Diversity in Children’s Books 2018. sarahpark.com blog. Created in consultation with Edith Campbell, Molly Beth Griffin, K. T. Horning, Debbie Reese, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, and Madeline Tyner, with statistics compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/books/pcstats.asp. Retrieved from https://readingspark.wordpress.com/2019/06/19/picture-this-diversity-in-childrens-books-2018-infographic/ Accessed 1/7/2020
U.S. Office of Minority Health. (3/28/2018). Profile: American Indian/Alaska Native. https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/omh/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=62 Accessed 1/7/2020
U.S. Census Bureau, 2017 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates. American FactFinder. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk Accessed 1/7/2020
National Congress of American Indians. (May 2019). Tribal Nations and the United States: An Introduction http://www.ncai.org/about-tribes Accessed 1/7/2020.
American Indian Library Association. American Indian Youth Literature Award.
https://ailanet.org/activities/american-indian-youth-literature-award/ Accessed 1/7/2020
Gilmore, Natasha. Nov 24, 2015. Current Representations of American Indians in Children's Publishing. Publishers Weekly.