Customer Reviews

So You Want to Write About American Indians?: A Guide for Writers, Students, and Scholars

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most non-Indians continue to write about American Indian people with stereotypical assumptions. Many of these authors have never even met an American Indian. The shape-shifting model of the hegemonic stock-story presents an ongoing battle. Devon A. Mihesuah illustrates how many images found in literature today are not authentic and do great damage to American Indian people. Stereotypical books freeze Native people in a pejorative past and strip the self-esteem of American Indian children.

As an American Indian woman, I am often saddened and angered when I read most of what is written by non-Indians today. I am also saddened when I meet authors who feel they are imbued with the authority to write "about" American Indians because they have a great, great, great, great grandmother who was supposedly an Indian. My own great, great, great grandfather was Black. One can only imagine what would happen if I just sat down and wrote an authoritative book on Black people and culture in America today.

Short of spending a few years on a reservation, this book is a good start to understanding more about Indian people.
Devon A. Mihesuah helps non-Indian authors realize the responsibility they have when writing about American Indian people. Native writers can also benefit from this book, for occasionally even we can be blind to images and words that can misrepresent. There is also tremendous diversity between tribal nations. We all have different religions, languages, and cultures. Therefore, it is quite easy to make an intertribal faux pas. Mihesuah encourages more American Indians to write. Writing from within our own Native culture creates an authentic voice which needs to be heard.

Stereotypes of American Indian people are deeply woven into the fabric of America. Authors have tremendous power to perpetuate or dispel these images. If you write about Indians, you have a responsibility to help make these changes. Choose to help build the self-esteem of American Indian children and create a more authentic world for Indian people through your writing. Yakoke, Devon Mihesuah, for your book.

Prof Mihesuah has a lot to say about other people's ethics but sees fit to write a 5-star review of her own book using the space provided for reader reviews, even though there is a separate area provided for authors to make their own comments. As a published author myself, I wouldn't dream of doing this. It's completely unethical and undermines any valid arguments she puts forward in her book.

Winner of the Wordcrafter Circle of Native Writers' Research Book of 2005. I wrote this book because of the dearth of instructional books on how to properly write about American Indians and because hundreds of writers continue to churn out flawed fiction and non-fiction books about Indians each year. I use my experience as an author, journal editor and professor to provide information on the basics of how to write, where to find inspiration and how to find a publisher and negotiate contracts. I hope you enjoy it!