Daniel Boone's "Savage" and The Positive Legacy of Crazy Horse

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Winner of the Newberry Medal in 1940, Daniel Boone, authored and illustrated by James Daugherty, has gained attention for its cultural portrayals of Native Americans, most notably as savages.  This is a children's historical biography telling the story of a pioneer man called Daniel Boone who, as depicted in the scene here, engages in battle with Native Americans.  Daugherty uses three main colors in his images: black, brown, and green, and mostly just black and brown in images of war.  This conveys a "dark" connotation to the reader and creates an emphasis on the interpretation of Native Americans as seen in this image of distinctly drawn figures as they seem to be sneaking or lurking up on the frontiersman, thus acting as ignoble "savages". 

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In contrast to Daniel Boone, here is a battle image from Crazy Horse's Vision (2000) by Joseph Bruchac with illustrations by S. D. Nelson.  This is a story about a notable and brave Native American who defended the culture and integrity of the Lakota's.  In this image the illustrator made use of vibrant colors and more than three are used.  The depictions are not exaggerated to show specific features.  The characters have the same type of block body design to them and the Native Americans are not shown as sneaking up on the soldiers.  We even see some form of civility with a Native American atop a horse as opposed to cowering and lurking on the ground.  This image isn't a perfect portrayal itself (what would be?), but it does evoke less of a harmful, or "savage" connotation of Native Americans.