My Name Is Not Easy

Chickie grew up in Kotzebue, Alaska with an Eskimo community. For most of her life, she thought she was part of the tribe even though she had white skin and blue eyes. Chickie now lives at Sacred Heart School. She is impressed by the number of trees in the forest surrounding the school; no trees grow in Kotzebue. Her father, Swede, met Chickie’s mother in a tree, but Chickie’s mother died before she could teach her how to climb a tree. Chickie sneaks out of the school to find a tree to climb, but she gets lost and frightened by the cold. She sees a kind nun who helps her get back to the school.

Luke, Bunna, and Isaac arrive at Sacred Heart School. The priest wears a soutane, which looks like a dress to them. Immediately, school officials tell them that Isaac is too young for Sacred Heart School. They whisk Isaac into a car to drive him to a foster family before Luke and Bunna have the chance to say goodbye or advocate for Isaac. Terrified that they have lost their brother and confused by the food the school serves, Luke and Bunna do not know what to do. Amiq shows them how to trick the nuns into believing falsehoods and half-truths about Native American culture that will let Luke and Bunna get away with certain things, like not eating the meat they do not trust. When Luke speaks in his native language, the priest hits his hands with a ruler, demanding that he speak only English.

Sonny and Amiq are Sacred Heart veterans who have split the cafeteria into two groups: Indian Country and Eskimos. Sonny notices Donna, a returning student who never chooses sides and tries to find her own spot to eat, sitting with a new blond girl named Chickie. Two new girls named Rose and Evelyn sit with Sonny, recognizing the division in the cafeteria. Chickie speculates that the nun who found her outside, Sister Mary Kate, is the baker of the apple pie she admires. She notes Donna’s immaculately brushed hair and assumes that she, unlike Chickie, has a mother, but Donna says she does not. She also notes how the priest looks in frustration at the two new boys speaking in their language. Sonny also notices the two new boys, sitting on the Eskimo side, speaking in their language, and he gets nervous for them. The students in the cafeteria go silent and look away when the priest hits Luke. Sonny blames Amiq for not showing the new Eskimo kids the ropes.

Luke and Bunna go to bed in the dormitory with the other boys. Luke cannot stop thinking about Isaac, who cried during his removal from Luke and Bunna. Luke rouses Bunna out of bed and they run away. At the end of the driveway to the school, they see a cabin with an old Native American man sitting inside. They realize they must travel through the forest, but they do not have forests where they are from so they are scared. When they see a caribou in the forest, they feel more at home and at peace. But the old Native American man from the cabin finds them in the woods as he is out hunting. He points them towards the road. When Luke and Bunna find the road, its length disheartens them. They do not know where to start searching for Isaac, so they decide to find their way back home to their family for help. A young priest pulls up in a car and pretends the fact that they are out for a walk is normal. The priest drives them back to the school. The young priest explains that Father Mullen – the priest who hit Luke – does not abide runaways. He also explains that God has given every person a talent, and Luke and Bunna’s talent is to hunt. Therefore, they will not run away anymore, and they will help feed the school through hunting. He informs them that they are in the middle of nowhere anyway, so running away will not help them with anything.

Chickie spends her first night in the dormitory. Her roommate Donna is Yupik, and her other roommates Rose and Evelyn are Athabascan. Rose and Evelyn are not from the same place, but their tribal connection makes them fast friends while Donna sits on the margins. Rose and Evelyn talk about their family legacy back home. Chickie’s mother died during childbirth, and Donna’s parents died from measles, after which Sister Ann, a nun at Holy Cross Mission, cared for Donna. Sister Ann was called to another job when Donna was five years old. Donna considers Sister Ann her mother.

Curious about how the nuns live, Chickie sneaks into Sister Mary Kate’s room. Sister Mary Kate has one bed, a diary, a book of Emily Dickinson poems, a Bible, and a comb. Chickie reads Sister Mary Kate’s diary. In the diary, Sister Mary Kate writes about not being able to tell between the Eskimos and the Indian Country kids. She also writes about the importance of teaching Native American children to free themselves from ignorance and poverty.

Bunna nicknames Chickie “Snowbird” for her white skin, and the nickname catches on, despite Chickie’s embarrassment.

Sonny hears Amiq, Luke, and Bunna talk about hunting. Amiq speaks disparagingly about the Native American man in the cabin. When Amiq says that the old Native American man eats rotten fish, Sonny tries to start a fight with Bunna. Amiq steps in and gets into a fistfight with Sonny; Father Flanagan, the young priest, breaks up the fight. Sonny and Amiq go to Father Mullen’s office where he accuses the boys of having fighting in their blood. He points out that Sonny’s mother did not save up her money to send him to school for fighting, nor did the scientists who are sponsoring Amiq’s education. Father Mullen, a former boxer, tells them that boxing is the only type of fighting allowed. He sees Amiq’s attempt to subtly threaten Sonny with his fist. Father Mullen grabs a large paddle with which to hit Amiq, and Amiq draws back into a corner, ready to fight.

Luke and Bunna return home to their family for the summer. The system forces Isaac to stay with his foster family and Luke notes that “The hurt of Isaac’s absence slaps back and forth between us like a closed curtain over an open window” (Page 65). Luke’s mother is quiet and expresses her hurt over her lost child through her eyes.

Sonny does not go home for the summer break and stays at Sacred Heart instead. He receives a letter from his mother informing him that a beloved member of their community, Anna, is dead. Sonny recalls how both Anna and his mother agreed that Sonny would grow up to be a leader in their tribe.

Chickie is happy to get home until she finds out that the woman she considers as close as a grandmother, Aaka Mae, is gone, taken to a place called Fairbanks.

Luke reunites with Uncle Joe, who instructs him to take good care of his brother.

Chickie arrives at her father’s store. She is happy to be with Swede again but does not accept his explanation that Aaka Mae was put in some sort of home far away.

At the end of the summer break, Luke is ready to go back to school. He misses the kids he goes to school with. Uncle Joe loans Luke his gun for hunting at Sacred Heart.

As Chickie waits for her plane back to Sacred Heart, she thinks of Aaka Mae being committed to a home. She worries that one day someone could send her away.