Quotes, words, or phrases from the book
Your thoughts, comments, opinions
List words or phrases used to describe her
experience living on Hopi, during her time at
the boarding school, after she attended
boarding school
“In the little more than a decade since she
had returned from Riverside, there had been
great changes. […] Polingaysi’s spirits
soared.” (121)
“The struggle was not ‘to be a white man’”
(127)
“It was more than a house. It was a visible
part of the child with the matted hair who
stood in the fire pit that rainy night.” (136)
Polingaysi returns to Riverside and she is
hired as a maid for the school. She was
pretty happy for the position. I think this was
the first step in acceptance. Then she is later
hired as a teacher. She was specifically told
to teach everything in English, she she
couldn’t talk anyone in Hopi language.
However, she wasn’t told to not tell the
children the stories the Hopi told her. This is
another way she made the next generation
more open to the Native American culture. In
addition, she then builds a house to prove the
American’s wrong. She does it to bring up the
Hopi culture again and live the Hopi people.
List words or phrases used to describe her
“Polingaysi’s lips parted in surprise. Surprise
Even though Polingaysi is hired for a low job,
next steps that people around her would
accept her for who she has become. She is
both slowly integrated into both societies, and
she’s like the bridge between Hopi and
American.
