Tachquoak - Fall
Oyate
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"Let us put our minds together, and see what life we will make for our children." Tatanka Iotanka (Sitting Bull)
My name is Raven. When I was in the third grade, our class read The Courage of Sarah Noble. In this book they said Indian people were savages and murderers, they chop your head off and eat you alive and that we were not really people. When the class put on the play for the whole school, the kids started taunting me, calling me "stinky" and asking me how many people I've eaten. Nobody would play with me or even sit next to me in class...I felt so ashamed. Finally, I told my mother I didn't want to go back to school.
Raven Hoaglen (Maidu/Konkow/Wailaki/Mono)
“I really don't like the fake cartoon and illustration in Indian books that are here in the school library. My name is Monica Spencer and my tribe is Navajo, Laguna, Kiaoni and Pueblo, all full blooded. It makes me mad when children make fun of my culture. It makes the kids think we do that when we don't. When the children grow up I don't want them to think that Indians put feathers in their hair and dance around the fire. We don't do that. And I don't think that it is right for the kids to look at the silly things they put in those silly books. One day I saw a kid running around with a feather in their hair and putting their hand to their mouths and making weird noises and I cried when that happened. So what I want you to do is to put those books away and learn about our real history.”
Oyate
is a Native organization working to see that the lives and histories of
Native people are portrayed honestly, and so that all people will know
our stories belong to us. For Native children, it is as important as it
has ever been for them to know who they are and what they come from. It
is a matter of survival. For all children, it is time to learn the truth
of history. Only in this way will they come to have the understanding
and respect for each other that now, more than ever, will be necessary
for life to continue.
Our work includes evaluation of texts, resource materials and fiction by and about Native peoples; conducting of teacher workshops, in which participants learn to evaluate children's material for anti-Indian biases; administration of a small resource center and library; and distribution of children's, young adult, and teacher books and materials, with an emphasis on writing and illustration by Native people.
We hope by making many good books available to encourage many more, especially from Native writers and illustrators. Oyate, our organization's name, is the Dakota word for people. It was given to us by a Dakota friend.“Oyate “
Contact Person: Beverly Slapin
2702 Mathews St., Berkeley, CA 94702 (510) 848-6700
(510) 848-4815 faxoyate@oyate.org www.oyate.org