From Amazon:
The Education of Little Tree tells of a boy orphaned very young, who is adopted by his Cherokee grandmother and half-Cherokee grandfather in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee during the Great Depression.
“Little Tree” as his grandparents call him is shown how to hunt and survive in the mountains, to respect nature in the Cherokee Way, taking only what is needed, leaving the rest for nature to run its course.
Little Tree also learns the often callous ways of white businessmen and tax collectors, and how Granpa, in hilarious vignettes, scares them away from his illegal attempts to enter the cash economy. Granma teaches Little Tree the joys of reading and education. But when Little Tree is taken away by whites for schooling, we learn of the cruelty meted out to Indian children in an attempt to assimilate them and of Little Tree’s perception of the Anglo world and how it differs from the Cherokee Way.
Looking forward to the discussion on this book. How many of you have checked out the reviews on Amazon.com?????
ReplyDeleteWill this or does this change your views of the story? Looking forward to your answers!
This book recalled to my mind a movie that I watch a few years ago called The Rabbit Proof Fence. This movie was about the authorities in Australia taking the Aboriginal children away from their parents and placing them in a settlement to "train" them to be better people. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit-Proof_Fence_(film) It is an excellent film and I highly recommend it. I thought about this movie when Little Tree was taken away from his grandparents because some people out there in the world thought that he was not getting the education that he needed. Yet what was the education that he got when sent to the orphanage?!?!!?
ReplyDeleteBack when I was a teenager our family participated in the "Indian Placement Program" for three years. We had a Navajo foster sister during the months that school was in session. I believe the thought behind it was that the school system was better off the reservation. I don't think these kids were forced to be placed in these homes. It was a choice that they and their families made and they needed to qualify for the program by being a member of our church with at least 80 percent activity. I think our sister was baptized just to participate in the program and met the minimum requirements. :) I always felt bad for her because I'm sure she missed her family (her mother and father had passed away). It wad fun to learn soething of her culture and a few Navajo words. I still can call someone a "turkey" in Navajo......the word never slips through my lips though......just rings in my mind! She kept in touch with my parents and visited once as an adult. Sadly she passed away in1999. We didn't know or find out about her passing until a couple years ago. I can't believe I didn't think about all this while reading the book. Just thought about it after your comment LeeAnn.
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