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.

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.

"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)

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.