Little Tree: Resilience and Independence

By: Gary E. Miller Jr.

The Education of Little Tree (1976)by: Forrest Carter

Meet the Author• Many suggest that Asa

Earl Carter is the true author of the book

• Also author of The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales which became a Clint Eastwood movie

• Speech writer for George C. Wallace

• May have been a former Ku Klux Klan member

Life in the Mountains• Father passes away• Mother passes one year

after the father• Taken in by Cherokee

grandparents at 5 years old

• Lives in the mountains of Tennessee during the Depression Era

• Little Tree is encouraged to make his own decisions about how to live his new life with his grandparents

Erik Eriksons’s Theory of Psychological Development

• Stage 3: Initiative versus Guilt• 3-5 year old range• Self concept and self-esteem

begin to develop • Children develop interpersonal

skills through lively play and interaction with others

• Ability for planning, make believe and games is developed

• Children begin to take initiative which should be guided appropriately by parents

• Too much guilt may hamper the child’s development of interpersonal skills

The Way and Cherokee Mentoring

• The Way means taking only what one needs from nature

• Cherokee mentoring of young males involves guidance and counsel while allowing a safe level of decision making autonomy

• This is consistent with Authoritative Parenting

Cherokee View on Nature and Animals

• Strong but diverse oral traditions on history and nature• Animals, plants and even geological formations are seen as sentient

players in the cycles of nature• Humans are superior to other animals and to plants but still find

themselves within the cycles of nature• Humans have a responsibility to take only what they need from nature

Learning the Trade • Granpa shows Little

Tree his whiskey still

• Little Tree takes pride in his new trade

• Little Tree barely escapes the law

• Little Tree is praised for being better than Granpa himself

Erik Eriksons’s Theory of Psychological Development

• Stage 4: Industry versus Inferiority• 5-12 year old range• Children begin reading,

writing and arithmetic • Peer groups become more

important source of self-esteem

• Child seeks approval by achieving competencies valued by society

• If initiative is not encouraged then the child may develop a sense of inferiority

Learning to be Weary

• First encounter with an ‘appeal to character’ when Little Tree naively trusts a Christian man during a trade

• Loses his money and the calf he purchases dies on the trail home

• Little Tree decides not to trade with Christians anymore

• Granma corrects Little Tree to be more careful about what strangers say to compel one to make a purchase

Trust and Strange Animals

• Children are more susceptible to the character of the authority figure involved in novel situations

• When encountering a novel animal younger children will approach the animal based on their trust in the authority figure accompanying them

• Older children rely more on pertinent information regarding the threating or non-threatening traits of the animal

Academics• Granma sends Granpa and Little Tree to the library

frequently• Granma assigned new words from the dictionary every week

• Read classical literature to Little Tree and Granpa• Mr. Wine helped with “figuring” mathematics

The Orphanage • Grandparents deemed

unfit to raise Little Tree• Discrimination for being

Native American and a bastard

• Children in orphanages experience high levels of hopelessness

• Little Tree is beaten by the minister until blood runs into his shoes

Resiliency

• The mental, physical, emotional and behavioral ability to face and cope with adversity, adapt to change, recover, learn and grow from setbacks (US Army)

• Granpa said “no matter what happens, if you can stay on your feet you’ll probably be OK.”

• Little Tree remained standing through the lashing by the minister

• A study in Israel demonstrated that after implementation of resiliency training children were able to cope better with PTSD effects from rocket attacks

The Dog Star and Symbols• Granma and Granpa tell Little Tree to

look at the Dog Star whenever he wants to be with them.

• Learning to attach symbols to conceptual meaning has shown to improve spiritual intelligence and imagination in children.

• The Dog Star provided a symbol for Little Tree’s intimate contact with his loved ones.

• Little Tree’s Grandparents pass away shortly after they are reunited.

• The Dog Star provides Little Tree with a symbol of eternal contact with his family.

Conclusion

• Loss of both parents and grandparents sets Little Tree up for adult depression

• The abuse he experiences could lead to life long anxiety

• Little Tree’s education in independence, self-reliance and resiliency provided emotional and psychological protection

• There is sufficient evidence to suggest that Little Tree will move into adulthood with less bias and a calm demeanor in the face of adversity

References

Aftandilian, D. (2011). Toward a Native American Theology of Animals: Creek and Cherokee Perspectives.

Crosscurrents, 61(2), 191-207. DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-3881.2011.00175.x

 

Baum, N. L., Cardozo, B. L., Pat-Horenczyk, R., Ziv, Y., Blanton, C., Reza, A., …Brom, D., (2013). Training

Teachers to Build Resilience in Children in the Aftermath of a War: A Clustered Randomized Trial. Child

Youth Care Forum, 42, 339-350. DOI: 10.1007/s10566-013-9202-5

 

Berk, L. E. (2014). Exploring Lifespan Development (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

 

Bingler, R. S., Wright, Y. F., (2014). Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Racism? Risks and Benefits to Teaching

Children About Intergroup Biases. Child Development Perspectives, 8(1), 18-23. DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12057

References (cont’d)

Boseovski, J. J., Thurman, S. L. (2014). Evaluating and Approaching a Strange Animal: Children’s Trust in

Informant Testimony. Child Development, 85(2), 824-834. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12156

 

Carter, F. (2008). The Education of Little Tree. Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press.

 

Coffino, B. (2009). The Role of Childhood Parent Figure Loss in the Etiology of Adult

Depression: Findings from a Prospective Longitudinal Study. Attachment and Human Development, 11(5),

445-470. DOI: 10.1080/14616730903135993

 

Costello, K., Hodson, G. (2014). Explaining Dehumanization Among Children: The Interspecies Model of Prejudice.

British Journal of Social Psychology, 53(1), 175-197. DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12016

 

References (cont’d)

Dunifon, R. (2013). The Influence of Grandparents on the Lives of Children and Adolescents. Child

Development Perspectives, 7(1), 55–60. DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12016

 

Flander, B. G., Mateskovic, D., Tuscic, S. J. (2013). The Consequences Of Child Abuse. Pediatrics Today, 9(1),

24-35. DOI: 10.5457/p2005-114.58

 

Lowe, J. (2005). Being Influenced: A Cherokee Way of Mentoring. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 12(2), 37-49.

 

Moriarty, M. W. (2009). Evaluating Children’s Use of Symbol in Some Recent Research. International Journal

of Children’s Spirituality, 14(1), 47-61. DOI: 10.1080/13644360802658750