Early Indigenous Literatures

Oscar Howe, "Children at Play"

I draw our attention here (the end, if you are following a linear trajectory) to an image of Dakota children's joy and dance through Oscar Howe's "Children at Play." Resonating with the dancing of Bonnin's "Warrior' Daughter," the children depicted by Howe here are celebrating themselves and their relations when they dance. The wellbeing of their nation, families, and community are tied up in their ability to enjoy their childhood. In leaving us with this rich image, I hope to refuse those same settler attempts at constraining Indigenous childhood and futurity to a bleak, white future. In considering this art in conversation with the Dawes Act, ICWA, and Bonnin's American Indian Stories we see childhood as inextricably linked to the Dakota nation's wellbeing, connections, and celebration, even as it is a site of attempted control by settler colonial litigation. With all the inherent contradictions and ambivalences Bonnin herself articulated, sovereignty still can be the ringing of laughter from Native children who are loved, respected, valued, and connected to their nations.

This page has paths:

This page references: