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MY HEART IS ON THE GROUND: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl
Dear America, #14
by Ann Rinaldi
Publisher: Scholastic
List Price: $10.95
Pages: 197
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 0590149229
Ages: 9-14
About This Book
Nannie Little Rose's diary - "the white man's talking leaves" - begins on December 1, 1879, shortly after she arrives in Pennsylvania. Through this "self-telling," a twelve-year old Native American, whose identity is firmly rooted in her love for nature and her tribal customs, reveals her transformation into an Americanized Sioux in "citizens' clothing." Little Rose's diary allows us to witness firsthand the differences between her former existence and her life at the Carlisle Indian School. "I come from the place called Dakota. My people belong to the Great Plains tribe. Our men are very brave and honorable. Our women are noble."
At the Carlisle School, Captain Richard Henry Pratt, his faculty, and his staff assume that in order to learn, Native American children must be stripped of their culture - their language, religion, and tribal beliefs.
After more than two months at Carlisle, Nannie finally summons enough courage to write about her first day. "Never will I forget the sound of the scissors, the feel of it when I no longer had braids down my back. A deep loss came over me. My braids gave me comfort, strength…At supper that first night no one ate. Stiff in our new clothes, itching from the under-where, mourning the loss of our hair and the blanket Indian clothing they had taken out to burn, we cried, until we were scolded and sent to sleep in the white peoples' beds…The next day they made us pick new names…So now I am Nannie Little Rose. And now I am here. And I have learned to wear this citizens' clothing and write their words. But I will never forget my past."
MY HEART IS ON THE GROUND: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl presents the heart-wrenching account of this twelve-year-old Lakota Sioux girl, her older brother Whiteshield, her best friend Pretty Eagle, and the other Native American students at Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania-who they were, and who they became.
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Discussion Questions
1. Nannie Little Rose's father, White Thunder, sent her off to the Carlisle School telling her that she must do one act of bravery to bring honor to her tribe. Was Nannie Little Rose brave? Cite examples from her diary to support your answer.
2. Although neither Nannie Little Rose nor her brother, Whiteshield, wanted to go to the Carlisle School, once they got there the reactions of brother and sister were very different. Explain why you think each reacted as they did.
3. Chief Spotted Tail agrees to have the children from his tribe attend the Carlisle School. But when he visits the school, he decides that the children should go back to the tribe. What made him change his mind?
4. Do you think Lucy Pretty Eagle was in a trance and buried alive or was she dead? Explain why you feel the way you do.
5. Throughout her diary, Nannie Little Rose makes references to her face. On Christmas, her brother accuses her of losing her face because "when an Indian becomes like a white person, he loses his face." Nannie snaps back, "I will not lose my face." Did Nannie keep her face during her time at the Carlisle School? What does it mean if you tell your friend that she will 'lose face'?
6. "Acts of kindness make us beautiful" were the words Mrs. Campbell shared with Nannie Little Rose. What does the teacher mean? Do you think Nannie is beautiful according to this definition?
7. Captain Pratt and the teachers at the Carlisle School felt they were doing the right thing to take the Native American children, cut their hair, make them wear "citizens' clothing," speak a new language, and forget the ways of their people. Why do you think they were right or wrong in their decision to treat the "Blanket Children" the way they did?
Discussion Guide written by Richard F. Abrahamson, Ph.D., Professor of Literature for Children and Young Adults, University of Houston, Houston, Texas and Linda M. Pavonetti, Ed.D., Assistant Professor, Oakland University, Department of Reading and Language Arts, Rochester, Michigan.
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