7. The Problem of Laura

Wilder

What is our responsibility to the things we loved the most? One answer is to be brutally honest about who and what we love. That’s what we’re doing in this episode. We’re going to take a long, hard look at the worst parts of Laura: the racism, the violence, and xenophobia present in the Little House series. There’s more than you might think. Even Glynnis, a person who thought she knew Laura all the way through, was surprised and sometimes shocked. We also talk about the harm the books have caused and investigate whether the Little House books should still have a place in our classrooms or even on our shelves.

Go deeper:
On Native American History
Mni Sota Makoce: Land of the Dakota by Gwen Westerman and Bruce White
Mean Spirit by Linda Hogan
More on government operated boarding schools for Native children

On Native representation and racism in the Little House books
Little squatters on the Osage Diminished Reserve by Frances W. Kaye
Lizzie Skurnick on Little House’s “Myth of White Self-Sufficiency”

On Black prairie narratives
More on Doctor George A. Tann
Era Bell Thompson: A North Dakota Daughter

Alternate children’s book recommendations:
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
Forever Cousins by Laurel Goodluck
More recommendations from Dr. Debbie Reese

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chapters

1. 7. The Problem of Laura (00:00:00)

2. Act 2 (00:22:35)

3. Act 3 (00:41:27)