It's a curious cioncidence that I picked up Encounter by Jane Yolan (1992) to read on Indigenous People's Day, a library sale book that's been sitting around for weeks waiting for me to read it. I had no idea what the story would be about. I bought it because I enjoyed Owl Moon so much that I looked forward to more of Yolen's poetic writing. To my surprise, this is a story about the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World. There is no poetry here.
The author's note says Columbus landed on San Salvador on October 12, 1492. This ominous encounter is recognized by the young child telling the story. The native Taino adults dismiss the child's warnings and welcome Columbus and his men. "We did not know them as human beings, for they hid their bodies in colors, like parrots. Their feet were hidden, also." says the child. Their white skin "was moon to my sun" and their speech "like the barking of a yellow dog." Columbus' smile was "the serpent's smile--no lips and all teeth" as he eyed the natives golden nose rings and golden armbands.
As we all expect, this story does not end well. As a ghostly old man on the final page, the narrator warns "all the children and all the people in every land" ... of what? Yolan describes the disappearance of a culture. In 2024, what is this called - colonization? oppression? cultural extinction? In 2024, can we hope for a mutual sharing of cultures? In 2024, how do we make amends for the mistakes of our ancestors?
Encounter is not read aloud online, so I won't make a TPT lesson from it. It's not the kind of story I like to create a product for, fiction masquerading as history. But it's an important children's book that elicits big questions.
