Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey

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Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey
Author Jamake Highwater
Illustrator Fritz Scholder
LanguageEnglish
Genre Children's literature
Publisher Lippincott
Publication date
 1975
Publication placeUnited States
Media type Hardback (Lippincott) / Paperback (Trophy)

Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey is a 1977 novel written by Jamake Highwater and illustrated by Fritz Scholder. Styled after Homer's Odyssey, the holy man Wasicong narrates the story of the hero Anpao and his quest to secure the Sun's permission to marry Ko-ko-mik-e-is. [1] Highwater said he developed the story “out of the many stories of the boyhood of early Indians ... in order to make an Indian ‘Ulysses’ who could become the central dramatic character in the saga of Indian life in North America." [1] The book was awarded a Newbery Honor in 1978. [2]

Controversy

Highwater, whose real name was Jackie Marks, claimed Blackfoot and Cherokee ancestry. He was exposed as a fraud with no native American ancestry in 1984. [3] [4] Scholar Debbie Reese criticized the American Library Association's decision to award Anpao with a Newbery Honor, accusing them of perpetuating stereotypes by overlooking Marks' "collapsing distinct stories into a singular “American Indian” existence [which] contributed to the stereotypical idea that Native peoples are a monolith." [5]

References

  1. 1 2 Gillespie, John T.; Naden, Corinne J., eds. (2006). The Newbery/Printz Companion: Book Talk and Related Materials (3rd ed.). Libraries Unlimited. ISBN   1-59158-313-6.
  2. ↑ "Association for Library Service to Children - Newbery Medal Winners & Honor Books, 1922 – Present" (PDF). ALA.org. Retrieved December 7, 2025.
  3. ↑ Jacobs, Alex (June 19, 2015). "Fool's Gold: The Story of Jamake Highwater, the Fake Indian Who Won't Die". Indian Country Today.
  4. ↑ Anderson, Jack (February 22, 1984). "What Others Say! Writer Fabricated Indian Past To Achieve Fame". Indian Country Today. Vol. 3, no. 34. Oneida, N.Y. ISSN   1066-5501.
  5. ↑ Reese, Debbie (2019). "Claims to Native Identity in Children's Literature". American Indian Culture and Research Journal. 43 (4). doi:10.17953/aicrj.43.4.reese.
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