Cheyenne Again

Title: Cheyenne Again

Author: Eve Bunting

Illustrator: Irving Toddy

Target Age Range: 5-10

Genre: Multicultural Fiction, Historical Fiction

Cheyenne Again is an intriguing story of a 10 year old Cheyenne Native American boy named Young Bull who is taken from his parents and forced to attend the Carlisle Boarding School in the late 1880s. He leaves behind his family, his language, and his heritage to be imprisoned in the ways of the white man. Stripped from his Native American clothing and tribal hair, the history of his people seems lost and so far away. It is his memories of home that ultimately give him the strength to be Cheyenne on the inside; never letting go of his heritage. Exploring themes of fear, loss, prejudice, and betrayal, this multicultural fiction book told in Young Bull's point of view is primarily for readers ages 5-10. Thoughtful conversation on the hardships of Native American enforcement to live in a white man's society is gently introduced to younger readers from a child's perspective. The illustrations add to the emotion of the story and children are able to visualize the opposition that faces Young Bull throughout his transformation from Native American to "white man" in society.

"The Indian in us must disappear, they say. It must be tamed." (quoted from Cheyenne Again)

About the author:

Eve Bunting's sensitive and poetic text recreates an experience shared by many Native American children in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

 

About the illustrator:

Irving Toddy's dramatic paintings capture the beauty and color of the world Young Bull has left behind- and the vivid memories he preserves in his ledger drawings.

Discussion Questions

• What inference can you make from the cover of the book?
• What gives a person identity?
• Do you have an ethnic identity?
• What makes you different from others?
• Why is Young Bull taken from his family?
• What are the key differences in the reactions of the mother and father when Young Bull was taken?
• Why does Young Bull rebel against the white man's ways?
• How does the character Young Bull change throughout the book?
• What themes are introduced in the story?
• How do these themes help the reader understand the story?

 

Motivational Activity

Students will turn and talk to their partner about what identity means to them. Teachers will fingerprint each student's thumb while listening to ideas. After talking about identity, students will write a descriptive paragraph about who they are on their fingerprinted paper. The focus should be on the memories of their past which would give them strength to endure going to a boarding school away from their parents. Complete the project by having volunteers share the writing activity.

Other books by Eve Bunting with multicultural focus:

A Day's Work
One Green Apple
How Many Days to America

Resources:
Bunting, Eve. (1995). Cheyenne Again. New York: Clarion Books.