This article focuses on unlearning stereotypical representations of Indigenous peoples and replacing harmful narratives with accurate information and understandings. Teachers are critical in categorizing, selecting, and (re)presenting Indigenous communities through children’s literature.
The darling baby pictured here is Amelia, the youngest child in my family at Nambe Pueblo, a federally recognized tribal nation, located in northern New Mexico. Nana Kaa—and children like her—are the future. Nana Kaa is Amelia’s Tewa name. She is going to grow up knowing three languages: Tewa, Spanish, and English (Tewa is the language we speak at Nambe).
The purpose of this paper is to present the experiences of Indigenous youth when a critical literacies/Indigenous knowledges (IK) approach was used in a graphic novel creation project. We conducted research over a six-week period in two alternative high schools in British Columbia. In this paper, we look primarily at research findings from the Indigenous program. We analyzed classroom observations, the graphic novels, and transcripts of semi-structured interviews according to four principles of critical literacy: understanding power, control, and equity of information; collaboration using multiple perspectives; authentic and multimodal learning; and enacting social change and civic engagement.
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