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How did settlers moving to the West effect Native Americans?

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How did settlers moving to the West effect Native Americans?

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Little House on the Prairie was written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and illustrated by Garth Williams. The events that are written about took place at a time where “wild men”, savage etc. were commonly used terms to describe Native Americans and there was a lot of misinformation, ignorance and racism directed at Native Americans. However, Wilder wrote these stories in 1935 when she was sixty-five years old. For her writing Little House on the Prairie was both a research project and a nostalgic way to share her life experiences that she experienced with her family. Little House on the Prairie allows the reader to step back in time to the late 1800's with Wilder and learn about living life on the prairie through her experiences.  Due to this, I do not believe Little House on the Prairie was written with the intention to negatively stereotype Native Americans, rather it is a product of the times. Proving this point I discovered an article on the American Indian Children’s Literature website that discussed a reader reaching out to Mrs. Wilder about inappropriate word usage within the first few paragraphs of the book. The passage in question is: "a pasture that stretched much farther than a man could see, and there were no people." It was agreed to revise the passage to instead say: “there the wild animals wandered and fed as though they were in a pasture that stretched much farther than a man could see, and there were no settlers. Only Indians lived there." and was fixed at the next printing.

I say all this because Wilder could acknowledge her mistakes even stating: "You are perfectly right about the fault in Little House on the Prairie and have my permission to make the correction you suggest. It was a stupid blunder of mine. Of course Indians are people and I did not intend to imply they were not." Yes, this book is problematic, but we can, and should, use Little House on the Prairie as a tool to teach people how far we’ve come in regard to respecting other cultures and beliefs. If we erase what’s wrong with our world, we won’t have any examples of what not to do. Having said all that, Little House on the Prairie is indeed laced with an ignorant and fear-based view of Native Americans. So, let us dive into a book that is a less than an ideal example of how to portray Native Americans in children’s literature.

For starters, the character of Ma is very problematic. She routinely makes disrespectful remarks about how Native Americans live saying at one point: “If we wanted to live like Indians, you could make a hole in the roof to let the smoke out, and we’d have the fire on the floor inside the house.” It is obvious she does not understand how Native Americans are like her and she is fearful of them. The Native Americans that live near the Ingall’s come to their cabin on several occasions to eat their food, “steal” tobacco and other resources which deepens Ma’s fear. However, The Ingall’s family settled the Osage land when they were away on an annual hunting trip. The Native Americans return from this trip to see trees cut down, wells dug and white settlers squatting on their land, and in the case of the Ingall’s, they chose a spot right next to a routinely used Osage trail. What Ma sees as thievery; the Osage see as collecting rent.

At one point Pa takes Laura and Mary to an abandoned Native American camp and shows them the imprints of the Native Americans moccasins. He even points out how one set of footprints suggest a woman was cooking over a fire with a baby on her back. Perhaps if Ma was part of this experience, she would have been less judgmental and realized there are Native American mothers who cook for their families as she does and are likely very concerned about their children’s safety due to the influx of settlers. Ma and Pa made a conscious decision to move out West, the Native Americans had no say in what happened to their land or where they were forced to go.

Next, I would like to discuss an event that happens at the end of the book. To fully describe why what happens is so disturbing a few things need to be explained. Firstly, from the very beginning of the book Laura asks when she will see a papoose, which is an offensive and outdated term for a Native American baby. Secondly, there are outdated parenting styles within the book. Frequently it is mentioned that children should be seen and not heard, only speak when spoken to etc. Also, emotional expression is frowned upon, especially crying. Now we can move on to the scene in question. The Ingalls family is just outside the door of their cabin watching a procession of the Osage Tribe leave their territory on the trail that is essentially a highway for them, and it runs right next to the cabin Pa built. What a slap in the face to the Native Americans. This is very likely the beginnings of the forced relocation of Native American tribes though this is not explicitly stated in the text. As they are being forced off their land, they must pass a log cabin which has likely become a negative symbol of encroachment for the Osage.

This is a very somber moment filled with a lot of tension. As Laura is watching this take place, she sees a Native American baby in a basket hanging off the side of a horse. She looks deep into the baby’s eyes and feels a connection. Such a strong connection in fact that she says: “Pa get me that little Indian baby!...Oh, I want it! I want it!” Pa tells her to hush, “the Indian woman wants to keep her baby.” Then Laura begins to cry. The lack of empathy during this scene is astounding. Due to the choices of the Ingall’s and so many other settlers the Native Americans are being displaced and all Laura, who is usually demure and knows that the expectations of her parents is to stay quiet, can do is cry because she cannot have the Osage woman’s baby. This further shows that the people of this time viewed Native Americans as subhuman and more closely related to an animal.

As stated above there are multiple uses of outdated vernacular. The main example being Indian. The Native Americans are consistently referred to as Indians but that is a word we try not to use today. Another example is the use of “savage” to refer not only to the people but also their war cry when the different tribes came together to discuss whether to act against the settlers. “Wild man” is also used. Lastly, another shocking part of Little House on the Prairie is the quote that is stated not once, but twice by two separate characters. The quote can be found on page 211 and 284 and reads: “the only good Indian was a dead Indian”.

Despite the issues stated above Wilder also took the time to cast a humanizing light on the Native Americans. She does identify the tribe living near the Ingall’s as Osage and briefly talks about Soldat du Chene who Wilder identifies as an Osage chief who spoke out against killing the white settlers. However, there is some controversy around this, and it is likely she misremembered the name. Regardless, the Native Americans in her story are not simply represented as evil savages. The character of Pa also routinely speaks of the Native Americans in a kind way and even stands up for them with his neighbors saying they are peaceful. When he would go hunting Pa often met Native Americans and said there was nothing to fear, they are perfectly friendly. Another great interaction between Pa and the Native Americans is when a panther becomes a problem on the prairie. He spends multiple days hunting the panther down until he crosses paths with a Native American man who mimes shooting the panther to convey to Pa the panther is no longer a threat.

It is to be expected to be fearful of a new situation or to be curious of something new, however, we no longer live in the 1800’s and this book should be read with caution. Rereading this story as an adult it is glaringly obvious that this is a problematic book due to the vernacular and the views expressed by the characters. However, I did not find the pictures in the book derogatory and the descriptions of the Native Americans was done without rampant amounts of stereotyping. I think using Little House on the Prairie as a teaching tool could help further correct the misuse of outdated terms for Native Americans and in some ways further share a piece of the history of the Osage Indians.

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How did Ma and Pa's interactions with the Native Americans shape their opinions of them?

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How did Ma and Pa's interactions with the Native Americans shape their opinions of them?

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How can we use outdated literature as a learning tool?

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How can we use outdated literature as a learning tool?

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Does unjustified fear of other races still exist today?

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Does unjustified fear of other races still exist today?

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What comes to mind when you think of a "wild man"?

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What comes to mind when you think of a "wild man"?

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A division of the American Library Association voted unanimously Saturday to strip Laura Ingalls Wilder's name from a major children's literature award over concerns about how the author referred to Native Americans and blacks.

The Association for Library Service to Children says the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award will now be known as the Children's Literature Legacy Award.

Wilder, who wrote the Little House book series, was the first recipient of the award, which was established in 1954 and intended to honor books published in the U.S. that have had a big impact on children's literature.

The Little House series was based on Wilder's own life and told the story of the Ingalls family as it moved around the Great Plains in the 19th century. While many of the Little House books became widely read, critics said her work included many stereotypical and reductive depictions of Native Americans and people of color.

In 1935's Little House on the Prairie, for example, Wilder described one setting as a place where "there were no people. Only Indians lived there." That description was changed in later editions of the book. And multiple characters in the Little House series intone that "the only good Indian is a dead Indian."

The ALSC had been considering whether it should strip Wilder's name from the award since February and announced at the time that the author's legacy "may no longer be consistent with the intention of the award named for her."

"The decision was made in consideration of the fact that Wilder's legacy, as represented by her body of work, includes expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC's core values of inclusiveness, integrity and respect, and responsiveness," the ALSC said in a brief statement following the vote. Previously, the organization had noted the "anti-Native and anti-Black sentiments" in Wilder's writing.

However, some Wilder scholars say the author's work shouldn't be downplayed. Instead, they say, it should be scrutinized - and taken as an opportunity to inform children of the context surrounding it.

The Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association released a statement defending Wilder's work, saying that while her writing included "the perspectives of racism that were representative of her time and place," it also made "positive contributions to children's literature":

"We believe it is not beneficial to the body of literature to sweep away her name as though the perspectives in her books never existed. Those perspectives are teaching moments to show generations to come how the past was and how we, as a society, must move forward with a more inclusive and diverse perspective."

Debbie Reese, a scholar and the founder of American Indians In Children's Literature, tweeted that the vote to change the award's name was a " significant and historic moment" but still only a step. "There are many more, ahead of us. The backlash to the change is already evident."

The author Jacqueline Woodson, known for award-winning books including Brown Girl Dreaming and Another Brooklyn, will be the first honoree of the newly named Children's Literature Legacy Award.

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Little House On The Controversy: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Name Removed From Book Award

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The Association for Library Service to Children voted unanimously to strike Wilder's name from a major children's lit award over concerns about how the author referred to Native Americans and blacks.

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The National Endowment for the Humanities

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Reading Laura Ingalls Wilder Is Not the Same When You’re a Parent.

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About the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

The award, a bronze medal, honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.

Administered by:

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About the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award The award, a bronze medal, honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.

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Garth Williams, Illustrator of American Childhood

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Williams illustrated more than eighty books, including “Stuart Little,” “Charlotte’s Web,” and the “Little House” series.

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In 1959, the picture-book nuptials of a black rabbit and a white rabbit caused intense debate across the nation.

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The main theme of Little House on the prairie is family survival. How does a family survive when they are in an unknown area with unknown threats? There are lesser themes of found family and growing maturity as well.

The story also casts a negative light on Native Americans, calling them “wild men”. The main characters fear these people and are ignorant of their culture which causes a lack of understanding that the Native Americans are indeed people, not animals, and the main characters are stealing their land.

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This book provides the Native American's view of things. Omakayas and her family have an established life on an island in Lake Superior yet white settlers begin to settle their land.

"Omakayas and her family live on an island in Lake Superior. Though there are growing numbers of white people encroaching on their land, life continues much as it always has. But the satisfying rhythms of their life are shattered when a visitor comes to their lodge one winter night, bringing with him an invisible enemy that will change things forever--but that will eventually lead Omakayas to discover her calling." (https://birchbarkbooks.com/products/the-birchbark-house)

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Laura Ingalls Wilder was born in 1867. She wrote many successful children’s books and won The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award in 1954 which was named after her. However, due to the controversy surrounding her books this award was later renamed the Children’s Literature Legacy Award. She also won Honors with the John Newberry Medal in 1940-1942 for her Little House books.

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(1912–96). When remembering Wilbur the Pig, Stuart Little, Chester Cricket, and other classic figures in children’s literature, readers often bring to mind the heartwarming…

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Includes bookplate signed by the author. This National Book Award finalist by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louise Erdrich is the first installment in an essential nine-book series chronicling 100 years in the life of one Ojibwe family, and includes beautiful interior black-and-white artwork done by the author. She w

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While doing research on Syd Hoff's Danny and the Dinosaur, I came across information about a revision to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. When it was first published in 1935 by Harper, the illustrations were done by Helen Sewell. I knew the publisher asked Garth Williams to redo illustrations for the book in the 1950s, but I did not know text had also been changed.

In Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, is the following letter. Nordstrom was the editorial director at Harper from 1940 to 1973, and she was Wilder's editor. The letter writer's name is not provided in Dear Genius. Here is Nordstrom's response (page 53 and 54)

October 14, 1952

Dear _____

Your letter to Mrs. [Laura Ingalls] Wilder, the author of Little House on the Prairie, came several weeks ago. We took the liberty of opening it as we do many of the letters that are addressed to Mrs. Wilder. Often we can send the writers the photographs and biographical material they want. Mrs. Wilder is now in her eighties and we try to handle much of the correspondence here.

We are indeed disturbed by your letter. We knew that Mrs. Wilder had not meant to imply that Indians were not people and we did not want to distress her if we could possibly avoid it. I must admit to you that no one here realized that those words read as they did. Reading them now it seems unbelievable to me that you are the only person who has picked them up and written to us about them in the twenty years since the book was published. We were particularly disturbed because all of us here feel just as strongly as you apparently feel about such subjects, and we are proud that many of the books on the Harper list prove that. Perhaps it is a hopeful sign that though such a statement could have passed unquestioned twenty years ago it would never have appeared in anything published in recent years.

Instead of forwarding your letter to Mrs. Wilder I wrote her about the passage and said that in reprinting we hoped that she would allow us to change it. I have just received her answer. She says: "You are perfectly right about the fault in Little House on the Prairie and have my permission to make the correction you suggest. It was a stupid blunder of mine. Of course Indians are people and I did not intend to imply they were not." We are changing the next printing to read "There were no settlers."*

We appreciate your letter, but we are terribly sorry that ___ could not have the book for her eighth birthday. The new printing will be available for her ninth one though, and we are making a note now to be sure that you receive a complimentary copy. As a children's book editor, I was touched by your not wanting ___ to know only the Saggy, Baggy Elephant and I was therefore all the more upset by your very reasonable complaint against Mrs. Wilder's book.

I am sorry this is not a better letter and I am particularly sorry that I have not written you long before this. I wanted to wait, though, until I had written Mrs. Wilder and received her answer.

The asterisk above is actually a numeral one in Dear Genius but I can't do footnote numbering in Blogger so used an asterisk instead. That asterisk corresponds to a note at the bottom of the page that says

The passage in question appears in the opening chapter. As revised it reads as follows: "There the wild animals wandered and fed as though they were in a pasture that stretched much farther than a man could see, and there were no settlers. Only Indians lived there."

Hmmm... And, WOW!!! Reading all of that, I wondered what the original text said. I posted a query to LM_NET (over ten thousand librarians subscribe to LM_NET) hoping someone had a copy of the 1935 edition.

A few hours later, I had a reply (thanks, Sonja!). The 1935 edition read "a pasture that stretched much farther than a man could see, and there were no people." Wilder and Nordstrom changed people to settlers.

Interesting, eh?

I ordered a copy of the 1935 edition and when it arrives, I'll study it closely. I wonder if additional changes were made?

I'd like to see the letter Nordstrom responded to. I wonder if the person who wrote the letter to Wilder objected to more than just that one passage? That passage appears very early in the book. In the copy I'm looking at right now, it is the fifth paragraph of the book. Perhaps the letter writer read that far and quit reading to compose her letter. I'll write to Leonard Marcus to see if he has more info. He is the editor of Dear Genius.

For now, let's go back to Nordstrom's letter.

Nordstrom says "we" (her staff, I assume) feel as strongly as the person who wrote the letter. Suggesting that Indians are not people is not ok with Nordstrom. But! There are many passages in it that equate Indians with animals. Wilder's Indians yip and yap and howl at each other. What about all those passages?

My question is, why not discontinue the entire book? If I had met with Nordstrom, would she have made more changes to the book? Or pulled it?

[Note: I've written about Little House several times. If you're interested in my (Native) perspective, scroll waaaay down to the bottom of this page and see the set of links at the bottom.)

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Edit(s) to 1935 edition of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE?

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Designed to help readers develop a critical eye about representations of American Indians in children's and young adult books

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Historical Perspective or Racism in Little House on the Prairie? | Little House on the Prairie

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Official website of Little House on the Prairie® which serves as a home for fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic books and the beloved television show.

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Garth Williams was born in 1912. He illustrated many well-known children’s books including Stuart Little, The Little House books, and Charlottes Web. He won one award, the British Prix de Rome. He also wrote and illustrated a book titled The Rabbits Wedding. It involved a male black rabbit marrying a white female rabbit. This caused quite the uproar in 1959 within Montgomery's chapter of the White Citizens’ Council, who voiced their concern that Williams was advocating for interracial marriage and trying to indoctrinate children into this thinking with his book. Mr. Williams stared: …“I’m just an artist,… [I] hope children enjoy the book and that the voices of hate will never overcome the kind of togetherness ‘The Rabbits’ Wedding’ represents.”

His style was realistic fantasy. For example, when drawing Stuart Little he kept in mind the size that the author kept referencing leaving the reader with the delightful image of a mouse in a bed made of a matchbox and clothespins with his belongings on the floor like you would expect to find in any child’s bedroom. I found his illustrations in Little House on the Prairie to be appropriate and not stereotypical.