Raven Report 2021 - 2022 Issue Cycle 1

Indigenous literature is removed from curriculum

BY MADELINE CARPINELLI Co-Editor-In-Chief National book award winner. Taught in schools nationwide. Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a truly well-loved book because it talks about the often silenced perspectives of Indigenous communities today, as well as struggles with identity and bullying throughout adolescence.

Freshman English classes at Sequoia have been teaching it for years. No matter how much praise it gets, it doesn’t change the extremely triggering themes and ignorant ways it talks about disabilities, mental health, misogyny, homophobia, alcoholism and more, as well as the author’s multiple sexual assault allegations.

This year, the ninth grade English teachers, excluding some English support classes, decided to remove The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian from their curriculum.

One theme that led to its removal was its unintentional enforcement of harmful stereotypes about BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People Of Color). This book both covers dark topics of oppression and their effects on people of color. Learning about these everyday struggles is clearly important, but when we only choose literature that covers the suffering of BIPOC and nothing of the joys and triumphs of their cultures, we reinforce

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the idea that they are nothing more than their oppression.

“It’s my commitment but it’s also our school’s commitment to make the curriculum more relevant to [students’] lives and also take into consideration how to engage in difficult conversations that don’t necessarily center

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How can we celebrate and appreciate people of diverse backgrounds but not necessarily learning thorugh only traumatic experiences that oppressed groups experience?

Hannah Singh, English teacher

the trauma and pain of a person of color,” freshman English teacher Hannah Singh said.

“How can we celebrate and appreciate people of diverse backgrounds but not necessarily learning through only traumatic experiences

that oppressed groups experience?”

Although Alexie’s novel brings up several important topics for discussion, it does not use the gentleness and patience that talking about issues of marginalization and mental health require. An example of this is on page 106-107): “‘I’m not anorexic,’ she says. ‘I’m bulimic.’

She says it with her nose and chin in the air. She gets all arrogant. And then I remember there are a bunch of anorexics who are PROUD to be skinny and starved freaks.”

This is just one of many examples of the unnecessarily aggressive ways that Alexie addresses these sensitive topics. Many students at Sequoia and all over the country struggle with issues like eating disorders, mental health, homophobia, racism and more every day. Talking about the impact of these issues in class can help students feel recognized and seek help. But when characters demonstrating these issues are portrayed as dramatic, onedimensional and self-absorbed, it only worsens and internalizes the struggles for individual students. There’s no doubt that The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian starts conversations about significant topics, but the way they’re addressed destroys any potential for healing communities through conversing and only silences people more.