Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Forrest Carter's EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE

Most people are surprised to learn that the author of The Education of Little Tree is Asa Carter, the former Klansman and speech writer for George Wallace. In addition to discussion of his identity, leading scholars of American Indian literature have soundly criticized the story Carter tells.

Apparently unaware of the controversy and shortcomings of the book, teachers use the book in classrooms across the country. A google search of “Education of Little Tree” +K12 returned 12,600 hits.

Amy Kallio Bollman has an essay that captures the debate over the book. Titled “The Education of Little Tree and Forest Carter: What is Known? What is Knowable?”, it includes an extensive bibliography.

Two articles from my files that are not included in Bollman’s bibliography are:

Krupat, Arnold (2005) “Representing Cherokee Dispossession” in Studies in American Indian Literature, volume 17, no. 1, pp. 16-41.

Smith, Paul Chaat (1996) “Be Like Nick” in Winds of Change, volume 11 no. 2, pages 53-57.

And here’s one an article from Salon.com, from 2001:
“The Education of Little Fraud” by Allan Barra. If you’re not a Salon subscriber, I think I can email the article to you.


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