Oprah bumps book 'Education of Little Tree' from list; readers can explore many factors involved

This week the Oprah Winfrey organization announced that it was removing the book "The Education of Little Tree" from Oprah's list of recommended books.

That is certainly Oprah's right, and there are understandable reasons she cites for doing so.

However, whether the book is on Oprah's list or not, it might be worthwhile for readers to explore "The Education of Little Tree" and come to their own conclusions.

The book is a story seen through the eyes of a young boy in the 1930s. His parents pass on and he goes to live with his grandparents in the Appalachian Mountain region.

His grandfather is half-Cherokee and his grandmother is full-blood Cherokee.

They raise the boy, who they nickname "Little Tree," in the ways of the Cherokee and generations of mixed-race Scottish/English-Cherokee that began prior to the American Revolution.

The Cherokee civilization and culture, of course, flourished in that region for thousands of years.

The book looks at many aspects of life: spirituality, family, American history, the relationship between people and Nature, between people and animals, between people and government, different racial and ethnic groups as well as other important issues.

A 1997 movie was made from the book and starred James Cromwell as the grampa, Tantoo Cardinal as the grandma and Graham Greene as Willow John, a family friend and more traditional full-blood who lived nearby. Earl Hamner, Jr. ("The Waltons") wrote the teleplay.

DIVERSE CRITICISM

Others have also leveled criticism similar to Winfrey, especially about the background of Asa Earl Carter, who authored "The Education of Little Tree" under the pen name Forrest Carter.

Carter also wrote the book "Gone to Texas: The Rebel Outlaw Josey Wales" (1973) which was made into the 1976 movie "The Outlaw Josey Wales" directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.

At one time, Carter was affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan and was a speechwriter for George Wallace, former Alabama governor and presidential candidate. Carter wrote speeches for Wallace advocating racial segregation between white and black.

Additional critiques of the book are that it was originally marketed in 1976 as "a true story" and was purported to be about Carter's own boyhood. This was later brought into doubt after inquiries about Carter's background.

Some critics said the writing was not very sophisticated and the book was not worthwhile as a literary work.

And then there are full-blood Native American Indians who indicated that Carter might be just another white person, or maybe a white person with some Indian blood in the family, who really was trying to be a "pretend Indian" and didn't really know what he was talking about regarding the Cherokee.

These are all certainly points worth considering. On face value, they seem to present a convincing case that the book is not worth reading and is flawed and stained by Carter's background and confusing or misleading elements about the basis for the story.

Yet, if we look a bit deeper, we might find that there is more information worth thinking about.

REDEMPTION AND SYNCHRONICITY

Carter's background as someone who was racially prejudiced, to put it mildly, involved in the Klan and George Wallace's political career are factors that are distasteful to many people.

That said, there are many people of many races that have checkered pasts of all kinds. Does that prevent them from doing good work later in life? Does that stain all their subsequent efforts?

John Newton, the man who wrote the song "Amazing Grace," had been a slave ship captain in the mid-1700s. He reportedly had a life-changing experience and a dramatic change of heart about slavery.

Is "Amazing Grace" forever tainted by a former slave ship captain?

Reading "The Education of Little Tree," it seems possible that Carter had a similar change of heart in his later years, and after he moved from the South to the West.

In a bit of possible synchronicity, "Amazing Grace" is associated with the Cherokee and Irish-Scottish styles of music, as well as the bagpipes. It is, of course, often played on bagpipes.

The song was reportedly popular with the North and the South during the Civil War.

Cherokee on the "Trail of Tears," the forced-march relocation in 1839, are said to have sung "Amazing Grace" when they were not able to give a full burial to the many that died along the harsh trek.

"Amazing Grace" is reportedly considered somewhat of an informal national anthem for the Cherokee.

And, again, consider that one of the major ethnic mergers in North America in the pre-American Revolution and post-revolution era was the creation of many generations of families who were part-Scottish and part-Cherokee.

This brings us to another issue about "The Education of Little Tree." That is the ongoing discussion about people who have Indian blood in their family, but are not full-blood and were not raised on a reservation or within contemporary formal tribal life, whether they appear white, black or brown.

FULL-BLOODS AND HALF-BREEDS

In recent years, several trends in American life have dovetailed in ways that are interesting and somewhat confusing.

Our interest in some important topics has increased. Among these are geneaology, our family trees and "roots," and Native American Indian history.

As we know, different tribes in different part of North America (and Central and South America) have had different cultural evolution and varied experiences with the Europeans and Africans who arrived in their land during the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s and 1800s.

Sometimes, here in America, we may notice a disdain or disrespect on the part of full-blood Indians, those raised on reservations and associated with formal tribal community, in their views of people who do not have 100 percent Indian blood (DNA) within them.

Some of these mixed-race Americans (I call them this even if it was great-great-great grandmother or grandfather who had Indian family background) may look and even think of themselves as "white," "black" or "brown (Hispanic)."

But deep within them, within every cell in their body, there is Indian DNA. This deep DNA may give our cheekbones, eyes or nose a certain look.

It may influence us to think or feel certain ways. Some people say this DNA may influence us in ways we do not completely understand.

And, are there deep, deep memories within our DNA about our ancestors whose lives and loves led to our own existence?

Some Indian tribes have had minimal intermarriage and racial mixing with whites, blacks, Spanish conquerors or others. Some tribes, like the Cherokee, had a huge amount, beginning when colonial Scottish and English trappers, hunters and explorers started going into the Cherokee lands in the early and mid-1700s in the Appalachian Mountain region that spans several current U.S. states.

Because of this, there is sometimes a disconnect between full-blood reservation, tribal Indians and those whose ancestors were more integrated racially and culturally into "mainstream" American culture, often more than 200 years ago.

That these Americans may suddenly discover or rediscover that their Indian DNA is important is a good thing and is something to be cultivated and respected.

READ IT FOR YOURSELF

As mentioned, there are many other aspects of the book that are important, thought-provoking and heartwarming. It is a valuable story for young readers and for all of the rest of us.

Individual liberty, self-sufficiency, family love, decency and responsibility are addressed in the story. That Carter may not have understood all of this earlier in his life might be more reason to appreciate what he wrote in "The Education of Little Tree."

In the troubled times we live in now, this book can help us understand our history and help us stay down-to-Earth as we face current challenges.

Just as the story chronicles another time during the Depression, the culture of the mountain border between of North and South, the interface of white and Indian in the former Cherokee heartland, it also speaks to us about our own here and now in fundamental ways.

While respecting Oprah's feelings, decide for yourself if it is a worthwhile book. Consider all of the many factors that might be in play before, during and after it was written. Look deep.

When you do, you might find that you forgive Asa Carter, or you suspect that he could have changed his mind and heart about some things.

You may find something in yourself that connects with the little boy Little Tree, his grandmother and grandfather, and other people you meet in the book.

You may discover that you feel at home in the hills and forests and with animals of the old Cherokee lands.

NOTE TO READERS: Hammons is the author of the novels "Mission Into Light" and the sequel "Light's Hand." Read more about the books on the Barnes & Noble website. Hammons' first novel "Mission Into Light" is now available as a NOOK Book e-book on the Barnes & Noble website. His second novel "Light's Hand" is also now a NOOK Book e-book from Barnes & Noble. For more information, please visit the Joint Recon Study Group and Transcendent TV & Media sites and have a look around.

Readers who enjoyed this article may also like 'Close Encounters' landing zone: UFOs and American Indians, New ideas, ancient views may explain UFOs, odd phenomena, Novel describes secret meeting, anti-gravity and UFO incidents, UFOs, extraterrestrials invade 1800s Arizona in 'Cowboys and Aliens' movie, Deep DNA memory theories: Can we remember our ancestors' lives?, Who is a Cherokee? Many Americans have Indians in the family tree, Oprah bumps book 'Education of Little Tree' from list and Ancient American Indian legends include mystical woman, UFO visitors.