2000 years of Native American Literature from pictograph to graphic novel By Heid Erdrich

1. 2000 years of Native American Literature from pictograph to graphic novelBy Heid Erdrich

2. Storied People • Ojibwe pictographic writing system • Dakota Winter counts • Scared Stories & Tales of the People

3. First American Indian (Ojibwe) Woman Author • Bame-wa-wa-ge-zhik-a-quay, English name: Jane Johnston Schoolcraft • Born 1800, died 1841 • Granddaughter of Chief Waubojeeg • Mother Susan Johnston was a renowned storyteller • Married Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

4. Jane Johnston Schoolcraft • The Forsaken Brother

5. Longfellow’s Hiawatha William Tompkins: Longfellow was deeply interested in pictography, and gave the best and briefest description of nine symbols that has ever been compiled. It is given in the following verse from Hiawatha: For the earth he drew a straight line, 
 For the sky a bow above it; 
 White the space between for day-time, 
 Filled with little stars for night-time; 
 On the left a point for sunrise, 
 On the right a point for sunset, 
 On the top a point for noontide, 
 And for rain and cloudy weather 
 Waving lines descending from it. http://www.inquiry.net/outdoor/native/sign/pictographs.htm

6. Months/Moons

7. PICTURE WRITING Additional readings • Erdrich, Louise. Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country. National Geographic. • Gawboy, Carl, Ron Morton. Talking Rocks. Duluth, Minnesota: Pfeifer-Hamilton Publishers, 2000. • Mallery, Garrick Picture-Writing of the American Indians. 2 vols. New York: Dover Publications. 1972 [1893.] • Seldwyn Dewdney and K. E. Kidd, Indian Rock Paintings of the Great Lakes. University of Ontario Press. 1962

8. Ledger Art • In the tradition of the Winter Count • Graphic Depiction by Dakota/Lakota and other American Indians

9. Early Narratives • Oral Tradition & Storytelling In English TYPES OF STORIES TOLD • Traditional Tales (of the natural world) • Sacred Stories (of spiritual beings) • Histories (personal & of the people)

10. Ways of Telling • “As Told To” a non-Native author, often via a translator. • Written with an editor/co-author • Written by a Native author --The rise of Native American Literature

11. Narratives from Pre-Reading • CHARLES EASTMAN • LUTHER STANDING BEAR

12. How to make early narrative accessible? • Link to early record-keeping: pictograph, Winter Count, ledger art • Read aloud • Compare brief passages of early authors and contemporary writers Zitkalasa & Ignatia Broker

13. Focus on Storytelling • What makes a good story? • How do stories told aloud differ from stories written on a page? • Encourage storytelling in progressive exercises