Trouble On The Prairie

"The real things haven't changed.  It is still best

to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have;

to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage

when things go wrong."

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder

American author

(1867-1957)

I am sorry to have to end this month's blog on a sad note,

but I have just learned from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Society's

monthly newsletter that the American Library Association

recently voted to rename the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award

to the "Children's Literature Legacy Award."

According to the president of the children's department,

Nina Lindsay, the "Little House" series of books,

"reflect dated cultural attitudes towards indigenous people

and people of color that contradict modern acceptance,

celebration, and understanding of diverse communities."

In other words, Laura Ingalls Wilder, prolific author

and American pioneer girl, has become the latest victim

of the ongoing 21st century revisionist history movement.

As far as I am concerned, the action taken on the part

of the American Library Association makes them no better

than the ignorant fools who recently desecrated the 

 monuments of Confederate war heroes in the South,

in an effort to erase, "The lost cause of the Confederacy."

The American Library Association asserts that Laura's books

"do not align with their values."  This is just more politically correct jargon, 

 along with phrases like, "culturally insensitive" and "diverse communities".

Laura Ingalls Wilder is considered by generations of Americans

who grew up reading and loving her "Little House" books

as one of our most beloved national treasures.

Through Laura's eyes, I was able to experience what it

was like to grow up in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, and to travel

in a covered wagon into the wilds of Indian Territory, and later

to Minnesota where the Ingalls first lived in a dugout on Plum Creek.

I felt the sorrow of the Ingalls family after Laura's older sister,

Mary, went blind, and later, the excitement of going West again

with the family to their final home in De Smet, South Dakota,

where Laura would one day meet and marry Almanzo Wilder.

  One of the heroes in the book, "Little House On The Prairie" was an Osage

warrior  named Soldat du Chene, who saved Laura and her family

and the other settlers in Indian Territory from being massacred

by other Indians who were angry to find the white settlers on

their land.  Another admirable character was Dr. Tan, a black doctor,

who saved the family's lives after they were stricken with malaria.

An illustration from the chapter, "Fever "n" Ague" in the
book, "Little House On The Prairie".  The Ingalls family all came
down with malaria after being bitten by mosquitoes carrying the disease.
  Dr. Tan, a black physician who worked among the Indians,
 was passing by the Ingalls cabin when Jack, the family's pet bull dog,
 ran out to meet him on the trail and pleaded for him to come into the house.  
 Dr. Tan stayed with the family helping them to get better with doses 
of quinine and was later joined by Mrs. Scott, a neighbor, who
came to help nurse them back to health.

  In the book, "The Long Winter" which 

tells how the residents of De Smet, South Dakota

survived several months of almost non-stop raging blizzards, 

 it was an old Sioux Indian who came to warn the townspeople about

the bad weather heading their way.

 Furthermore, aside from the minstrel show in the

book, "Little Town On The Prairie" which reflects the

cultural norms of the time, I have never read anything 

 really offensive or degrading in Laura's books.

 She did, however, relate the story of the cold-blooded murder

of a homesteader by claim jumpers in the book,

"By The Shores Of Silver Lake".

This was yet another reflection of the times she was

living in and how the government's offer of homestead land

on the remote prairies attracted both farmers and felons alike.

Laura autographs her books for her fans at 

Brown Brothers Book Store in Springfield, Missouri

on November 17, 1952

Laura's stories are an important part of America's history mainly

because she was an eyewitness to life on the western frontier. 

However,  her "Little House" books were also written as a memoir of

her loving and close-knit family and are full of lessons about

 faith and courage and having the determination to succeed in life.

Laura has always been an inspiration to me.

A true kindred spirit.

It breaks my heart that she has been so discredited in this way.

Laura (right) and her sisters Mary (center)  and Carrie (left)  in a photograph taken

after the Hard Winter of 1880-81.

"As you read my stories of long ago I hope you will remember that

things truly worthwhile and that will give you happiness are the same

now as they were then.  It is not the things you have that make you happy.

It is love and kindness and helping each other and just plain being good."

-Laura Ingalls Wilder