Discusses N. Scott Momaday's book, "The Way to Rainy Mountain," and shows how, through studying this eloquent book, students learn about theme, plot structure, and personal values. Describes a class activity after reading the book, in which students compose a story based on information gathered from an elder member of their family, and…

Presents a bibliography of reading materials, fiction, and poetry, that may be used in language arts classes to dispel some of the misinformation about Native Americans. Provides a list of some of the elements that could be included in an educational unit on Native Americans. (TB)

Pablita Velarde, renowned artist and lecturer, recalls some of the Tewa legends handed down orally through the generations. She heard her grandfather and great-grandfather relate these tales on cold winter evenings at Santa Clara Pueblo when she was a child. The six stories told by Old Father Story Teller are "The Stars," which ties the…

This book is a collection of essays which provide starting points for a redefinition of American literary history based on a multiethnic and multiracial, rather than European, theory of culture. After an introduction by the editors, essays in the book are: "The Literatures of America: A Comparative Discipline" (Paul Lauter);…

While Native myths and legends were educational tools to transmit tribal beliefs and history, traditional American Indian poetry served a ritualistic function in everyday life. Few traditional Native songs, which all poems were, survive; only Mayan and Aztec poems were written, and most of these were burned by a Spanish bishop. In addition, many…

The reader is one in a series of stories of the Blackfeet Indians which take place when the people were at the height of their power, hunting buffalo north to the North Saskatchewan River, south to the Yellowstone River, east to the Montana-North Dakota border, and west to the Rocky Mountains. The story is about Little Blaze, a young Blackfeet…

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)

Provides bibliographic citations for 53 works by Ojibwe author and satirist, Gerald Vizenor, published from 1966 to 1983: 15 books, 12 short fiction, 2 dramas, 6 poems in anthologies, and 18 articles, editorials, and essays. Includes titles, dates, and places of publication in each entry. (NEC)

Describes the problems inherent in teaching native Canadian Indian literature selections and explores the problems in finding high quality native literature to use in classes with increasing numbers of native Indians enrolled. (CRH)

This performance guide is designed for teachers to use with students before and after a shadow play performance of "Turtle Island Tales" by Hobey Ford and His Golden Rod Puppets. The guide, called a "Cuesheet," contains seven activity sheets for use in class, addressing: (1) The Tales (offering brief outlines of the three tales…

Examines themes and images in Black and American Indian folklore and written literature. Suggests that in the literature of both cultures, there are common elements that reflect an affinity between the two groups, born out of similar cultural patterns and the common experience of being oppressed by a dominant race. (Author/MJL)

Describes the beginnings of a concerted study of American Indian literature and calls for a systematic preparation and publication of a bilingual edition of surviving native American traditional repertories. (AEA)

Describes how Native American folk culture carries important values. (JL)

Lists 26 books by and about American Indians. Titles include biographies, autobiographies, novels, and histories. (JL)

Reviews the history of the oldest newspaper in Oklahoma which was founded in 1876 to reflect Indian society and concerns. (FL)