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JUV
PJF11.10ODE
Thunder Rolling in the Mountains
Scott O'dell & Elizabeth Hall
Bantum Doubleday, NY, NY 1992
Pages: 128 - chapters
Grades:
5 +
Rating:
Harmful - Stereotypical
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| A story as told by Sounds of Running Feet, the
daughter of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Tribe. White gold miners
are moving into the Nez Perce territories and claiming land as their
own. Sounds of Running feet wants to fight, Chief Joseph has had
visions of battles lost, and the parts of the tribe tries to flee to
Canada.
The story is written well, descriptions of beautiful landscapes blossom
before your eyes. But there are subtleties that make the book a detriment
to Native readers. 1) Sounds of Running Feet shoots a gold pan out
of a woman's hands for no apparent reason upon their first encounter. This
tend to lead the reader to assume that the government removal was of the
Natives own demise, 2) The narration is stereotypical - mythical "he
was their chieftain because he could see far away into the land of the
suns and moons that had not yet risen." and the names.. why not use
the Ne-mee-poo names rather than their translations? 3) on Page 11...
"Go or I'll banish you from the clan. You will be a wanderer
for the rest of your life, no longer a Ni-mii-puu." Banishment
would have meant death, and if the leader Chief Joseph was for peace than
why wouldn't it be okay for Swan Necklace to be the same?
Marlette
Grant-Jackson – ITEPP-CRC
More Resources |
NezPerce Tribal Web site |
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