Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but were Afraid to Ask - by Anton Treuer

I recently attended a teaching circle about Indigenous Studies at my university. This book was provided to all who attended. Like David Reuben's book (Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex, but were Afraid to Ask), Treuer's book is written in Q&A format. Unlike Reuben, however, Treuer actually seems to have some authority on the the topic he writes about. He also does not pretend to speak for all Indigenous people, and often points out issues on which different tribes, or individuals have differing opinions.  He begins with the question "What terms are most appropriate for talking about North America's first people?" which indeed answered my first question about the use of the word "Indians" in the title of the work and why and he uses the terms Indian and Indians throughout.

Truer also met my low-bar criterion for inclusion on this blog, which is simply: at least one mention of a library or a librarian. The first part of the book treats questions of "Terminology" and includes the question "How can I find out the meaning of place names around me that come from indigenous languages?" Following a little lesson about word roots, along with a bit of geography, he explains that

To find the deeper meaning of the Indian names for the places in which you live, it is often necessary to do a little research. Fortunately, some great books, like Virgil Vogel's Indian Names in Michigan and Warren Upham's Minnesota Place Names, have done a lot of groundwork to help you understand places in the Great Lakes region....There are similar books for other parts of the country-ask your local librarian for advice. 

Reading this prompted me to see what my own library had on the subject. A catalog search on place names in New England brought me to the record for a book called The Real Founders of New England written by Charles Knowles Bolton and originally published in 1929. Mr. Bolton explains in the preface that "History began, as far as New England is concerned, either in 1620 at Plymouth or in 1630 at Boston".

The book does list some Indian names for some New England cities and towns in an Appendix but does not appear to break down any names. The text appears to be useful for researchers who are interested in European view of Native Americans, both at the time of the initial encounter, and how the story was being told in 1929.

The local public library does appear to have a book that might be better for this kind of research Indian names of places in Plymouth, Middleborough, Lakeville and Carver, Plymouth County, Massachusetts : with interpretations of some of them.

October 4 - Precious Knowledge

Earlier this year, the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) board voted to end its Mexican American Studies (MAS) program in order to comply with the Arizona law that bars ethnic studies programs designed to "overthrow the United States government"; promote "resentment toward a race of class of people"; are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” or “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.” The District was threatened with a loss of up to $15 million if found in violation of the law. As a consequence dozens of books were removed from the curriculum, and the classrooms (in at least one case while students were still there) and boxed up to be put into storage.

The film Precious Knowledge is a documentary film which relates the events leading up to the passage of HB 2281. The ignorance demonstrated by the legislators in this film is so huge as to be embarrassing. When invited to attend some of the Mexican American Studies classes, all but one refused, insisting that the teachers and students would stage a different kind of class than usual on the day they attended; and that even a surprise visit was meaningless because the instructors can "change their pedagogy just like that [finger snap]" when someone uninvited walks into the room. Based on these ridiculous assertions, the program was banned, despite the fact that students who took MAS classes were more likely to graduate.

Today, the U.S. Ethnic Studies Program of Bridgewater State University will host a viewing of the documentary. Some of the books that were removed from TUSD classrooms will be on display during the screening in the Rondileau Campus Center at One Park Ave at 12:30.

While TUSD Administrators claimed that no books were "banned"  when they were removed from classrooms this chilling photo tells another story. See the story from the Huffington Post


View the Precious Knowledge Trailer

The House on Mango Street - by Sandra Cisneros

I have been intending to read this book for several years. I was finally motivated to actually check it out of the library when I found it on the list of books that were removed from Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) classrooms after it became illegal to teach Mexican American Studies in Arizona. (see more information in the No History is Illegal webpage). The new law says that a program may not

 1) promote the overthrow of the US government

2) promote resentment to a race or class of people

3) be designed primarily for one ethnic group,

4) advocate ethnic solidarity instead of treating pupils as individuals

Teachers in TUSD have been told to stay away from any books with themes having to do with such topics as race, ethnicity, and oppression. The new law went into effect on February 1 so last week professors, (and librarians), at Bridgewater State University staged a "teach in" to explain what is happening in Arizona, and how it impacts ethnic studies programs, and academic freedom. Officially, TUSD says that only 7 books were removed from classrooms, and that none have been "banned" because students still have access to them in libraries. This is hogwash. Teachers at TUSD report many more than 7 books were removed. Furthermore, removing books from a classroom, and a curriculum, most certainly constitutes a ban. See the American Library Association webpage on Banned and Challenged books for more information.

As for me, I was able to use the issue as a starting point when I was asked to speak to a Political Science class about literacy and censorship. I was invited to speak to the class before any of this came to light in the media, so the timing turned out to be fortuitous from a teaching standpoint. Only one student in the class was aware of what was happening in Arizona. It was a course in Civic Engagement so we talked about being aware of what was in the news, and how to become involved in thwarting book challenges.  In my Spanish class, one of the textbook readings last week was about Sandra Cisneros, and specifically mentioned The House on Mango Street so I took the opportunity to discuss the situation in Tucson and read from the novel. I chose a chapter called "No Speak English" to read aloud, and talked to my students about feeling intimated when learning a new language. Interestingly, they actually provided a perfect segue for me by clamming up when I asked them some open ended questions in Spanish just before I read the passage. They did seem to get the connection I was making.

The House on Mango Street is a series of vignettes about a young Latina girl, Esperanza, and her family growing up in Chicago. Of course our heroine uses the library and is excited about the books she checks out to read to her blind aunt, and to show to her neighbor Ruthie, who "loves books" but can't read anymore because she gets headaches. Her "Smart Cookie" mother takes advantage of the opera records she can get at the library "and sings with velvety lungs powerful as morning glories".  The themes in the book (friendship, loneliness, embarassment) are things that can be universally discussed, something that the administrators at TUSD seem to fail to notice. And, perhaps I missed something, but I found nothing in this work about overthrowing the government.