The Education of Little Tree

Rating:
Summary: The most wonderful book I've ever read
Review: Carter does a wonderful job of storytelling. Regardless of who he was at what point in his life, this story is sensitive and caring and can re-open your eyes to the wonderment of childhood. This is a great book to read to your kids & to recommend to your peers

Rating:
Summary: Judge a book on its merits
Review: In these days of political correctness, the author and how he or she behaves in private life has become more important than the merits of the book itself. Lamentably, many would have books become mere political objects with the only value assigned to them the value of it furthering the cause of some special interest group. I applaud whoever wrote this book, not because the individual is a 'nice person' but because the book itself is grand. Let's not throw out "Moby Dick" because Melville may've beat his wife. Long live the book and FREEDOM

Rating:
Summary: Fake Indian best-seller shows readers prefer fake Indians
Review:

Asa Earl Carter (Forrest was a pseudonym) was not just a Ku Klux Klan officer, he was also a speechwriter for Alabama governor George Wallace. He specialized in racist demogoguery. He wrote Wallace's inaugural speech "Segregation now! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!"

This was exposed by Indian people when the University of New Mexico fraud began to become a top-seller-- finally even Time magazine got into the act, and in 1990 interviewed Asa Carter's widow. Gee, she told them, I thought everyone knew Asa had written it, and it's fiction, not autobiography. The thoroughly-documented fake has even made it into the recent "Encyclopedia of North American Indians" (Houghton-Mifflin, 1996, ed. F. Hoxie).

The infamous fake has even become part of popular Indian lit. In "Indian Killer," Spokan writer Sherman Alexie's latest best-seller, Spokan activist Marie confronts the white college prof in her Intro to Native Lit class:

"'Excuse me, Dr. Mather,' Marie said. 'You've got that Little Tree book on your list. Don't you know it's a total fraud?'

" 'I'm aware that the origins of the book have been called into question' said Mather. ' But I hardly believe that matters. The Education of Little Tree is a beautiful and touching book. If those rumors about Forrest Carter are true, perhaps we can learn there are beautiful things inside of everybody.'

"'Yeah, well whatever was inside that man, it wasn't Cherokee blood.' Marie's voice grew louder. 'And there are only three Indians on this list, and their books were really written by white guys. '"

Asa Earl Carter wrote Little Tree (and a less well known objectionable potboiler about Geronimo and a western potboiler, "The Outlaw Josey Wales") using the pseudonym Forrest (because as Asa Earl his racist activities were generally well known in the '60's and '70's) for the money. Little Tree purports to be an autobiography of his own life, and is enitrely false. Carter wasn't Cherokee, didn't grow up in misty hills with old-timey Indian grandparents, etc. etc.

When the book came out in 1979 (Delacorte) it was a flop, soon forgotten. How it got to the University of New Mexico Press -- it's not the sort of thing *any* University press publishes -- remains a mystery. Perhaps some light is cast on that mystery by the fact that the preface is written by Rennard Strickland, law school dean at Southern Illinois University.

Strickland praises it in rather odd terms, "Students of Native American life discovered the book was as accurate as it was mystical and romantic." Well, no we didn't. We thought it was a fake, said so, wrote so, etc. In Native Lit courses taught by *Indian* profs, Little Tree is a case study in attempts to figure out why American book buyers prefer fake trash by white men to real literature, real art, or history, or autobiography or real anything by actual Indian writers.

In my opinion the biggest question is just who is associated with the dummy or front corporation (Cherokees Carter Corp) that got the rights after Asa Earl Carter's death and marketed the book to UNM Press, who (at UNM Press) bought those rights, and what the terms of sale are. I'd also like to know exactly who, individuals and institutions, has made how much money off it, over the years. I particularly would like to know dean Strickland's involvement with "Cherokees Carter Corporation."

Many Indian scholars have said the significant question about "Little Tree" is why do white people *want this fake* so much that a respected University press, knowing for more than a decade now that the book is a known and proven fake, continues to reprint it as a "true autobiographical story." This is a fraud perpetrated on undiscerning buyers and ignorant readers. Well, scholars, why the UNM press does it is for the money, of course. It's a big seller. It's gone through 12 printings since UNM first issued it in 1986; mighty unusual for stolid scholarly works typical of most university press pubs.

They should at least be honest about it -- instead of "ATRUE STORY" banner on the front cover, and "a tender reimiscence of the author's boyhood" by a deceived reviewer across the back, and that soggy preface by the law dean, who may have had something to do with selling the book, UNM Press should banner it : "This book is a fake by a non-Indian professional racist Ku Klux Klan speechwriter who did it for the money, and so are we! And boy, have we scored big, there's so many sucker-buyers for this phoney trash."

Then all those white people who babble it changed their life and such, would at least know what did it. Why do theyprefer fake to real, when it's about Indian people/history/phoney mysticism, etc?

Here's 2 real ones, both by real Cherokees who are real writers, too. (Carter is quite a wooden prosodist, except when doing flaming speeches about burning niggers and such.)

Try these instead (both are on amazon.com) They'reprobably not in all the libraries the way "Little Tree" is. They're probably not required reading in lots of h.s. and jr. hi courses supposedly about Minorities -- native Americans" that use Little Tree as a textbook:

1. Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the Trail of Tears, by Diane Glancy.

2. Mountain Windsong: A Novel of the Trail of Tears, by Robert J. Conley

Good stories both, although kind of . . .tragic. Because they're based on history, not mysticism, reality, not romance (though Windsong is about the eventual triumph of a romance). Perhaps in time, with suitable literary Rx medicinal dosages, you could learn to like reality in literature at least as well as fakery. Maybe even better, who knows.

Reviewed by paula Giese, Editor Native American Books website, http://www.fdl.cc.mn.us/~isk/books/bookmenu.html

Rating:
Summary: This is a book that I readily suggest to friends.
Review: Like ancient scripts, texts, scrolls, where perhaps an author's identity, authenticity or affiliation might come into question or their relevance debated, this is a book that in the end stands on its story value and what it brings to the reader. This is not a court of law where they question the witness's credibility. For such a story, it is of little significance. Apart from all that it is a story that fosters hope and acts as a bridge between cultures, philosophies, customs, practices, knowledge and all that may strive to divide and destroy. Woody Guthrie said that he hated songs that made you feel bad about yourself, put you down or looked to hurt you for reasons out of your control. This is like a good Guthrie song. Hooray for Little Tree and ourselves. There is hope for all of us. Denis M Farley

Rating:
Summary: This book is a fake, written by a white racist
Review: Don't be fooled by the jacket blurbs; the writer of this book was too extreme a racist for his BOSS, George Wallace, to deal with! Forget the hype, don't buy the book. Look for legitmate Native American texts; there are plenty of them out there

Rating:
Summary: Excellent account of family values, and with a unique POV.
Review: In THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE, Forrest Carter spins a semi-autographical story of a child who "lived a lifetime" in a matter of few years. The story deals with values held close to the hearts of Native American, India Indian families, as well as those of any culture who would read it with an open heart. Carter, using all the emotions universally known (such as joy, love, sadness, compassion, to mention a few), manages to make the reader sympathize and, at times, empathize with the main characters. Using a young boy's Point of View, Carter makes the reader laugh, cry, and experience prejudice brought about by well-meaning people, who are ignorant of others' ways. I, being from India, was able to understand the story because of its universal qualities. Little Tree's is the perfect voice to use to speak of values taught him, of ancient cultures and of the history of his people; he is also the one to account, in a realistic manner, for modern practices, which are incomprehensible to him, to his grandparents and to Little John. He narrates each of their reactions to the various happenings around them, without rancor or hatred toward anyone. The story ends on an upbeat note that we must LIVE life to the fullest, no matter what happens. As all the adults in the book, Little John, the Grandfather, and the Grandmother said at some time or another, "Next time it will be better..." The grandmother lovingly added, "We will wait for you, Little Tree..." The story is worth reading more than once. This is one that should be in every library. Peter Coyote does a good reading of the story in Audio Books. Although Carter is criticised by many for his alleged activities in adulthood, he did write books that had meaning for our times. His story of Geronimo, WATCH FOR ME ON THE MOUNTAIN, is said to be as historically correct as a novel can be, by none other than Angie DeBois. Thank you for your time. You will not regret buying any of his books, but THE EDUCATION...should be a must in your personal library. Nirmala Varmha

Rating:
Summary: Very thought provoking, forced me to examine my life's goals
Review: An excellent book. It was a bit slow from time to time, and I had to feel "in the mood" to read this excellent tale of a young man's growth after the loss of his parents. Superb read but at times too simple and introspective

Rating:
Summary: This book is a documented FAKE, written by a KKK member
Review: Written strictly for the money, this man had no more to do with Cherokees than Jesse Helms. The U of NM should know better than to insult Native Americans by continuing to promote this as an Indian text. Shame on them.

Rating:
Summary: Education
Review: To educate is to hold a life in your hands. Little Tree was very very lucky. We can all learn from his teachers, whether they be real or fiction. This book has definite lifetime messages which are valuable to all. Luckily, the messages are not contained within a preachy, wordy, sermonizing book. You will learn while you are captivated by the splendor of life, love and harmony which are so prevalent in this book.

Rating:
Summary: ...speaks to the heart universal
Review: Appy Bent: by al justice "The Education of Little Tree" , by Forrest Carter, is first, the story of growing up in the mountains. Little Tree goes to live with his grandparents in the mountains, who are mostly of Cherokee descent. The message passed on in "The Education of Little Tree", is best reflected on by the remarks of Bernard Strickland, in the Forward of the book: "Everyone who has ever read "The Education of Little Tree" seems to remember when and where and how they came to know the book. Whether they saw it in the autobiography section of a chain bookseller; or heard it reviewed as "Book of the Week" on a television book show; or found it on the gift table at a tribal souvenir shop while passing through an Indian reservation, Little Tree's readers passionately remeber these first meetings. For "The Education of Little Tree" is a book from which one never quite recovers." Another important phrase in the forward of the book is "universally acclaimed." "The Education of Little Tree", I think, is also universally applicable. Important to portions of mountainous Appalachia, is a more subtle expression of the influences in the Native American animistic tradition on the earlier settlers in this region, that is expressed in Carter's work, as well as preserved in their lives today. The people may have belonged to one sect or another, but they also understood, but most importantly lived and believed, many of the tenets of what native American religous custom--More than recognized, understood why one only takes the"smallest deer, and why the bear takes the honey. "1 Although at least one historian notes the "lack of" religion in this region, "The Education of Little Tree", inspires one to look a little deeper. "For the early indigenous people of North America and many modern Native Americans there are no dualities. All of life is one. There is a unity to all creation. All of life is interconnected like the web of a spider."2 "As Joseph Epes Brown points out in his book The Spiritual Legacy of the American Native American, there is no Native American word for religion because they do not view religion as a category divorced from society. Their entire world is a sacred place filled with wonder and awe."3 One of the outstanding philosophical characteristics of the Calvinistic religons that influenced this region early on, is dualism. These seeming opposites, duality versus the lack of duality, one might romanticize, are the sources of the paradox, often noted in the lives and beliefs, of the people of this region. In an essay entitled "Old-Time Baptists and Mainline Christianity, Loyal Jones posits: They have a clear sense of the spiritual as opposed to the worldly. They are not led around by fads and styles. They believe in serving one another. In spiritual matters they place trust in no earthly being but in the scriptures and in the Holy Spirit, and they have a respect for traditions. Perhaps they are too religious to suit our modern tastes." 4 "The Education of Little Tree", is a "Human Universal." Anyone seeking an understanding of things timeless, should read "The Education of Little Tree". Carter's images are clear, and speak directly to the heart, of people whose cultures have experienced significant change. 1The Education of Little Tree (University of New Mexico Press, 1976) by Forrest Carter 2Pazola, Ron, Sacred ground., US Catholic, 1 Feb 1994 Black Elk Speaks (University of Nebraska Press, 1932, 1959, 1972) as told through John G. Neihart" 3Pazola, Ron, Sacred ground., US Catholic, 1 Feb 1994 4"An Appalachian Symposium, edited by J.W. Williamson; Appalachian State University Press, 1977 Boone NC Old-Time Baptists and Mainline Christianity, by Loyal Jones