Volume 17 Number 2
January 1978

Jesus Garcia

HARRIS (see Note 1) in a recent article, summarizes how one agency--public education--views the American Indian (see Note 2). The approach generally employed by writers when describing Native Americans in American literature is to depict the group in a stereotypic fashion. These stereotypic portrayals, however, are not positive. Native Americans are depicted as "ignorant savages," "Indian varmints" and "vanishing peoples." Today the stereotype of the "Indian infested with problems" is also found in curriculum material. These stereotypes describe American Indians as obstacles, non-contributors, savages who resorted to questionable tactics against settlers and as reservation Indians--remnants of a once proud people. In these narratives, Native Americans are also subordinate characters, acted upon by others and exerting little influence on their future. There are exceptions. The "noble savage" is described living the idylic life prior to the arrival of the white man and the "Indian maiden" (Pocahontas, Sacajawea) is described sacrificing her life to assist the white man. Nevertheless, descriptions of American Indians are usually negative and lacking in objectivity.

This negative portrayal, Harris claims, represents efforts by public schools "to erase Indian consciousnes"(see Note 3). Curriculum writers, by ignoring the existence of Native Americans, avoid a discussion of what occurred to ten to twelve million people as Europeans colonized the continent. Omission also ensures that remnants of these forgotten people will have no formal education of their history. Absent from curriculum material, the American Indian ceases to be a part of American history.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the themes Harris identified as being employed to depict Native Americans in American literature also are used in U. S. history texts. The approach was to examine the treatment of Native Americans in California adopted, eighth-grade U. S. history textbooks. Specifically, content describing Native American was evaluated to determine whether the group is described in a variety of topics and issues, and whether terms employed to describe the group went beyond stereotypic phrases.

Textbooks were selected for examination since they are a reliable indicator of the type of information being used to describe Native Americans. According to Judd (see Note 4) and McKeown (see Note 5) a teacher views the textbook as the medium of instruction and to the student it represents the knowledge which needs to be mastered. To both groups it provides structure and a sense of security. California-adopted textbooks were selected as California currently employs rigorous state-adopted guidelines for the evaluation of racism. Most other states allow districts to maintain their standards for textbook adoption. The study was longitudinal (1956-76) so as to measure changes in the treatment of the group. The following texts were reviewed:

Presently, procedures outlined below are the most effective in evaluating textbooks for Native American content. The procedures encompass three phases. Phase one, six key topics of interaction, is the identification of events or themes that reflect major involvement between white Americans and Native Americans. The topics are examples of what can be called decisive interactions. Phase two is the list of themes Harris identified as being employed to describe Native Americans in American literature courses: "noble savage," "white man’s helper," "Indian maiden," "red varmint," "warrior fighter," "chief," "Protestor," and "other." The themes "protestor" and "other" were added to Harris’ list so as to categorize contemporary material and data not pertinent to the study. Phase three is the identification of terms commonly associated with Native Americans. An expanded version of Pratt’s Word List was used in this study. Pratt’s Word List is a compilation of terms commonly found in textbooks which he identified as positive, neutral or negative. The list includes such terms as admirable (+), strange (0), and warlike (-). The phases are ordered and should be followed to ensure a proper evaluation.

The results are presented in two tables by text. Table I cites the number and percent of sentences identified with Harris’ themes and the categories "protestor" and "other." Table II lists the terms commonly associated with each theme and their frequency of occurrence.

1. In identifying information to be treated, six key topics were selected which describe Native Americans interacting with white Americans and as contributors. The information (sentences) was gathered by turning to the index of the text and reviewing statements cited with each topic. (Textbook pages were treated once though cited repeatedly.) The following topics were identified as decisive when depicting Native Americans:

2. Once excerpted, data were assigned to one of the categories listed below. The list are themes, except for "protestor" and "Other," identified by Harris" as being employed to depict Native Americans in American literature.

3. A version of Pratt’s Word List was used to identify terms associated with the group. (Association implies terms that directly or indirectly describe the group.) The list was expanded to include the synonyms of terms found in the word list an a random sample of terms found in the textbooks under study that were identified as being associated with American Indians. Since Pratt’s rules were not strictly followed in evaluating texts, terms cited in Table II were not assigned a value.

The results of this study (Table I) substantiate Harris’ claim that descriptions of American Indians usually are limited to six general areas: "noble savage," "white man’s helper," "Indian maiden," "red varmint," "warrior/fighter," and "chief." In three of the texts, well over half of the information treated fell within these six categories. In the other two texts--America: Land of Freedom and The Challenge of America--more than three-fourths of the data treated were classified in these six areas. The Challenge of America is the latest eighth grade U. S. history textbook to be adopted by California; and if it is indicative of other eighth grade texts, there seems to be a total acceptance of Harris’ categories.

Examination of recent developments concerning Native Americans required the inclusion of the category "protestor" to Harris’ list. Except for Quest for Liberty, Native Americans are not described "protesting" or in roles that suggest self-determinism. Descriptions, when, they do appear, are superficial with Native Americans depicted as subordinate characters acted upon by others. (It is white Americans who popularize the plight of "Indians" and who come to their rescue.)

The classification "other" was employed to slot information not appropriate to the other seven categories. The type of information identified with this category varied with each group. Story of the American Nation describes American Indians trading with Europeans in a missionary setting and trading with William Penn and other such individuals. Land of the Free depicts the exploits of Sequoya, Ishi and "Indians" bartering with Europeans and Americans. Quest for Liberty includes the greatest variety of portrayals. Some of the themes described include "The Bering Strait Theory," cultural conflicts, "Teddy Roosevelt and Indians," "stereotypes," "mission life," "making Indians into Americans" and the "similarities among Indians, Mexican Americans and Blacks." The Challenge of America depicts "trading activities" and an in-depth portrayal of "Indians as the first Americans."

More than 1,900 statements were examined. The portrayal of the group did not change significantly between 1956-76. The results indicate that depictions of Native Americans were limited to the themes outlined by Harris. Variety of depictions were within six categories; one author highlighted the "noble savage" while another underscored the role of "chiefs." The type of information employed to describe the group remained unchanged. Other approaches and themes were only superficially undertaken. The study also revealed that sentences describing Native Americans increased in four of the five texts reviewed. However, with the adoption of The Challenge of America there was a marked decrease in the number of sentences describing the group. Perhaps there is more than just a grain of truth in the stereotype of the "vanishing Indian."

1. Helen L. Harris, "On the Failure of Indian Education," Clearing House, 48 (December 1973), 242-47.

2. In this study the terms Native Americans and American Indians were used interchangeably. In the literature these terms were found to be acceptable when describing the group.

3. Harris, p. 245.

4. Charles H. Judd, "Analyzing Text-Books," The Elementary School Journal, XIX, (October, 1918).

5. Robin J. McKeown, "Developing Asian Study Material," Social Education, 33 (December, 1969), 841-54.

6. The writer’s experience in teaching ethnic studies courses and research in ethnic related topics formed the basis for the selection of the key areas describing Native Americans in U. S. history.

7. David Pratt, How To Find and Measure Bias in Textbooks (New Jersey: Educational Technology Publications Inc., 1972).