Volume 23 Number 2
January 1984

Maxel J. Ferguson and Dan B. Fleming

RESEARCHERS AGREE THAT children's racial attitudes are developed in their early years. Gorden Allport claimed:

Although there is disagreement over how much different factors influence these attitudes, there is agreement that schools play an important role in the shaping of attitudes concerning race. One important element of schooling that is involved in the shaping of attitudes of children is the textbook. Teachers without specialized training in a subject content area rely heavily on textbooks as a source of information. If the textbooks are inaccurate or biased, this misinformation or bias will likely be transmitted to students.

This study examines the treatment of Native Americans in 34 elementary textbooks, grades K-7, drawn from eight elementary series currently listed on the adopted textbook list in Virginia. Many of these books are adopted nationwide as for example in California, where four of the eight reviewed here are used (see Appendix for series used).

This study is composed of three parts. Part one through the use of a concept checklist determined how these concepts are covered in each textbook. The concepts used were drawn from studies such as Textbooks and the American Indian published by the American Indian Historical Society in 1970 (see Note 2) and the Oregon Indian Textbook Review Project published in 1979 (see Note 1). In addition concepts were added from other sources. The ten basic concepts used were:

Part two of the study examined the evaluative terms used to describe Native Americans. Part three examined the treatment of Native Americans in pictures in the textbooks

Topic one, geography, centered on two subcomponents, location of Native Americans and natural resources. A much better job was done with location. The plains location was treated more than any other with 59% of the texts giving some coverage to this area followed by the eastern woodlands, 53 percent. Receiving the least treatment was the California intermountain location with 15% coverage. Only seven of the 34 texts did not cover at least one of the six areas. The textbooks did very little to show the natural resources controlled by Native Americans.

Topic two, population, dealt with characteristics of the Native American population, their growth and where they live. This concept was given weak coverage, being touched in only 24% of the books. Two subcomponents, covering the number of Native Americans in the United States today and that they are one of the fastest growing ethnic populations in the United States were totally ignored. Very little coverage was given the type of locations in which Native Americans live such as rural or urban.

Concept three on contributions of Native Americans focused on seven topics: medicine, devices, words, ideas, domesticated fruit and vegetables, domestication of animals and Indian trails now used as major highways. Most treated of these seven was the domestication of fruit and vegetables. Corn was mentioned most followed by beans, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and pumpkins. Second in occurrence in textbooks was Native American words found in 42% of the books. Devices and ideas were treated in 24% of the books and Indian trails, 12 percent. The domestication of animals was not mentioned. In general the vast majority of the textbooks treated the contribution concept lightly. Those 19 texts that include the concept used mostly one-sentence and a few two-sentence treatments.

Concept four, education, was treated in only 47% of the textbooks. The role of boarding schools in educating Native American children leading to negative attitudes held by these children is mentioned in only two books. Only 27% treated missionary activities at all and few mentioned that many missions held Native Americans against their will.

Concept five, federal government/Native American relations, is an integral concept to lead to an understanding of the Native American experience. Yet only one half of the textbooks dealt with the subject. The most popular component was that Native Americans were forced from their land when they refused to leave. Forty-one percent covered this, six with a one-sentence treatment, and eight with a two-sentence treatment. Thirty-one percent mentioned that as Native Americans were forced from their land, most were placed on reservation land thought to be worthless. Several components relating to land treaties were given scant coverage in the books. For example, the component that treaties have been broken by both the federal government and Native Americans with the former being the most frequent offenders received only twelve percent coverage. Eighty-two percent did not inform their readers that Native Americans are American citizens. Student readers may not realize that Native Americans enjoy the same rights today as any other citizen.

Concept six, basic cultural differences, had three subject sections, land, religion, and values. This was only treated in 44% of the books. The most popular was religion found in 32% of the texts, however the treatment was usually so superficial that the reader might easily conclude that all Native American religions were alike. The views of competitiveness held by Native Americans and Europeans was ignored with only nine percent of the texts explaining this important idea necessary for the understanding of different cultures. The subcomponent on views of women held by Native Americans was treated in only twelve percent of the books. The views of land ownership were also only dealt with in 21% of the books. This important topic in understanding the struggle between settlers and Native Americans is an important topic for students to understand the Native American experience.

Concept seven dealt with the chronological framework for studying Native American Non-Native American relations. It was the most highly covered, 91%, of all the concepts. Most texts, 80%, dealt in some way with the original settlement by Native Americans. There was considerable disagreement between texts concerning the time they first came to North America ranging from 12,000 to 40,000 years ago. Figure one shows the periods in history in which Native Americans are treated.

Figure one shows the emphasis on original settlement and the period from 1492 to 1776. We also find considerable coverage of the Westward Movement Period but after this time the Native American fades away until an upsurge of interest in the Civil Rights Protest period of the 1960s.

Concept eight considered the treatment of Europeans by Native Americans and vice versa as well as the benefits to each group from the others. Seventy-one percent of the books treated this concept in some form. A favorable portrayal of the Native American treatment of Europeans was presented with the most common examples being the survival and of Samoset and Squanto helping the Pilgrims. However, more than 50% of the textbooks did not treat this relationship. An unfavorable portrayal of Native Americans treatment by white people was shown in 47% of the textbooks. That white people took vast amounts of Native American land was the most frequently covered subcomponent. Several books used the Cherokees as an example ending in the "Trail of Tears."

Concept nine, contemporary life of Native Americans, was not given much coverage in the books. For example, only 24% mentioned that many Native Americans desire to retain their culture, yet compete in the modern world. Only 33% show that modern Native Americans work at diverse occupations and only one text dealt with the number of reservations in the United States today.

Concept ten pulled together several miscellaneous concepts such as warring between tribes and the use of natural products. Only 33% of the texts revealed that Native Americans warred with each other. One text even said that early Native Americans never warred with each other at all.

This part of the study classified adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and nouns used to describe Native Americans as either positive, negative or neutral. For example, "warlike" is a negative descriptor and was coded as such but "courageous" is positive. It was somewhat surprising that only 13 of the 34 books had ten or more evaluative terms. An overall summary of these terms resulted in a 74% favorable score. It would appear that in recent years, publishers have had considerable success in removing biased language from textbooks concerning Native Americans. Still terms such as "savage," "fierce," and "terror" were being used to describe Native Americans in some textbooks.

Part three of this study examined the illustrations of Native Americans in the selected textbooks. A surprising number of them were found, 430 in 29 textbooks. Of the 430, 45% depicted Native Americans in native costume and 31% showed them as half-naked. Although most Native Americans have worn Western dress for generations, only 12% of the pictures revealed this. This can be partially accounted for by the focus in the books on experiences of the past.

Females and/or children are found in 53% of the pictures. This is a change from a 1971 study of secondary texts by McDiarmid and Pratt who found women and children present in only 20% of pictures (see Note 4). Again, unlike the study by McDiarmid and Pratt, 96% were depicted in non-aggressive roles compared with their finding of fifty-eight percent (see Note 5).

The portrayal of Native Americans at work found 21% engaged in manual, craft or farming activities. Next was hunting and fishing followed by leisure/idle. The largest part of the pictures, 63% dealt with Native Americans living in the past. Almost nothing portrayed Native Americans in an education activity.

The environment shown in pictures was 24% in the desert, 20% in woodlands, 19% in the Arctic and 13%, plains. Housing in pictures found pueblo construction leading with 19%, the longhouse, 12%, the tepee, 18% and the hogan, eight percent.

Based on this study, both strengths and weaknesses concerning the treatment of Native Americans were revealed. In content coverage, the books were often quite different but certain key concepts were badly neglected. One of these, the differing views of land ownership is an example where 79% ignore this idea thus depriving student readers from understanding an important cause for conflict between Native Americans and white settlers.

Despite the many missing concepts in the textbooks, several of the texts did an excellent job, particularly considering the limitations of space facing the author and the various demands for coverage. A serious omission is the lack of attention given to contemporary Native Americans and issues in their lives.

The use of biased language was minimal and the publishers did a good job in most cases. The large number of pictures certainly called attention to the Native American as part of American life but tended to concentrate on the past. More variety of occupations could be shown as well as more use of Western dress. This would help overcome stereotypes of the "half-naked savage." They could also be shown in other than frowning or serious poses.

In general, the study found many good features in the books and more coverage given Native Americans than might have been thought prior to the study. Still, much work remains to correct the incorrect or omitted information in the textbooks.

1. G. W. Allport. "Basic Principles in Improving Human Relations." Cultural Groups and Human Relations. Karl Bigelow, ed: New York, Teacher's College, Columbia University, 1951, p. 6.

2. R. Costo and J. Henry. Textbooks and the American Indian. San Francisco: American Indian Historical Society, 1970.

3. Oregon Indian Textbook Review Project, Portland: Pacific NW Indian Reading and Language Development Program. Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1979.

4. G. McDiarmid and D. Pratt. Teaching Prejudice: A Content Analysis of Social Studies Textbooks Authorized for Use in Ontario. Toronto, Canada: Ontario Institute for Social Studies in Education, 1955.

5. Ibid.

The following elementary series were reviewed in this study. They are the state-adopted textbooks in Virginia.