Bibliography: Bruchac, Joseph. 2004. Hidden Roots. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 9780439353595Plot Summary: Sonny is an eleven-year-old boy who lives at home with his mother and physically abusive father. His father works in the mill, and Sonny swears that he will never work there as long as he lives. He doesn't have any friends at school, and he always looks forward to his Uncle Louis's visits. His dad does not get along with Uncle Louis but Sonny does not know why. Sonny's life gets turned upside down after an accident at the mill. Will his family's secrets tear him apart or make him stronger?
Critical Analysis (Including Cultural Markers): Joseph Bruchac offers many Native American cultural markers throughout this novel. The story takes place in the Adirondack hills in New York, close to Vermont. Many people will be able to identify with the main character, Sonny, who gets all of his information about Indians from the movies. He learned that "real Indians could be dangerous" and he had an image in his mind about what Indians looked like and how they "danced and sang and played their drums". His Uncle Louis starts to teach him about Indians and how many of them started to deny their heritage so they would be left alone and also so they could have a better life.
Uncle Louis is described as having white hair almost down to his shoulders with tanned skin "darker than the faces of most of the people in the town". His eyes were "squinty" and were as "black as a night with no moon or stars". He was always clean-shaven and he always had "a little smile on his lips." His Indian clothing consisted of moccasins and a red band on his head. Other than those, he "dressed like everyone else" so he wouldn't be discovered.
Some other cultural markers include gestures, traditions, and food. Uncle Louis always greeted Sonny's mom the same way (when his dad was not around). He would "pat his chest with his left hand and then place that hand on his mother's right shoulder." Pointing with his fingers was considered rude. Instead they pointed by turning their head or pointing with their lips. Traditions mentioned in the story include how Indians would climb the top of the mountain to "greet the dawn and pray"; they would not say a word to anyone until it was time to pray; they would thank the sun for giving them another day; and they "buried his grandmother then made a fire over her grave and after it died down left some of the things she liked to wear on the ground." Sonny and Uncle Louis enjoyed eating the special maple sugar candy when they got to visit. Deer meat was another traditional food mentioned in the story. Indians hunt deer differently than others. They do not chase them rather they let the deer come up to them and "give themselves" to the hunter. Uncle Louis described it this way, "it's like you take on the weight of its life". The deer understands the sacrifice it is making for the hunter.
Sonny learns a lot about life and Indians from Uncle Louis. He begins to appreciate them more through the stories his uncle shares. Sonny knows that his family is different from others at his school. His mother will never go up to his school like the "other mothers" do, and his dad works in the paper mill and is abusive. He gets especially upset when Uncle Louis comes over and spends time with Sonny and his mother. The reader begins to understand the "hidden roots" as Uncle Louis spends more time with Sonny. We also discover why the Abenaki Indians needed to hide their heritage from the outside world.
The author's note at the end of the story describes an awful tragedy that took place right here in the United States. The Vermont Eugenics Project called for the sterilization of the "feeble-minded". Abenaki Indians were at the top of the list. This law was in effect from 1931 until the early 1960s. Government people would take away whole families in the middle of the night. Men and women would be sterilized, and any existing children would be adopted into other homes. This is one of the many reasons members of the Abenaki Tribes "stopped being Indian as far as the outside world was concerned". Reading this absolutely broke my heart. It is hard for me to believe this happened in the "land of the free" only 50-60 years ago. I wonder if my grandparents (all deceased now) or parents were aware that this was happening in our country and how they felt about it. This book definitely makes me want to learn more about this culture.
Review Excerpt(s):
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-9-Small for his 11 years and the last picked for playground games, Harold doesn't much care that he's friendless. His mother is also a loner; his father works at the paper mill and everything about his job makes him angry--chemicals spilling into the Hudson, the gnashing cogs of machine Number Three that will rip off a limb if you're not careful, and the double shifts that never bring in enough money. Life is hard in this upstate New York town during the early 1960s. Harold knows that his family has secrets; some are too threatening to make sense of while his mother tries to hide others. Uncle Louis visits mostly while his father is at work, showing Harold the wonders of this Adirondack wilderness. Bruchac's story takes its roots in the 1930s Native American sterilization program known as the Vermont Eugenics Program. This chilling reality haunted the Abenaki people, threatened their annihilation, and drove them into hiding for three decades. As Harold learns near the end of the story, his family, victims of that program, escaped to New York and claimed a French heritage. "Uncle Louis" is actually his mother's father. This purposeful but discerning book will prompt discussion and further research into the plight of the Native people from the Green Mountain State. Yet within this historical framework of the shameful deeds of man, pride and integrity hold the family together.--Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY
From Publishers Weekly
Reprising his signature themes, Bruchac sets up this taut novel to reveal a chilling bit of history: according to an endnote, the Vermont Eugenics Project, signed into law in 1931, enabled the state to incarcerate and sterilize many Abenaki Indians, on the grounds that they had "bad genes," leading other Abenaki to conceal their Indian identities. This revelation comes only near the end, although fans of Bruchac's writing and attentive readers will suspect much sooner that 11-year-old Sonny, the narrator, is related to the Indians whose customs and beliefs his Uncle Louis relates with such passion and insight. Sonny has plenty to contend with. The dawning Cold War, in 1954, means air-raid drills and talk of nuclear bombs. Yet even the bomb may not be as scary as his father, an abusive man so volatile that Sonny vows, "I will never be as angry as my father." Why does Sonny's father get so angry at Uncle Louis, and why does he have to work at the paper mill, where the machines mangle workers' limbs and chemicals poison the river? A terrible accident that costs Sonny's father part of his right hand, and a friendship with the town librarian, who shares the news that she lost her German Jewish parents in the Holocaust, reminds everyone to value what will always belong to them, namely, their identity. The author doesn't quite master all that he introduces, but the climactic shocker has the intended effect, and is certain to have a searing impact on the audience. Ages 9-12. (Feb.)
Connections:
Discussion Questions and Activities:
*Research the Abenaki culture.
*Prepare the Abenaki Frybread (recipe listed in back of the book). Poll the class on likes and dislikes. *How would you react if you found out you had hidden roots of your own?
*Compare/contrast the librarian in this story with the librarian at your school.
*What did Uncle Louis mean when he said the title Last of the Mohicans "wasn't quite right"?
Other Books by Joseph Bruchac:
*Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II. ISBN 9780803729216
*Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back. ISBN 9780399221415
*Sacajawea. ISBN 9780756907327
*The First Strawberries. ISBN 9780780785281
*A Boy Called Slow. ISBN 9780613073875
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