Describes the 1991 "West as America" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art, which sought to expose the complicity of art in maintaining a glorious national history while ignoring the dark side. Discusses the consequent controversies and the role of the museum as temple versus forum. (SV)

Traces the development of Native American mass media from the first Cherokee newspaper in 1828 to the present. Discusses tribal newspapers and their impact on community life, provisions for a free press in tribal constitutions, growth of Native publishing, first Native American radio and television stations, satellite broadcasting, and national…

For American indigenous peoples, oral tradition maintains each group's cultural identity and world view; documents history; and links the group's past, present, and future. Storytelling has been a major mode of passing moral values and teachings to children, as well as passing sacred and specialized knowledge to new specialists but is now…

Reuben Snake, a Winnebago elder, discusses the importance of living in harmony with creation; the significance of ceremonial life; the continuous struggle to maintain American Indian culture, values, and religious beliefs; and the importance of "reculturalization" through repatriation of sacred objects. (LP)

The artwork of Phil Young represents his quest to reconnect his identity with the land and with his Cherokee ancestors and thereby "weave broken threads" of his family history back together. Young discusses his training as an artist, the process of creating his artwork, and what his Cherokee heritage means to him. (LP)

Suggests that the current practice of teaching children about American Indians stems from a belief that Indians represent a positive role model for the "savage" aspects of childhood. Traces this belief through writings of Charles Eastman, G. Stanley Hall, Ernest Thompson Seton, and Holling C. Holling and their romanticized views of life…

Outlines arguments and rhetorical devices used to trivialize the claim that the Iroquois system of government influenced development of American democracy. Notes controversy over inclusion of the "influence thesis" in New York textbooks. Suggests that the debate is so heated because it involves a new intellectual model in which former…

Reviews 11 children's books, published 1990-93, suitable for elementary and middle school students, covering Native riddles; Hiawatha as founder of the Iroquois confederacy; Chief Seattle's famous speech; stories about Inuit life and Mexican village life during the 1500s; Sequoyah and the Cherokee alphabet; the Iroquois creation myth; Wampanoag…

Reviews six volumes, published 1986-93, about the history and current state of Native American education in the United States and Canada. Discusses Indian education as an aspect of internal colonization, cultural differences in educational values and learning styles, the growth of Indian control of Indian education, teaching strategies, and Indian…