Dressing In Feathers

One hundred members of NatChat, an electronic mail discussion group concerned with Native American issues, responded to the recent Disney release Pocahontas by calling on parents to boycott the movie, citing its historical inaccuracies and saying that "Disney has let us down in a cruel, irresponsible manner." Their anger was rooted in the fact that, although Disney had claimed that the film's portrayal of American Indians would be "authentic," the Pocahontas story the movie told was really white cultural myth. The actual histories of the characters were replaced by mythic narratives depicting the crucial moments when aid was given to the white settlers. As reconstructed, the story serves to reassert for whites their right to be here, easing any lingering guilt about the displacement of the native inhabitants. To understand current imagery, it is essential to understand the history of its making, and these essays mesh to create a powerful, interconnected account of image creation over the past 150 years. The contributors, who represent a range of disciplines and specialties, reveal the distortions and fabrications white culture has imposed on significant historical and current events, as represented by treasured artifacts such as photographic images taken of Sitting Bull following his surrender, the national monument at the battlefield of Little Bighorn, nineteenth-century advertising, the television phenomenon Northern Exposure, and the film Dances with Wolves. Well illustrated, this volume demonstrates the complacency of white culture in its representation of its troubled relationship with American Indians.

Waldorf has been misbehaving! Winnie decides it is time he enrolls in Winnie’s school for disobedient dogs. Waldorf learns his lessons quickly—his favorite subject is nap time; naturally he excels at it. But when it is time for gym class, something terrible happens. The neighbor’s dog is in trouble! Will Waldorf know just what to do to save the day? In this delightful follow-up to Winnie and Waldorf, Waldorf shows how heroic he can be, especially when he is just being himself. Young readers will love following the charming relationship between Winnie and her best friend, Waldorf.

There are four 'Wonder Voyages' recounted in this book. The author explains how, rather like Lewis Caroll, he entertained his children at night with stories of imaginary voyages that he had made. He had always said there would never be a 100th voyage but, on reaching 99 and offering no further story, the children revolted so he had to resort to tales of other wonderful voyages already told, and chose to start with the four in this volume.

When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.