My Interest in Native American Literature

For my final project I chose to look at Native American Children's Literature.  Last semester I took a Native American Literature class which looked at literature for adults about and written by Native Americans which piqued my interest.  This class began to open my eyes to the importance of literature that was written about and by Native Americans.  When we discussed the topic in this class I realized how many stereotypical representations are displayed through out society and how it is looked over as normal and acceptable.  The movie about the University of Illinois mascot also really made me realize how many stereotypical and unethical representations are within our culture.  After our discussion I began to notice other stereotypical representations around everywhere. For example my own high school mascot was the warrior.  I also saw a shirt in the mall recently that had two Native Americans on it who were stereotypically dressed wearing beads and animal skins with feathers on their head. The shirt read, Naturally Cute, in big bold letters above the picture of the Native Americans.  The fact that this shirt could be sold in a very popular and large chain made me see how people need to be educated about Native Americans and their true history and current lives.  One way of educating people is through literature, and what better way than to start when people are young and in school.  I was excited to look at and analyze Native American literature that I can use in the future as a teacher and in general to help people receive education about Native Americans and the stereotypes that are still present in our current society.