by Beth Staats
Quick Summary
A Native American one-read program for schools coming this fall and a book giveaway will launch next week.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) is sponsoring a one-read program for schools across Minnesota this coming fall with the book Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask (Young Readers Edition) by the acclaimed Ojibwe author and professor Anton Treuer.
Educators across the state are encouraged to use this essential book of questions and answers for Native and non-Native young readers alike in their classrooms in November to coincide with Native American Heritage Month. The SMSC, through its recent Understand Native Minnesota campaign, is donating 10,000 copies of the book to middle and high school teachers and schools who request classroom sets.
The book giveaway will launch next week. The books will come in classroom sets of 32 book copies with a limit of three sets per order. Teacher's guides for the book will also be available soon. Books will be shipped in the late summer.
Professor Treuer's book answers questions from "Why is there such a fuss about non-Native people wearing Indian costumes for Halloween? and "Why is it called a 'traditional Indian fry bread taco?'" to "What's it like for Natives who don't look Native?" and "Why are Indians so often imagined rather than understood?" Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask does exactly what its title says for young readers in a style that is consistently thoughtful, personal, and engaging.
