A Sadly Tilted Worldview
Why, Madeleine L'Engle, why? Why does it have to be all about the blue eyes?
Of the Native American group that call themselves the 'People of the Wind', only the ones born with blue eyes (passed down from intermarriage with a Welsh prince) are taught the special mystical magical powerful poem. Only the ones born with blue eyes have magic, or the 'gift'. Only the Native Americans with a specific European feature inherited from that one ancestor are important or powerful at all, even within their own tribe. Brown eyes, the phenotype common to the people actually native to the area, are apparently inferior when compared to this outside, white person's marker.
I didn't notice that when I was younger. I almost wish I hadn't seen it now; the book was so lovely, but I can't get over the...insensitivy? racism? inherent in the 'blue eyes best' theme, and it spoils most of the book's joy.
It was such a beautiful, beautiful book...