Month: February 2020

My first impressions of this book were confused, I missed the briefing on what to expect with this book because not ever would I hear a character say something like “ever sick you”. But once I realized what a theme of the book was it felt familiar, that I could picture the characters and where they lived more clearly. Hearing them say that they are just getting satellite and cell services, though I didn’t live in Pikangikum my whole life I still call it home. And that’s the kind of life it is out there, very remote and isolated so it takes time for these things to blossom, for example many homes still don’t have running water but, they just got a new school. What the protagonist does in the first two chapters is very relevant to me, because my grandpa still does the same. So much so, that his job at the school, is to show the youth how to go about these hunting practices. That is what makes this book so unique in the same sense, you don’t find book that share what “rez life” is unless it’s a biography of someone who’s “made it out”. From what’s happened so far, I can sense a horrible storm is coming. From hints in conversation and by looking at the cover. Nevertheless I am curious for what’s next.

I believe that power emerges when we hear a kids perspective, he said something that didn’t ring true until you broke it down and thought about it. The idea of the man who didn’t want help, wanting to be alone, and willing to endure the homeless life knowing firsthand how brutal it is. From the quote I feel that the connection between language and power is revealed when Julia says we all have power, it just relies on how we utilize to better our everyday life. Which supports my thinking behind the kid, you think because of his age that he isn’t capable of being powerful. But through his words and deeper thinking he is able to move us with a simple comparison, between an island and a secluded man floating in the water.