Abstract
Indigenous children’s literature supports Indigenous communities’ rights to revitalization, and to the transmission to future generations, of Indigenous histories, languages, and world views, as put forth in the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Drawing on Indigenous teachings that were given to him by Elders, an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, Red Bear, interprets 10 Indigenous picture books published in Canada between 2015 and 2019 by mainstream and Indigenous publishing companies. These books were selected from the International Best Books for Children Canada’s list of Indigenous books and websites of four Canadian Indigenous publishers. We discuss the Knowledge Keeper’s interpretation of books that are grouped within four categories: intergenerational impact of residential schools, stories using spiritual lessons from nature, autobiography and biography, and stories using teachings about relationships. Recognizing the richness, authenticity, and integrity of Red Bear’s interpretation of the books, we propose that all teachers should strive to learn Indigenous cultural perspectives and knowledge when reading Indigenous children’s literature.
Highlights
Redressing Canada’s long history of assimilative practices denying Indigenous children’s rights requires action toward reconciliation in all realms of society, but especially in education [1]
We propose that integrating Indigenous children’s literature into classroom practice, along with adopting Indigenous knowledge as a framework for reading the literature, are promising tools aligning with this principle for reconciliation
Indigenous experiences and perspectives to inform their readings of Indigenous children’s literature. This knowledge can be created through consulting with Indigenous community members; websites created by Indigenous peoples about teachings and personal stories [23,24]; and literature written, illustrated, and published by Indigenous creative people in their countries
Summary
Redressing Canada’s long history of assimilative practices denying Indigenous children’s rights requires action toward reconciliation in all realms of society, but especially in education [1]. We propose that integrating Indigenous children’s literature into classroom practice, along with adopting Indigenous knowledge as a framework for reading the literature, are promising tools aligning with this principle for reconciliation. Cultural authenticity of picture books used in classrooms, and of the reader’s interpretation of the literature, are both important to support children’s development of strong cultural identities. We define cultural authenticity in terms of cultural perspectives, values, and experiences of the people represented in the book [3]. Indigenous children’s literature supports Indigenous children’s families’ and communities’ rights to “revitalize, use, develop and transmit to future generations their histories, languages, oral traditions, philosophies, writing systems and literatures” as detailed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Article 13 [5]. We begin with a brief description of the context of children’s literature publishing in Canada
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