There There

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. Define “Indigenous” in your own words. What makes something “indigenous” to a place or area? What does it mean in the context of “Indigenous Americans” and Indigenous American history?

Teaching Suggestion: Students will likely be familiar with a variety of terms for Indigenous Americans that have been used over time, some pejorative or otherwise. Introducing the term “Indigenous American,” as well as the reasons that some individuals may prefer “Native” or even “Indian” over “Indigenous” will be important as students encounter these terms in There There.

• The National Museum of the American Indian offers some guidance in this resource on terminology.
• This article from The Oklahoman includes various perspectives on different terms and their historical context.

2. There There focuses on the lives of Indigenous Americans in a city, instead of on reservations. What do you know about the movement of Indigenous individuals to cities? What might that adjustment have been like? Why do you think the book focuses on this?

Teaching Suggestion: The relocation of many Indigenous Americans to cities was part of a larger effort to force Indigenous people to assimilate into European American culture, leaving behind Indigenous traditions. It was also a means by which the American government could gain more land.

• The Bay Area Equity Atlas includes information about the Indigenous Americans in the Bay Area, where the novel takes place.
• The National Archives published this informational page about the relocation of Indigenous Americans to cities.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Many of the characters in this novel struggle to stay connected to their Indigenous heritage. How do you stay connected to your heritage? How have your family’s traditions and experiences changed over time?

Teaching Suggestion: Encourage students to think about how and why traditions may have started and how they might have adjusted to a family’s contemporary situation compared with how they initially came about. You can also push students to think further about why Indigenous Americans may struggle with this in particular, given the concerted effort by the American government to force them to assimilate.  

Differentiation Suggestion: For visual learners or English language learners, have them draw their traditions with bullet points underneath explaining the tradition.