The Educator of Little Tree

An analysis of character development in

The Education of Little Tree

by Asa “Forrest” Carter

Rachel Gwyn • PSYC 2013

The Education of Little Tree

• Little Tree orphaned

• Learns “The Way”

• Hunter and Gatherer

• Taken by government institution

• Released from the orphanage

The Educator of Little Tree: GranpaWales

• Born and raised in the mountains of Tennessee

• Cherokee mother, Scottish father

• Illiterate

• Whiskey maker by trade

• Provides for family by hunting and gathering

• General mistrust of politicians

Ecological Systems Theory

• Microsystem – immediate surroundings

• Mesosystem– interactions between microsystems

• Exosystem– other microsystems that don’t contain the

individual

• Macrosystem– overarching characteristics of society

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

• How culture is passed through cooperative dialogue with more knowledgeable member of society

The Microsystem

• Natives left behind after Indian Removal Act of 1830

• Lack of formal education

– Acculturation through language adaptation

• Cherokee influences

– “animal peoples”

– Harmonious existence

– “The Way”

The Mesosystem

• Christianity vs. Native Religions

– Method of acculturation

• Used to make temporary deals, only to be reversed later

– Misuse and misplaced trust

• Only accessible when relatable

The Exosystem

• Treatment of African Americans in the same time period

• Source of labor vs. source of resources

– Slavery vs. acculturation

• Universal oppressions with lasting effects

– Voting, marriage, education, service

The Macrosystem

• “Us against them” mentality

– Relocation to regulation

• Treatment of orphans

– Boarding schools

– “Kill the Indian, save the man”

• Laws used to marginalize and penalize

– Outward distrust

– No respect given, no respect returned

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

• Passing down the information can be just as affirmative and receiving it

• Importance of grandparents

– Responsible for propagating culture

• Life told in stories

– Morally driven point with culturally held truth

– Inclusive, detailed, and explanatory

References

Aftandillian, D. (2011). Toward a Native American theology of animals: Creek and Cherokee perspectives. Cross Currents, 61(2), 191-207. doi:10.111/j.1939-3881.2011.00175.x

Berger, B. R. (2009). Red: Racism and the American Indian. UCLA Law Review, 56(3), 591-656.

Benson, M. R. (2006). Indian givers: Reterritorializing the South in contemporary Native American Literature. Mississippi Quarterly, 60(1), 101.

Berk, L. (2010). Exploring lifespan development (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Carter, F. (1986). The education of Little Tree. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.

Staunt, C. (2006). Telling stories: The political uses of myth and history in the Cherokee and Creek nations. Journal of American History, 93(3), 637-697.

Winlow, H. (2013). ‘Strangers on their own land’ 1: Ideology, policy, and rational landscapes in the United States, 1825-1943. Cartographica, 48(1), 47-66.

Wyss, H. (2000). Writing Indians: Literacy and Christianity and native community in early America (pp. 8-15). Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.