July 24, 2007

Pocahontas in Harry Potter

Native imagery in Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsI was reading aloud when we got to page 216. At that point in the book, Harry is looking at a photograph of Albus Dumbledore's family. We were surprised to read this:

"The mother, Kendra, had jet-black hair pulled into a high bun. Her face had a carved quality about it. Harry thought of photos of Native Americans he'd seen as he studied her dark eyes, high cheekbones, and straight nose, formally composed above a high-necked silk gown."
(Excerpted from Debbie Reese's American Indians in Children's Literature, 7/24/07.)

1 comment:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Nice touch, that Rowling. Only -- the word is "carven," not "carved."
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'