Just bought a copy of Dr. Leilani Sabzalian's ( @leilanisabz) new book to help me analyze children/teen books about Sacagawea.

It includes lesson plans that push against the ways the Lewis and Clark expedition is presented in textbooks.

It decenters Eurocentric perspectives.

It incorporates Indigenous perspectives and connects dots from history to present day issues and events.

When @JeanMendoza2016 and I worked on AN INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' HISTORY OF THE US FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, we learned a lot about Zebulon Pike.

Pike's Peak is named after him, but what is not generally known: he was gathering information for military invasion.

So were Lewis and Clark.

In Schmitke, Sabzalian, and Edmundson's "Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark: Challenging Dominant Narratives in K–12 Curriculum" the intro includes a quote from Roberta Conner, citizen of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. She...

...said that the Lewis and Clark expedition would be more accurately framed as "reconnaissance for an empire."

If you think of the expedition that way rather than as of a "discovery" or a "journey" -- how does that change how you think of it?

On page 28, the authors of this bk write of how Lewis & Clark are presented in textbooks as neutral. Just men on an expedition to learn about plants and animals, and set up trade, guys helped by a fur trapper and his wife (Sacagawea).

Sounds familiar, right?

The authors write that encroachment and dispossession are transformed into an "eat, pray, love" moment where Lewis and Clark bond in friendship, go on a journey, have exotic and friendly encounters with Native ppl, and become heroes.

At AMERICAN INDIANS IN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE, we have done several reviews of books about Sacagawea. The most recent one is a guest review by @anlonchen. …https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2021/04/guest-review-lon-chens-review-of-who.html

We've analyzed a few bks abt Sacagawea. They all have Not Recommended labels.

In 2017, we did one on Brad Meltzer's "I am Sacagawea": …https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2017/09/not-recommended-i-am-sacagawea-by-brad.html

In 2017 we also did one on Grace Norwich's book: …https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2017/01/debbie-have-you-seen-i-am-sacagawea-by.html