THERE THERE Tommy Orange
Where does the title There There come from?
A Gertrude Stein quote.
As we explored last week, what is regalia?
A Regalia is a Traditional dress that is worn by First Nation/Native American peoples in the United States, and Canada for ceremonial purposes.
What is "The Drome"?
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
What is "the drome?"
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
How does Edwin refer to his ethnicity?
Native
Who is Calvin Johnson?
a young Native man from Oakland, is a former drug dealer trying to turn his life around. Calvin, in a misguided attempt to help his brother, ends up indebted to Octavio Gomez and is forced to participate in his plan to rob the powwow.
Who is DENE OXENDENE?
a young documentary filmmaker who picks up a project from his uncle and applies for a grant to carry it out. Dene begins filming stories from Native people in and around Oakland, including at the Big Oakland Powwow.
What does Jacquie say when she runs into Harvey at a meeting?
Jacquie basically calls him out on everything he did to her.She curses him out about everything he put her through.
How does Dene's uncle Lucas impact his life?
Lucas started the storytelling project and Dene carries it on.
Who is Thomas Frank?
half-white and half-Native. He is an alcoholic and works as a janitor at the Indian Center until he is fired for coming to work drunk. He is also a passionate drummer who performs at the powwow before dying in the massacre.
What did Octavio have that was 3D printed?
A gun
Who is OPAL VIOLA VICTORIA BEAR SHIELD?
A lady In her fifties, Opal works as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service and takes care of her sister's three grandsons. She and her sister attended a Native protest at Alcatraz in 1970. Opal went through several foster homes as a teenager.
What is the Alcatraz occupation?
A political movement of the 1970s where Natives took over a federally owned island off of San Francisco.
Pow-Pow
A quick meeting
Who is Tony Loneman
A young adult man who lives in Oakland, Tony's fetal alcohol syndrome gives him a strange appearance. Tony lives with his grandmother and sells drugs for Octavio. Tony's narrative is both the beginning and end of the novel, and his position as both an insider and outsider makes him one of the most important characters in the text.
Who is Ocatavio ?
An Oakland Drug Dealer
Who is EDWIN BLACK?
An isolated, frustrated, and confused half-Native young man who lives at home with his mother and spends most of his life getting lost on the internet.
What does Bill think saved even more people from dying in the 1989 earthquake?
Baseball
What does Bill think of Edwin?
Bill thinks Edwin is a big baby.
Why is Calvin hiding out at his sister Maggie's house?
Calvin is hiding out because he is saving up money to move and also because he owes Charles and Carlos money
Who is Charles?
Calvin's Drugdealer Brother
Who is Maggie?
Calvin's Sister that he lives with
Who is Carlos?
Calvin's brother Charles friend
Who is lucas?
Dene Oxendene's uncle. After Lucas dies of alcoholism, Dene continues his uncle's work of filming Oakland Natives as they tell their stories.
How are Edwin and Bill connected?
Edwin is Bill's girlfriend's kid.
What does he say in response, and what offer does he make her?
Harvey apologizes about what he did to her and he offers for her to move Oakland with him.
Why does Edwin feel "something like hope" by the end of the chapter? *
He poops his pants.
In the Cheyenne story of the rolling head, why does the husband kill his wife?
He sees her embrace with a water monster.
Why does Edwin contact his father?
He wants to know more about the other half of himself.
At the beginning of the chapter, what is Dene on his way to do?
He's going to speak to a panel to pitch an idea for a cultural arts grant.
Why do you think that he does this?
I think Harvey might be trying to make excuses to be in her life and making promises he can't keep to have her around for his benefit Because, if he wasn;t around this entire time , why would he have the guts to be around now?
Who are Urban Indians?
Indians born in the city.
Why is Bill so threatened by the drone at the end of the chapter?
It reminds him of his time in the Middle East.
What is Dene's tag?
Lens
Who is Daniel Gonzalez?
Octavio Gomez's cousin. He makes guns using a 3D printer and sells them to support his mother and himself. During the massacre, in which some of the guns are used, Daniel stays at home to operate a camera drone with virtual reality goggles.
What does Octavio have that was 3D printed?
Octavio had a 3D printed gun.
Why do you think Opal gets to tell her story in first person while the other characters are in third person?
Opal is in first person because she is experiencing so many changes and i think the author wants to highlight how her feelings /point of view.
What is the nature of Jacquie's relationship with her sister Opal, now that they are both adults?
Opal takes care of her of Jacquies grandkids and they still have a close bond; they just don't talk as often.
Who is JACQUIE RED FEATHER?
Opal's sister, Jacquie, has had a complicated life. Her first pregnancy was the result of a rape when she was at Alcatraz, and she gave the baby up for adoption as a teenager. She also had another daughter who passed away; her three grandsons live with Opal. Jacquie is recently sober and works as an addiction counselor.
What is Tommy Orange telling us about the misrepresentation of rolling Indian heads in films?
That the understanding of Indian culture has been reduced to a few ridiculous Google-able facts.
What choices do Opal and Jacquie have to make at the end of the chapter ? Which direction do you think each sister wants to go in and why?
The choices that Opal and Jacquie have to make is either for Jacquie to keep the baby and live with her uncle in law or to abort the baby . Opal most likely wants Jacquie to keep the baby and try somehow to raise the baby together as a team because they are sisters. Also, I believe that Jacquie wants to abort and maybe give the baby up because of how the baby was brought into the world and the responsibilities that come with having a baby.
What was the first Thanksgiving , actually?
The first thanksgiving was actually a land deal.
What are Octavio and Tony planning to do ?
They are planning to rob the pow-wow.
What do Opal,Jacquie and her Mother find there ?
They find the young military men with cells and a large pot of stew and Wonder Bread.
Why do Opal , her sister Jacquie, and her mother go to Alcratraz? What do they find there?
They go to Alcatraz to celebrate not celebrating thanksgiving. They also went because they could not afford the yellow house in Oakland.
What does Two shoes have to say about the Indians and the way they are being treated ? Why do you think Opal's teddy bear talks to her in this way?
Two shoes has to say that they are so mistreated to the point where the colonists makes them into heroes as they are slaughtered the Natives. The teddy bear talks to them in ways that make her realize they are strong and that to not give up.
Who is Orvil Red Feather?
a Native man and drug dealer who has experienced the tragic deaths of close family members. Octavio heads the plan to rob the powwow to pay off a drug debt. His Native grandmother, Josefina, treats him with "badger medicine" to help him overcome his personal and familial demons.
Who is Harvey?
an older Native man from Oakland and the emcee at the powwow. Blue and Edwin Black are Harvey's children by different women, though Harvey is unaware of their existence before the powwow.
Who is Josefina
an older Native woman, is Octavio Gomez and Daniel Gonzales's grandmother. Cursed by her father as a young woman, Josefina attempts to help Octavio overcome his own demons by treating him with traditional "badger medicine."
Who is Blue?
raised as "Crystal" by white adoptive parents in the Oakland suburbs, is Harvey and Jacquie Red Feather's biological daughter and Edwin Black's half-sister. She is the powwow events coordinator.