An examination of artifacts provides insights into the goals, practices, and orientations of the persons and cultures who created them. Here, we analyze storybook texts, artifacts that are a part of many children's lives. We examine the stories in books targeted for 4-8-year-old children, contrasting the texts generated by Native American…

This article explores the affordances and risks of practicing friendship and mentorship as methodological approaches in two qualitative studies: (a) the mentor's study in a diverse 9th grade classroom and (b) the protege's subsequent study of teacher professional development in the same school. Friendship methodology, as theorized by Tillmann and…

This article explores the benefits of verbal conflicts--contested storied spaces--in a Native American literature classroom composed of a multi-tribal and multicultural urban student body. Students in this course engage in whole-class verbal discussions focusing on contemporary and historical issues concerning Native American tribes and…

Quilts have become a part of American Indian culture, and they are mentioned and even highlighted in certain works of contemporary Native American literature. Certain questions can be posed in regard to the inclusion of quilt references in contemporary American Indian novels. Do the quilts and the making of quilts have some type of metaphorical…

Relates the Pueblo myth of the Water Jar Boy. Examines a petroglyph created during the period 1350-1680 at the long deserted La Cienaga Pueblo, and interprets this petroglyph in terms of metaphors used in the Pueblo myth. Contains 18 references. (SV)

Examines the incidence of frightening figures and unhappy endings in traditional and modern Inuit stories and identifies purpose for these elements. Monsters and unhappy endings apparently are tools to help children come to terms with Eskimo environment and values. Studies the conclusions and implications for Indian education. (TES)

Using formal devices of language (grammar and phonology) and sociolinguistic norms, the study looks closely at the way in which narrative competence is recognized within the Navajo peer group. Children used in the study analysis are 10- and 11-year old Navajo children attending a Catholic school on the eastern part of the Navajo reservation. The…

Examined trade books regarding their accuracy in depicting Native Americans. Criteria embodied an authenticity guideline based on Five Great Values (e.g., generosity and sharing, coexisting with nature, and courage). Over half of the books had at least satisfactory depictions. Bias and stereotyping persisted enough to recommend using the guideline…

The focus of this article is Ella Deloria's novel "Waterlily." The history of its composition fascinated and frustrated the author of this article from the moment she read it in 1992, en route to a summer cultural studies institute at Oglala Lakota College. Later, at a documentary workshop on American Indian autobiography at the D'Arcy McNickle…

The use of figurative language permeates American Indian discourse, across differences in time, geography, and tribal culture. Traditionally, the presence of figurative language has been attributed to a compulsion for decoration and to a need for mnemonic devices. However, neither of these explanations accounts for changes in the rich tapestry of…

Examines form and content of American Indian authored selections in South Carolina's high school literature anthologies. Results show only 36 percent are contemporary. The sample of traditional genres lacks balanced representation and does not reflect regional distribution of American Indians. Development of evaluative criteria specific to…

Compares two approaches to discussing Indian literature and religion. Demonstrates Jungian archetypal approach as transcultural method of analyzing Indian literature. Relates and analyzes Hopi traditional story. Emphasizes accessibility of Native American literature to the non-Indian while supporting multicultural plurality of interpretations.…

This article describes a research study exploring the question: What influence will reading and discussing traditional literature have upon students' narrative writing? The setting for the study was a fifth grade classroom that was part of a university laboratory school. Students listened to and discussed Native American folktales and then wrote…

One in a series of interviews with Native American poets, this interview with William Oandasan of the Yuki tribe of Round Valley, California, is conducted by an Abenaki poet, storyteller, and editor. Questions focus on Oandasan's literary style, his cultural heritage, and his development as a writer. Opening questions relate to the role of place…

An examination and categorization of over 400 full-page drawings in the 1615 "Nueva coronica y bien gobierno" of Felipe Guaman Poma de Alaya, which details life in the Peruvian Viceroyalty. Explains the function of the illustrations in the text and that of five "signifying attributes" of spatial configuration. (SB)