Boundless K-12 Curriculum: STORYTELLING

How does written expression help one reflect on and understand cultural identity?

The book cover of Riding the One-Eyed Ford.
Diane Burns (Chemehuevi/Anishinaabe, American, 1956-2006)

Riding the One-Eyed Ford,
Contact II Publications, New York, 1981
Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Younghee Kim-Wait (Class of 1982)/
Pablo Eisenberg Collection of Native American Literature
File PS3552.U73 R5 1981
A page from Diane Burns book of poems. Text reads at the top: coyote laughs/wolf waits / The village cryers hang out on the corner. Below the words there is a line drawing of a storefront with two people on horseback and a third walking beside them.
This line drawing from Burns’ book, Riding the One-Eyed Ford, shows a visual representation of some stereotypes that exist about Native Americans.

As a poet and artist, Diane Burns addressed issues of Native American stereotypes and identity with words and images. The illustration “Houston and Bowery, 1981” from her book Riding the One-Eyed Ford, shows two Native American men on horseback riding through a busy intersection in New York City. The juxtaposition in the illustration asks the viewer to consider stereotypes about people and places.

Use the slider below to compare the image in Burns’ book with the same corner on Houston St. and Bowery today:

 Image of the corner of Houston and Bowery today (as inspired by the illustration)

In her poem, Sure You Can Ask Me a Personal Question, Burns uses humor in a fictional conversation to bring her insight into an important topic of identity.

Even though she presents only one side of the conversation, one could almost imagine that Diane Burns had this conversation with someone. 

Excerpt from Sure You Can Ask Me A Personal Question
by Diane Burns, 1989

How do you do?
No, I am not Chinese.
No, not Spanish.
No, I am American Indi—uh, Native American.
No, not from India.
No, not Apache
No, not Navajo.
No, not Sioux.
No, we are not extinct.
Yes, Indian.

How does Diane Burns’ poetry and illustrations help tell the bigger story of stereotyped perceptions of Native American people?

Learn more about Diane Burns
overlapping concentric circles made by ripples in water.

Boundless K-12 Curriculum

* YouTube links to audiovisual materials shared by other creators are included in the curriculum. For more information, including for captioning and transcripts of the suggested audiovisual materials, please contact the audio/video content creators.