There There - Opal Viola Victoria Bearshield

What kind of names did white people spread?

"Dad names" because they spread all those Dad names around in order to keep the Power with the dads."

What did Orvil ask Opal about the mirror?

"How do we know it's not one of them doing it and not copying us"

How did the family act after getting on the bus?

Acted as through they didn't know each Other

What questions did Opal have about her last name Bear Shield?

Bear Shield meant: Shields that bears used to protect themselves; Shields people used to protect against bears, or shields made of bear

Why would Oakland never be the same?

Because their mother "up and left on a jagged wind"

Why did the family stay on the Island?

Because there was no place to go, no hope that they would get what they were asking for; that the gov't would have mercy on us, that supplies would still be coming.

Why does she like numbers?

Because they are consistent and you count on them.

What did the family eat first on Alcatraz?

Beef stew in Styrofoam bowls; there was stacks of Wonder Bread and butter on the tables.

How did the Island change?

Fewer supplies as time went on; fewer children and women

What was the name of the boy throwing rocks that Opal met?

Rocky

Who held Jacquie's hand on the boat?

Rocky; still afraid of the dark

What was Jacque's last name?

Red Feather

What does Opal do at night with the grandchildren's cell phones?

She checks their pictures, videos, text messages browser history while they sleep.

What did Opal believe about cracks in the sidewalk?

She has the sense that there are holes everywhere, cracks you can slip between the worlds, after all is porous.

What did Jacquie tell Opal on the way home from a visit to their mom's grave?

She told Opal she was pregnant

What was their mothers response?

She told us she couldn't, that she could only go the way she'd been going....And that was the way she went.

What option did Jacquie tell Opal regarding the pregnancy?

She wanted to get rid of it; her friend Adriana's Brother knew someone in West Oakland

Who was Opal Viola (grandmother)?

She was a medicine woman, renowned singer of spiritual songs.

What is the story of Roosevelt's big stick and foreign policy?

The big stick is a lie about mercy; speak softly and carry a big stick regarding Foreign policy.

What are Opal's least favorite numbers?

Three and Six

What was the reason Vicky gave as to why they were going to Alcatraz?

To be with relatives; Indians of all Tribes; to start in a cell and work themselves out with a spoon

Why does Opal "knock on wood"?

To cancel something out she's said she wants or doesn't want to happen or even if she just thinks it, she'll find wood and knock twice

Colors of mankind will gather under the sacred

Tree of Life and the whole earth will become one circle again.

What did foreigner's use upon Indians and bears?

With big sticks they marched us so far west we almost disappeared.

Where did the girls sleep the first night?

In an old jail cell on Indian blankets across from their mother

What did Opal see in the rear view mirror?

Looking back at herself through the years

What does she do every day when she gets in the mail truck?

Looks at herself in the rear view mirror

Who was hiding in the clothing rack nearby?

Loother and Lony

When Opal (age 11) approached Victoria on the beach; what was Victoria's Demeanor?

Loud, crooked looking, nice to Opal, hugged Opal.

What kind of spoons does Opal have?

Lucky and unlucky ones

What did mom say to Opal's question regarding "why do we got names like we do?

Mom says they come from Old Indian names; Had our own way of naming before the White people came over

What animal did Opal Viola ask her mom was on the Island?

Monkeys

What advice did Vicky give her daughters?

Most important thing we could do was to get an Education; otherwise people wouldn't listen to you

Where does Opal see her one and only image?

On top of the glass

What was the name of Opal Viola's teddy bear?

Two Shoes

What did mom (Vicky) hand to Opal Viola on the bus?

A laminated card with a picture of "Indian on a horse silhouette" and Crazy Horses prophecy on the back

What was the people on Alcatraz hoping Feds would build for them?

A school, medical facility and a cultural center

What was Orvil and Opal looking at in Mervyn's store?

A three way mirror outside the dressing room

Whose regalia was Orvil wearing in the video Opal saw?

An outfit in her closet that was given to her by a friend

What was Opal's last name?

Bear Shield

Where did Opal meet Lucas?

At a group home and then foster youth event

What filled the sick world?

Broken promises, selfishness & separations

What is Opal regretful about? (not about what she's done)

Damn Island, Ronald, foster care, group homes; She regrets that they happened

What was Jacquie doing on the beach?

Drinking (with Harvey)

What are good numbers?

Even numbers generally better than odd; those numbers that have some kind of mathematical relationship and they don't lie.

What did the boy say the people were doing on the Island?

Everyone running around drinking, talking about how everything's gonna be different; but everything was better when they were at Home

How did Opal Viola describe the sound in the cells?

Everything that made a sound in those cells echoed a hundred times over

What are Opal's favorite numbers?

Four and Eight

Where did Opal Viola get the Two shoes name from?

From her sister's teddy bear which she got with only one shoe on.

In sum, what is Crazy Horse's prophecy?

From suffer, the red nation will rise; a blessing for a sick world.

What did Opal Viola and Jacquie urge their mother Vicky to do?

Go see a doctor for treatment along with the medicine man.

Who is Harvey to Rocky?

Harvey is Rocky's older brother

In response Orvil does what?

He broke into a wild indian dance to show he wa in control, the Orvil on the other side of the mirror

What did Orvil tell Opal about his leg?

He pulled three spider legs out of a bump on His leg

What did Roosevelt do upon finding the bear?

He refused to shoot it; but did slit its throat

The boy Opal runs into on the beach about her age, what does he want to do?

He wants "throw stupid island into the ocean." He missed school, no tv, no good food.

What did Randy practice that Vicky wanted?

He was a medicine man.

One morning Opal's mom woke her up with what kind of face?

Her face was beat up, her top & bottom lips were swollen

Who told Opal to pack her things to move to Alcatraz?

Her mom

What does Opal say about her superstition?

Her superstition is one she would never call Superstition for fear it would lose its power

What did Crazy Horse see?

I see a time of seven generations, when all the

How does she describe what she sees?

It's that it's hard to see the years on her face, the lines, the wrinkles that surround her eyes, branch out like cracks in concrete.

Who is Opal's sister?

Jacquie Red Feather

How did Jacquie sum up their story?

Life doesn't work out the way stories do. Mom's dead, she's not coming back, we're alone, living with a guy we don't even know who they were supposed to call Uncle.

What was the world longing for?

Light again

What was Opal's occupation?

Mail Carrier for USPS

What kind of truck does Opal drive?

Mail truck

What did Vicky tell Opal they could do?

Make it right

Two-shoes told Opal that they were named by?

Men with Pig for brains

What was one of the last things Vicky told Opal?

Mom said to me when we were over there, she said we shouldn't ever NOT tell our stories

What did Vicky tell Opal and Jacquie about Spiders?

Not to kill them, spiders carry miles of web in their bodies, miles of story, miles of potential home and trap. Vicky said girls were Home & trap

What is one thing Opal likes?

Numbers

What does Opal think about while driving?

Of the first time she took the Red Feather boys in for a weekend at the beginning of the adoption process

Where did Vicky pass?

On the couch, getting smaller and smaller

Which spoon is her luckiest?

One with floral pattern that runs up the handle to the neck

What is Opal's first name?

Opal Viola

What was Opal's grandmother's name?

Opal Viola

What is Opal's least favorite song?

Otis Reddings "Sitting on the dock of the bay" because it got played too much

Opal's bear Two-Shoes could do what to people?

Put them to sleep; bear was sacred

What practice did Randy conduct for Vicky?

Run sweats

Why were their last names different?

Same mother, different fathers

What song did Opal's mom sing to them at night?

Sang the Cheyenne lullaby she used to sing to put them to sleep. 49

How does the Author describe her passing?

Slowly receding into the past like all those sacred and beautiful and forever-lost things 59.

What Motown song did Opal listen to?

Smokey Robinson's "The Tracks of my Tears"

What kind of boat took the family to the Island?

Speedboat with guys dressed in military clothing

What is Opal's secret that she holds so tight to her chest she never notices it?

Superstition; she lives by it.

Who was Teddy Bear named after?

Teddy Roosevelt

What was Roosevelt's quote about Indians?

The only good Indian is a dead Indian; but he believed that 9 out 10 were good Indians

What does Opal like about Motown music?

The way it asks you to carry sadness and heartbreak but dance while doing so

What did kids at school think of Opal Viola's name?

They thought it was funny.

On one of the last nights on the Island, Vicky took Opal where? To tell her What?

They went to the lighthouse and vicky told Opal that they were there because of a lie AND that Vicky had cancer.

How would they make it right?

Understand where we came from; What happened to our people; How to honor them by living right; By telling stories

What name did Victoria the mother go by?

Vicky

What was Opal's mother's name?

Victoria

What did bears and Indians have in common?

We been through a lot; they tried to kill us

What did Opal suggest they do?

We'll raise the baby together with Ronald

Where did the family go after Alcatraz?

Went to downtown Oakland, on telegraph to live with Vicky's adopted brother Ronald (whom they never met before); didn't care for him

What color was the house that Opal Viola and her family was leaving to Alcatraz?

Yellow. It was the first house without either of their dads. Quiet Sweet house where Vicky made a banana cream pie.

Did Opal fall in love with Lucas?

Yes

Had Opal been to Alcatraz before moving there?

Yes, to "celebrate not celebrate Thanksgiving"