History for Ages Eleven to Fifteen

Eagle from the Dawn

Eagle from the Dawn targets the

8th-grade social studies curriculum,
but is appropriate for ages 11-15,
for social studies and/or reading
arts. Teachers and parents will find
that Eagle makes history come
alive for their children.

It is a story about modern teen-

agers, and the choices they face,
while retracing the steps of their
Euro-American and Native Ameri-
can forefathers. The book makes an
excellent read-aloud for sixth-
graders and an exciting read for
any teen, who loves adventure and
mystery.

Eagle from the Dawn is the third

book in a series about what has
made modern America what it is
today.

How to Teach This Book to your Child

If you are wondering how to present this book to your child so that she

learns the facts she needs to know, it may help you to put the following
questions to the text. All of the historical facts are indexed in the back of
the book. Remember, every child is going to wonder: why do we have to
read this? What does it teach us? Why did the author write it? How do
we know what the author meant by what she wrote? (Hint: the
characters, images, symbols, extra-textual references, etc. are all at the
service of the author’s purpose.)
Purposes of the Book: Every book is written for a reason, and, as
obvious as that may seem, your child needs to learn to recognize the
purpose for which each book is written. Only then can she understand
how every detail of the book points toward the author’s goals, and
whether or not those goals are worthy of study. This kind of training also
prepares the child for organizing her own writing, be it fiction or
nonfiction. Whenever a child writes a paper, or a story, she has to first
understand the purpose for which she is writing it. That is her most
basic organizational principle.

The first reason the author wrote this book was to teach readers about
the Corps of Discovery and about a portion of Lewis and Clark’s journey
west from Grant, Montana across the Lolo Pass into Idaho. There the
Corps of Discovery met the Nez Perces, an Idaho tribe, whose leaders
guarded their possessions and helped them to find their way back across
the Rockies on the return trip the following year.

Intertwined with the Lewis and Clark expedition, is the history of the Nez
Perces, from the pre-contact period to the present day. Their customs
and beliefs, their wealth, their defeat at the hands of the Euro-American
conquerors, their loss of self-esteem, the resurgence of their culture, and
their contributions to white culture, all emerge from the journey the
narrator, Kevin Murphy, makes with his friend, Peter Taksoukt.
 Peter is a modern Nez Perce,
studying to become a lawyer for his
people. His father is a partner on
the Wind-dancer Ranch, owned by
Kevin’s uncle, Matt.
One of the main themes that
emerges during the course of the
book is survival of the planet, or
ecology.

The second reason Arrathoon wrote the book was so that it would serve
as a text for reading arts. It is a spectacular adventure through some of
the most magnificent, pristine wilderness areas left in the United States:
the Lolo Pass across the Rockies, the Bighorn Crags, the Frank Church
River of No Return, Hell’s Canyon, etc.
The story begins with a
flashback to a moment of un-
fathomable loss for Kevin, which
occasions the telling of the story.
The loss - his beloved horse has
deserted him - is dealt with
psychologically in the Nez Perce
sweathouse. As Kevin heals, over
the course of time, he gradually
becomes ready for a romantic
friendship with a girl his own age, a
Nez Perce/Irish girl he meets at the powwow in Kamiah, Idaho. Once he
finally learns how to love and let go, the initial loss of the horse is
repaired in the final chapters. Peter Taksoukt’s father admits that he let
the boy take the horse, a difficult mustang, across the Rockies, because
he sensed that the experience would help them both to mature.

The author wrote the book for a third reason: to help youngsters learn
solid values they would carry into adulthood. The main thrust of the
novel is unity in diversity, as it was in the first book in the series,
Summer of the Bear. This time, the emphasis is on kids becoming good
citizens by working together to make programs and changes happen
through the channels of government.
Kevin learns how to love, without any thought of possession, which
is the key to lifelong friendships. Peter learns to re-channel his anger
with white society so that he can use it constructively to help his people.
The reader also learns why we are sometimes abandoned by creatures we
love with all our hearts, and what it really means to be a parent, or to
have a friend. The journey across the Rockies mirrors life’s journey,
during the course of which we hope, strive, expect, are disappointed, love
our companions dearly, and must finally let go of all of it, as we
transcend each experience. The whole point of it is the education of the
soul and the interconnectedness of all creation. (See pg.162).

The Issues Raised in the Book.

Reading this book together can lead to fruitful discussions between you
and your kids. Here are some of the issues you might talk about:

Savagery. Were the Nez Perces savages, or was it the Government of the
United States that behaved savagely toward the Indians? What do you
think of the policy of putting enemy or conquered peoples on reservations
or into interment camps? Did you know that it was the British, not the
Indians, who invented scalping to economize on bringing home the dead
for reward? See Vine Deloria, Custer Died for Your Sins (New York: 1970,
Norman, OK, 1988), p.6.

Nature, conservation, and the proper uses of wealth. Conservation

and sharing, for the Native Americans, constituted a way of life, whereas
the Euro-American wastes enormous quantities of natural resources and
only gives for a tax write-off. He may worry about the obvious end of the
world, but, when it comes to making money, he thinks only of the here
and now. Native Americans always gave thanks for everything they took
from Mother Earth, and they took exactly what they needed, asking an
animal to forgive them when they shot it for food and clothing. The Euro-
American amasses and hoards material goods, while the Indian shares
whatever he has with the less fortunate. Native Americans think that all
the facets of creation are interrelated and must be respected. Each one is
necessary to the existence of the other. Euro-Americans think Nature
was put at their disposal to dispense with as they see fit.
They think Nature is potentially
evil. This is why April and Peter
often tease Kevin, who is terrified of
Nature, certain it will destroy him.
What all of these young people
eventually learn is that the survival
of the planet ultimately depends
upon their working together,
conserving the wild and scenic
beauty that remains on this once
glorious continent.

Ownership. As a Euro-American, Kevin believes that he is entitled to

own certain things. His Indian friends teach him that he is only here
on earth as one of the Creator’s caretakers. Nothing actually belongs to
him. Through his experience with their culture, particularly the
sweathouse, Kevin learns to let go, which allows him to know true
friendship and love.
Why were Lewis and Clark such a big deal? Lewis and Clark are
presented both as heroes and as the 19th century men they were, who
suffered the limitations of their age. They were intelligent, extremely
brave, kind, visionary, and also very prejudiced.

Love and marriage, men and women. Peter Taksoukt, Kevin’s Nez Perce
Indian friend, is handsome and extremely arrogant with women. Nothing
pleases him more than having them fight over him (the Nez Perce
tradition of Pekhewit). Why is he so popular? Are the girls right to fall so
hard for him? Kevin is horrified at what he perceives as a cat fight for
Peter’s affections. He looks for a woman who has both strength and
tenderness, like his mother or his precious horse, Tipyahlanah Kaupu.
He ends up being best friends with Lily Fitzgerald, the Nez/Perce/Irish
girl he meets at a powwow in Kamiah, Idaho, with whom he eventually
falls in love.
In Euro-American culture, women have had to fight for their rights.
Marriage is ideally a partnership, but it rarely lives up to the paradigm.
Nowadays women tend to take as much freedom as they can, perhaps to
make up for the bad treatment they have received in the past at the
hands of Euro-American men. As a result, the white home and family are
in disarray. Nez Perce marriage is little better, except that women are,
and have always been, respected. When a Nez Perce man tires of his
marriage, he simply moves out. The woman is entitled to do the same.
The division of labor among the Nez Perces was based upon physical
abilities and limitations, whereas modern white women expect to be able
to do everything a man can do. What is the answer to fostering truly
happy marriages in any culture? Clearly the institution, as we know it,
doesn’t work for most people.

What do you think of the policy of destroying a conquered people’s

culture so that they are forced to become assimilated into the larger
culture? The U.S. Government insisted upon destroying Indian culture
by tearing children away from their families and sending them to distant
white Boarding Schools, where they were forbidden to speak their native
languages or to practice their native customs. The Indian peoples of
today are gradually finding their way back to their old languages and
cultures. It is important for them to reconstruct the languages because
language expresses the culture it represents. The Indians feel that the
old ways are good because the Indian people have endured on this
continent for more than 1,300 years. In fact they may have been here
before the Egyptians build their pyramids. A civilization that has lasted
for so many millennia has much to teach us, if, like them, we are to
survive the ages. We have already taken a great deal from Indian
cultures: our form of government, fast food, sports, etc., but there is so
much more to learn, and so little time left in which it do it. (See the
author’s forthcoming book on the Iroquois).

What is the best way to preserve

our forest from fires? Should we
wait until they catch fire by
themselves, or should we burn
them off periodically the way the
Indians did?

What does it feel like to be a parent? What is letting go? How do you
do it? Why does Tipyahlanah leave? Doesn’t he love Kevin? Isn’t he
grateful? Should he be?
Do you see any similarities between the BLM’s adoption programs
for mustangs and the U.S. Government’s herding the Indians onto
reservations?

What’s the best way to discipline children? Do you like the Nez Perce
method? Do you think tribal life would be better than life in an American
city, as an alienated individual, without family? See Vine Deloria’s Custer
Died for your Sins.

Were whites responsible for the alcoholism prevalent among Indian

men?

What problems arise when you try to assume a new identity in a

foreign culture? (See Hal Borland’s wonderful novel, When the Legends
Die. New York: Bantam Books, 1969).

Would killing Lewis and Clark have prevented the white man from
overrunning Nez Perce lands?

How did the war of 1877 really begin? What was General Howard
really like? What was Chief Joseph really like? How did Chief
Joseph’s personality affect the attitude of Colonel Nelson Miles?
Was the U.S. policy fair and just in this instance?

How can a minority person get what he needs from the government?
How does our government work in regard to meeting individual
needs? What does it really mean to be a good citizen?

Why is everything in the Indian worldview round?

 Here are Some Literary Questions you might
Have your Children Put to the Text after
Reading this Book:
1. What is a symbol? What is the meaning of the eagle, the central symbol of the story?

2. Why and how does the sweathouse help Kevin? How do we know that a healing has

taken place?

3. What is the function of dreams in this novel? Kevin’s dreams? Peter’s dream?

4. Drew’s dog is a symbol. What does this symbol mean to Drew? What effect does

Drew’s dog story have on Kevin?

5. What is oral literature? What’s good about it? Why do so few people have an oral

literature nowadays? Can you think of any cultures where oral literature still exists?

(Primitive, illiterate people, such as the Uighurs in China, still have such literatures.)

6. What is a character? [a book person, so, the embodiment of an idea; not a real

person]. What is the function of a character? [To involve the reader emotionally in

ideas that are important for the author to get across.] There are four principal

characters. Two of these characters are main characters, and two are supporting or

secondary characters. Which ones? How can you tell? What is their function in the

story? Of all the characters, which ones are flats (characters that stay the same), and

which ones are rounded (characters that grow and change). Why are they made the

way they are?

7. What is a flashback? How is flashback used in the story?

8. How does Kevin change during the course of the story? How does Peter change? Do

April or Lily change? Do Jesse or Uncle Matt change? What kinds of characters are

they then?
9. What is Tipyahlanah Kaupau’s function in the story?

10. How does Peter perceive nature? How does Kevin perceive nature? How does nature

help Kevin to understand what Peter is trying to teach him? How do you see nature?

Do you understand how other people might see it differently? Are you okay with

agreeing to disagree?