Grounded in the idea that studying tribal cultures will enable students to gain deeper insights into Native literatures, each chapter helps teachers recognize what students need to know and then provides them with supporting materials and activities that will lead them to more informed interpretations of the literature. After considering ways in which a study of Native American literature addresses gaps in standard American history textbooks, Goebel discusses the complexity that lies in the language of race.
In the following chapters, he offers in-depth study of specific texts, including early Native American poetry, James Welch’s _Fools Crow_, Leslie Marmon Silko’s _Ceremony_, and Sherman Alexie’s _The Business of Fancydancing_. Reproducible copies of traditional, tribally specific poems and stories are linked to the larger texts being studied.
In addition to a brief annotated bibliography of resources for teaching Native American literature, the chapters also contain histories, a glossary, and teaching activities.
