Author and historian from the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), Linda Coombs, has been at the center of an effort in Texas to discredit her work about America from an indigenous perspective.
In September, a citizen’s review committee directed Coombs’ 2023 book, “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story,” to be moved from the juvenile nonfiction section of the Montgomery County Memorial Library system to the fiction section, prompting an outcry from advocates against book censuring and indigenous citizens.
But in a win for Coombs and her book, on Tuesday, the Montgomery County Commissioners Court ordered “Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” to be restored to the juvenile nonfiction section.
The decision comes as many southern states have been facing criticism for restricting some books pushed by conservative advocates as inappropriate for children. According to the American Library Association, attempts to censor access to books steadily increased nationwide this past decade.
“The fact that this happened is not anything new,” Coombs told The Times. While she was “shocked and disappointed” her book was targeted, she was not surprised because of how many times indigenous history has been “altered, twisted, or reclassified” in the United States over the years.
“In this instance, it was about my book that I wrote, but I’ve seen this type of coverup … so much in the past,” she said.
Still, Coombs noted the “positive step” of the reversal and that people were evidently “tired of this type of stuff happening.”
“Colonization and the Wampanoag Story” details America’s beginnings from the perspective of New England indigenous nations. It is a part of Penguin Random House’s “Race to the Truth” series, which consists of adolescent American history books by authors from the communities each topic is about.
Alarm bells rang out earlier this month after Montgomery County resident and Texas bookstore owner Teresa Kenney, through a public information request, found that Coombs’ book was “challenged” on Sept. 10 for unspecified reasons. Following the challenge, she found that the county’s citizens review committee directed the book be moved from the juvenile nonfiction section to the fiction section by Oct. 17.
During a county commissioners’ meeting on Oct. 8, Kenney brought her concerns to the county commission court where she speculated on why the book had been challenged. “I can only assume it is because it is a telling of indigenous people that they do not approve of,” Kenney told commissioners.
Kenney’s information request stemmed from what she called a “complete lack of oversight and transparency” of the county’s policy on challenging library materials, which was approved in March.
The Texas Tribune reported that the policy’s author, Montgomery County Judge Mark Keough, defended the policy as a way to prevent children from accessing inappropriate books. Meanwhile, critics argued the policy took away librarians from the review process and would be used to target books with LGBTQ+ characters.
The relabeling of Coombs’ book has sparked an outcry.
In a joint letter to the commissioners, Penguin Random House, alongside various advocacy groups including PEN America, American Indians in Children’s literature, and the Texas Freedom to Read Project, called the decision to label the book as fictitious a “naked ploy to censor history our children learn.”
And, multiple Montgomery County residents stepped forward during the Oct. 22 commissioners county court meeting to protest the mislabeling of the book. The commissioners court also decided to form a committee to review its library materials reconsideration policy.
Fellow Wampanoag citizens have also chimed in.
“Honestly, it baffles me when people doubt these stories are true,” Paula Peters, an author and member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, told the Times. “The history of the atrocities committed against my ancestors was documented by the colonizers unapologetically.”
Meanwhile, Coombs is applauding the recent county commission decision.
“I think that was the appropriate thing to do,” Coombs told the Times. “The book is not fiction and everything in there is documented.”
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