Eduardo: You saw this book in the library last week.
Michael: Yah, I was excited because it was on the new kid's books cart near the front desk. The library has been buying a bunch of Native books for all ages with the *Friends of Indigo* donations. I think they're trying to get good books and it's so much better in the past year or two.
Eduardo: Were you excited about the book?
Michael: I was! Because it said Fresh Voices of Alaska's Native Kids. I flipped through it and saw photos of diverse Alaska Native kids who enjoy all kinds of things.
Eduardo: Did you look to see who edited the book?
Michael: Nah, not right away. I know we're like the Debbie Reese Clue Crew, but I was kind of pulled in by the shiny photos of Indigenous kids.
Eduardo: The "profiles" are by Tricia Brown. The back matter states "her writing is inspired by Alaska, reflected in nearly thirty titles on Native cultures, dog mushing, Last Frontier living, reference and travel." No mention of tribal enrollment, clan, Nation status or Indigenous community belonging.
Michael: Nope.
Eduardo: Did you look at the book differently after you realized that?
Michael: I did. I really loved the photos. I still do love many of them--or I love seeing Eyak, Tlingit, Yup'ik and other kids. The photos by non-Native Roy Corral stress "traditional" activities while still showing that Indigenous kids are "just like us," meaning Whites.
Eduardo: From what I've seen that's the crux of the book: showing how Alaska Native kids observe their faith, traditions and ceremonies but are still modern kids. This is not news to us. It is an outsider POV.
Eduardo: So little of the profiles I've read are in the voices of the kids. They're in Tricia Brown's voice.
Michael: I wish they had been able to write whatever they wanted to say, or to show it in their own photographs of their families and communities or even abstract.
Eduardo: That would have been a great improvement.
Michael: There is relatable information. Leah is in Tlingit language class. She says, "It's kinda hard pronouncing the underlined x's and the pinched k's.. It doesn't come easily." Several of the children have blended families: "Alyssa is truly a mixing blow of cultures. Her stepfather is African American and Apache Indian. Her birth grandfather was a Tlingit baby adopted by a Siberian Yu'pik couple."
Eduardo: I would get rid of "Indian" and "birth"--and throw out that "mixing bowl!"
Michael. Yup. And there's some very specific information about Metlakatla naming and clans. James says, in part (I don't want to put the whole thing): "I am Killerwhale but my father is Raven." We don't immediately share these things, any more than Whites from other religious traditions tell everything to strangers.
Eduardo: IT'S SO ANTHRO!!!!!
Michael: (laughs) I'm sure the kids are happy to see themselves in a book. I would be at their age. But they aren't given a choice of what to focus on in their own lives or a full voice to describe their worlds. I like them, but they feel far away, like in a museum.
Eduardo: The writer and photographer did an earlier book together, Children of the Midnight Sun, published in 1998. Apparently, it has been used in many classrooms. I found an article with a video. Like you said, some of the kids in the new book and those grown up from the first book are proud of their participation. We respect them.
Michael: I just read that article you sent. This is a very interesting quote:
Michael: You said it, dawg. And when I saw that boy jumping in front of a sunset on the cover, I knew there would be no kids in wheelchairs like me. Let's crush those stereotypes!
Michael: Yah, I was excited because it was on the new kid's books cart near the front desk. The library has been buying a bunch of Native books for all ages with the *Friends of Indigo* donations. I think they're trying to get good books and it's so much better in the past year or two.
Eduardo: Were you excited about the book?
Michael: I was! Because it said Fresh Voices of Alaska's Native Kids. I flipped through it and saw photos of diverse Alaska Native kids who enjoy all kinds of things.
Eduardo: Did you look to see who edited the book?
Michael: Nah, not right away. I know we're like the Debbie Reese Clue Crew, but I was kind of pulled in by the shiny photos of Indigenous kids.
Eduardo: The "profiles" are by Tricia Brown. The back matter states "her writing is inspired by Alaska, reflected in nearly thirty titles on Native cultures, dog mushing, Last Frontier living, reference and travel." No mention of tribal enrollment, clan, Nation status or Indigenous community belonging.
Michael: Nope.
Eduardo: Did you look at the book differently after you realized that?
Michael: I did. I really loved the photos. I still do love many of them--or I love seeing Eyak, Tlingit, Yup'ik and other kids. The photos by non-Native Roy Corral stress "traditional" activities while still showing that Indigenous kids are "just like us," meaning Whites.
Eduardo: From what I've seen that's the crux of the book: showing how Alaska Native kids observe their faith, traditions and ceremonies but are still modern kids. This is not news to us. It is an outsider POV.
We discovered that Alaska Native kids are like all kids in some ways, but they don't realize how special they are.Michael: I'm not sure exactly what that means. It's hard, though, because the book talks about their dreams and their families. I don't want to dismiss it.
Eduardo: So little of the profiles I've read are in the voices of the kids. They're in Tricia Brown's voice.
Michael: I wish they had been able to write whatever they wanted to say, or to show it in their own photographs of their families and communities or even abstract.
Eduardo: That would have been a great improvement.
Michael: There is relatable information. Leah is in Tlingit language class. She says, "It's kinda hard pronouncing the underlined x's and the pinched k's.. It doesn't come easily." Several of the children have blended families: "Alyssa is truly a mixing blow of cultures. Her stepfather is African American and Apache Indian. Her birth grandfather was a Tlingit baby adopted by a Siberian Yu'pik couple."
Eduardo: I would get rid of "Indian" and "birth"--and throw out that "mixing bowl!"
Michael. Yup. And there's some very specific information about Metlakatla naming and clans. James says, in part (I don't want to put the whole thing): "I am Killerwhale but my father is Raven." We don't immediately share these things, any more than Whites from other religious traditions tell everything to strangers.
Eduardo: IT'S SO ANTHRO!!!!!
Michael: (laughs) I'm sure the kids are happy to see themselves in a book. I would be at their age. But they aren't given a choice of what to focus on in their own lives or a full voice to describe their worlds. I like them, but they feel far away, like in a museum.
Eduardo: The writer and photographer did an earlier book together, Children of the Midnight Sun, published in 1998. Apparently, it has been used in many classrooms. I found an article with a video. Like you said, some of the kids in the new book and those grown up from the first book are proud of their participation. We respect them.
Michael: I just read that article you sent. This is a very interesting quote:
Corral and Brown say they probably won't do another book of children's portraits, but say they'd be happy to help an Alaska Native writer and photographer take over the project because they would be better suited to tell their own stories.Eduardo: It's good they recognize that. But why didn't they do that now? That would have been the best sequel to the first book. Better be careful when you are defining and exposing other people's kids as a social or artistic experiment for profit. It's going to be used as a teaching tool.
Michael: You said it, dawg. And when I saw that boy jumping in front of a sunset on the cover, I knew there would be no kids in wheelchairs like me. Let's crush those stereotypes!
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