Student slideshow for Mr. Stennett's Human Development class, Fall 2014

1. The Educator of Little Tree
An analysis of character development in
The Education of Little Tree
by Asa “Forrest” Carter
Rachel Gwyn • PSYC 2013

2. The Education of Little Tree
• Little Tree orphaned
• Learns “The Way”
• Hunter and Gatherer
• Taken by
government
institution
• Released from the
orphanage

3. The Educator of Little Tree: Granpa
Wales
• Born and raised in the mountains of
Tennessee
• Cherokee mother, Scottish father
• Illiterate
• Whiskey maker by trade
• Provides for family by hunting and gathering
• General mistrust of politicians

4. Ecological Systems Theory
• Microsystem
– immediate surroundings
• Mesosystem
– interactions between microsystems
• Exosystem
– other microsystems that don’t contain the
individual
• Macrosystem
– overarching characteristics of society

5. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
• How culture is passed through cooperative
dialogue with more knowledgeable member
of society

6. The Microsystem
• Natives left behind after Indian Removal Act of
1830
• Lack of formal education
– Acculturation through language adaptation
• Cherokee influences
– “animal peoples”
– Harmonious existence
– “The Way”

7. The Mesosystem
• Christianity vs. Native Religions
– Method of acculturation
• Used to make temporary deals, only to be
reversed later
– Misuse and misplaced trust
• Only accessible when relatable

8. The Exosystem
• Treatment of African Americans in the same
time period
• Source of labor vs. source of resources
– Slavery vs. acculturation
• Universal oppressions with lasting effects
– Voting, marriage, education, service

9. The Macrosystem
• “Us against them” mentality
– Relocation to regulation
• Treatment of orphans
– Boarding schools
– “Kill the Indian, save the man”
• Laws used to marginalize and penalize
– Outward distrust
– No respect given, no respect returned

10. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
• Passing down the information can be just as
affirmative and receiving it
• Importance of grandparents
– Responsible for propagating culture
• Life told in stories
– Morally driven point with culturally held truth
– Inclusive, detailed, and explanatory

11. References
Aftandillian, D. (2011). Toward a Native American theology of animals: Creek and
Cherokee perspectives. Cross Currents, 61(2), 191-207. doi:10.111/j.1939-
3881.2011.00175.x
Berger, B. R. (2009). Red: Racism and the American Indian. UCLA Law Review, 56(3),
591-656.
Benson, M. R. (2006). Indian givers: Reterritorializing the South in contemporary
Native American Literature. Mississippi Quarterly, 60(1), 101.
Berk, L. (2010). Exploring lifespan development (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Carter, F. (1986). The education of Little Tree. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico
Press.
Staunt, C. (2006). Telling stories: The political uses of myth and history in the Cherokee
and Creek nations. Journal of American History, 93(3), 637-697.
Winlow, H. (2013). ‘Strangers on their own land’ 1: Ideology, policy, and rational
landscapes in the United States, 1825-1943. Cartographica, 48(1), 47-66.
Wyss, H. (2000). Writing Indians: Literacy and Christianity and native community in
early America (pp. 8-15). Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.