"Beaver steals fire" chosen for first American Indian Youth Literature Award

CHICAGO - The American Indian Library Association (AILA), an affiliate of the American Library Association (ALA), this week announced the first recipients of its American Indian Youth Literature Award.

"Beaver Steals Fire: A Salish Coyote Story," by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, illustrated by Sam Sandoval, and published by the University of Nebraska Press is the winner for the picture book category. Accompanied by rich watercolor illustrations, the text relates a culturally vital tale from the Salish people in Montana about the significance of the gift of fire and how it should be respected.

The new literary award was created as a way to identify and honor the best writing and illustrations by and about American Indians. Books selected to receive the award present Native Americans in the fullness of their humanity in present and past contexts.

The award is presented in each of three categories - picture book, middle school, and young adult.

Each winner receives $500 and a commemorative plaque to be presented during the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC) Children's Luncheon in Dallas on Oct. 13 at noon.

"We are thrilled to have this opportunity to honor authors and illustrators who best portray Native American culture for young readers," said Victor Schill, co-chair of the AILA Youth Literature Award committee. "The rich literary heritage of this nation includes the oral and printed stories of its indigenous peoples. American Indian literature always has been and continues to be an integral part of our literary tapestry."

Louise Erdrich is the winner of the middle-school award for "The Birchbark House," published by Hyperion Books for Children. Setting her book in the middle 19th century, Erdrich paints a detailed portrait of Ojibwa life through the experiences of seven-year-old Omakayas who lives on the Island of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker on Lake Superior.

"The Birchbark House" was Erdrich's first novel for young readers, and the first book she has illustrated. She is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa and lives with her two daughters in Minnesota.

The young adult award is going to "Hidden Roots," written by Joseph Bruchac and published by Scholastic Press. The book is set within the historical framework of the Vermont Eugencis Program, a Native American sterilization program in the 1930s, and tells the story of the haunting effects of this shameful and tragic deed on one of the Abenaki families victimized by it.

Author of more than 70 books for adults and children, Bruchac is of Abenaki ancestry and is a nationally recognized professional storyteller living in Greenfield Center, New York.

To register to attend the presentation of the American Indian Youth Literature Award, please visit the JCLC web site at www.ala.org/jclc.

Members of the American Indian Youth Literature Award are: Carlene Engstrom, D'Arcy McNickle Library, Salish Kootenai College, Pablo; Naomi Caldwell, co-chair, GSLIS, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I.; Victor L. Schill, co-chair, Harris County Public Library, Houston; and Gabriella Kaye, Mashantucket, Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, Conn.