Mother

Blue-Star Woman

Blue-Star Woman and Mother interact often as acquaintances within the community, possibly sharing cultural or tribal ties.

Uncle

Mother and Uncle are relatives, likely siblings or in-laws, with a close family dynamic.

Cousin

Cousin is a younger relative of Mother, indicating a familial relationship with care and guidance.

The Great Spirit

Mother has a deep spiritual connection to The Great Spirit, often seeking guidance or expressing reverence.

Tusee

Mother and Tusee are likely related, with Tusee possibly being a daughter or niece, given their frequent interactions.

Warca-Ziwin

Mother and Warca-Ziwin are likely sisters or close female relatives, sharing a nurturing bond.

Ohiyesa

Mother and Ohiyesa are acquaintances, possibly meeting in a community or educational setting.

Uncle

Mother and Uncle are relatives, likely siblings or in-laws, with a close family dynamic.

Blue-Star Woman

Blue-Star Woman and Mother interact often as acquaintances within the community, possibly sharing cultural or tribal ties.

The Great Spirit

Mother has a deep spiritual connection to The Great Spirit, often seeking guidance or expressing reverence.

American Indian Stories

Key familial figure, associated with teaching beadwork and cultural traditions.

Impressions of an Indian Childhood

The narrator's mother, a central figure in her childhood memories.

My Mother

The narrator's mother, who draws water from the Missouri River and shares painful memories of displacement and loss.

The Legends

The narrator's mother, who builds the fire, prepares meals, and hosts the evening storytelling gatherings. She teaches her daughter proper behavior and encourages her to observe and remember details.

The Beadwork

Teaches the narrator beadwork and quillwork with patience and high standards, treating her as a dignified individual.

The Coffee-Making

Leaves the narrator alone in the wigwam and later returns to find her serving coffee to a guest.

The Dead Man's Plum Bush

Teaches the narrator patience, compassion, and respect for the dead.

The Ground Squirrel

The narrator's mother, who works with her aunt to preserve food and is usually quiet but laughs heartily during the visit.

VII: The Big Red Apples

The narrator's mother, who initially discourages her from going with the missionaries but ultimately agrees, believing education is necessary for her daughter's future.

The School Days of an Indian Girl

The narrator's mother, who is left behind on the reservation and whose absence is deeply felt.

The Land of Red Apples

The narrator's mother, who is absent and deeply missed during the journey and upon arrival at the school.

II: The Cutting of My Long Hair

Mentioned in the narrator's anguish as the absent comforter she longs for.

The Snow Episode

Not directly present in this chapter, but the narrator's mother is referenced implicitly through the narrator's identity as a Dakota child.

The Devil

Appears in the narrator's dream, sitting quietly by the stove as the devil chases her daughter, then lifts the narrator onto her lap, causing the devil to vanish.

Iron Routine

Referenced indirectly through memories of happy dreams of Western lands, contrasting with the boarding school's iron routine.

Four Strange Summers

The narrator's mother, who never attended school, tries to console her daughter with an Indian Bible but cannot bridge the gap between their experiences.

VII: Incurring My Mother’s Displeasure

The narrator's mother disapproves of her continued education, urging her to return to the prairie life; her displeasure weighs heavily on the narrator.

My First Day

The narrator's mother, who would have disapproved of the white man's education if she knew of her daughter's illness.

A Trip Westward

The narrator's mother, who lives in a log cabin and teepee, maintains traditional ways while making compromises with white customs. She reveals that Dawée lost his job for seeking justice for the tribe.

III: My Mother’s Curse Upon White Settlers

Sits with her daughter, recounts family losses, and curses the white settlers.

Retrospection

The narrator leaves her mother and later gives her up due to her mother's simple view of life, feeling uprooted from her.

Why I Am a Pagan

The narrator's mother, now a follower of the new superstition, is recalled in a memory of a burned holy book.

The Softhearted Sioux

Ohiyesa's mother, who represents traditional Sioux values and is distressed by her son's transformation.

I

Advises her son to be active and provide buffalo meat and buckskins before taking a wife.

II

Sits with bowed head, weeping over her husband's illness, spiritually separated from her son.

IV

The narrator's mother, who urges him to bring meat for his father.

V

The narrator led his mother to the camp of the medicine-man after his father's death.

A Warrior's Daughter

Tusee's mother, who sits doing beadwork and chides Tusee about the gift for her first dance.