Arrow to the sun Book

I actually did end up liking Gerald McDermott's Caldecott Medal winning Arrow to the Sun quite a bit more than I had originally expected to (as it is indeed an evocative tale, and the illustrations, although not really all that much to my aesthetic tastes in and of themselves, are really and truly visually stunning and spectacular, working exceedingly well with the author's narrative, with McDermott's text). And even though these same illustrations are actually and supposedly considered controversial and inappropriate by some, I personally really had and have no issues whatsoever with the fact that Kachina figures are used by Gerald Mcdermott (since Arrow to the Sun is basically about a supernatural being who becomes a boy and is sent to earth, definitely shadows of Jesus Christ here, it therefore and in my opinion kind of does make a bit of common sense to use supernaturally representative Kachina figures as the accompanying pictorial images).

However, as much as I have indeed enjoyed both story and illustrations in a general and uncritical sense, Arrow to the Sun still leaves me with a rather and majorly problematic and bitter taste in my mouth, as while the author's presented narrative is definitely captivating and much engaging, one cannot deny that the entire concept of the young boy being ostracised due to his having no father, due to being illegitimate, is actually and in reality totally foreign to Pueblo culture, and that kivas are never and were never used as places of trial, of testing, but as places of community, ceremony, healing.

Native American Pueblo activist and university professor Debbie Reese actually goes so far as to claim that she believes Arrow to the Sun to be a gross misinterpretation of Pueblo (of her and those of her tribe's) way of approaching and caring for children, and Pueblo ways of spirituality and worship, and after having done a bit of supplemental online research and now having read Arrow to the Sun myself, I would tend to agree with her assessment one hundred percent (it does not make me unappreciative of the book, it does not make me absolutely despise Arrow to the Sun, but it does seem to take much of the bloom off of my potential and actual reading enjoyment).

Now, if Gerald McDermott had included a detailed note stating that he had changed certain tenets of Pueblo culture and lore to suit his story, while I would probably still not have found this entirely acceptable, I would definitely now have less issues with Arrow to the Sun, but no author's note, no acknowledging of sources and information on what has been altered are in any manner included, and that fact is rather problematic even on its own (and while I do realise that supplemental authors' notes are generally a relatively recent phenomenon, with this book, with Arrow to the Sun, an author's note really should be an absolute and required "must"). Still somewhat recommended is Arrow to the Sun, but with the necessary caveat that if reading this book with and to children, the authenticity issues, the fact that for many (and especially for many Native Americans), this book is controversial and even considered inappropriate and potentially disrespectful of Native American culture and tradition, should be discussed, and actually, absolutely must be discussed.