Indian No More

by Charlene Willing McManis (Author)

Indian No More
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

When Regina's Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and her family must relocate from Oregon to Los Angeles, she goes on a quest to understand her identity as an Indian despite being so far from home.

Regina Petit's family has always been Umpqua, and living on the Grand Ronde Tribe's reservation is all ten-year-old Regina has ever known. Her biggest worry is that Sasquatch may actually exist out in the forest. But when the federal government enacts a law that says Regina's tribe no longer exists, Regina becomes Indian no more overnight--even though she lives with her tribe and practices tribal customs, and even though her ancestors were Indian for countless generations.

Now that they've been forced from their homeland, Regina's father signs the family up for the federal Indian Relocation Program and moves them to Los Angeles. Regina finds a whole new world in her neighborhood on 58th Place. She's never met kids of other races, and they've never met a real Indian. For the first time in her life, Regina comes face to face with the viciousness of racism, personally and toward her new friends.

Meanwhile, her father believes that if he works hard, their family will be treated just like white Americans. But it's not that easy. It's 1957 during the Civil Rights era, and the family struggles without their tribal community and land. At least Regina has her grandmother, Chich, and her stories. At least they are all together.

In this moving middle-grade novel drawing upon Umpqua author Charlene Willing McManis's own tribal history, Regina must find out: Who is Regina Petit? Is she Indian, American, or both? And will she and her family ever be okay?

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Kirkus

A good starting point to introduce the legacy of tribal termination.

School Library Journal

Starred Review

Gr 4-7--Regina Petit and her family are Umpqua, living on the Grand Ronde Tribe's reservation in Oregon, until the U.S. government enacts a law saying that her tribe no longer exists. Ten-year-old Regina can't comprehend what is happening to her family and how they can have their Indian heritage taken away from them. Forced to move with her parents, grandmother, and younger sister, PeeWee, to Los Angeles, Regina finds her world turned upside down. Daddy believes that the 1957 Indian Relocation Program will provide their family with a home, schooling, a good job, and opportunities, while Chich (Grandma) is more doubtful, calling their relocation an eviction. Mama tries to keep her chin up for her family, but she just wants to go back home. Regina and PeeWee try to acclimate to their new neighborhood and school but find ignorance and racism toward Indians prevalent. New friends Keith and Addie are a bright spot for the Petit children, but as black children, Keith and Addie also face racism. Daddy tries to put on a brave face for his family, working hard to get ahead, only to discover that education and hard work aren't necessarily enough. The family's struggles are not sugarcoated; readers see the reality of Daddy's despair and anger as Mama tries to hold the family together. In the midst of it all, Chich carries forward their tribal stories. In this book based on McManis's own childhood experiences, the family is fictionalized to show how older children might react to being uprooted and plopped down in a foreign world--McManis was one year old when the government declassified her family's tribe. McManis died before finishing the novel, entrusting Sorell to finish her story. A lengthy author's note from McManis offers relevant history with which readers may be unfamiliar, along with family photos from this time. Also discussed in the note is the relevance of President Ronald Reagan changing the laws in 1983, enabling the restoration of tribes that had been terminated. VERDICT Readers will be moved as they become invested in Regina's predicament. Is she still Indian, American, or both--and what does that mean for her and her family?--Michele Shaw, Quail Run Elementary School, San Ramon, CA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Set in 1957, as the U.S. government's Indian Relocation Program went into effect, this autobiographical novel was written by the late McManis, of Umpqua heritage and a formerly enrolled citizen of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, and completed after her death by Sorrell, an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Ten-year-old Regina Petit's family moves to Los Angeles after their Umpqua tribe, along with all Oregon tribes, is terminated. Displaced to a small house in a crowded neighborhood, the Petits--Daddy, Portuguese Mama, grandmother Chich, younger sister Peewee, and Regina--confront stereotypical views of Native Americans held by their new friends, including black, Latinx, and white people. Regina struggles with her Native identity as she experiences Halloween--during which a racist attack leaves her bewildered--and Thanksgiving for the first time. The authors' depiction of valiantly optimistic Daddy as a man who is unwilling to be defeated by discrimination is especially strong; other characters, while sympathetic, have less dimension, and two significant family events are given little heft. A personalized look at a significant moment in U.S. history, the book closes with extensive back matter, including McManis's author's note and family photos. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Readers will be moved as they become invested in Regina's predicament. Is she still Indian, American, or both"€"and what does that mean for her and her family? — Reviewer "Starred review, SLJ"
Charlene Willing McManis

The late Charlene Willing McManis (1953-2018) was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in Los Angeles. She was of Umpqua tribal heritage and enrolled in the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Charlene served in the U.S. Navy and later received her bachelor's degree in Native American Education. She lived with her family in Vermont and served on that state's Commission on Native American Affairs. In 2016, Charlene received a mentorship with award-winning poet and author Margarita Engle through We Need Diverse Books. That manuscript became this novel, which is based on her family's experiences after their tribe was terminated in 1954. She passed away in 2018, knowing that her friend Traci Sorell would complete the revisions Charlene was unable to finish.

Traci Sorell writes fiction and nonfiction books as well as poems for children. Her lyrical story in verse, At the Mountain's Base, illustrated by Weshoyot Alvitre (Kokila, 2019), celebrates the bonds of family and the history of history-making women pilots, including Millie Rexroat (Oglala Lakota). Her middle grade novel, Indian No More, with Charlene Willing McManis (Tu Books, 2019), explores the impact of federal termination and relocation policies on an Umpqua family in the 1950s. Traci's debut nonfiction picture book, We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, illustrated by Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge, 2018), won a Sibert Honor, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Picture Book Honor and an Orbis Pictus Honor. It also received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, The Horn Book and Shelf Awareness. A former federal Indian law attorney and policy advocate, she is an enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation and lives in northeastern Oklahoma where her tribe is located. For more about Traci and her other works, visit www.tracisorell.com.

Luisana Duarte Armendáriz grew up on the Juárez, Mexico/El Paso, Texas border. A writer and translator, Luisana earned her BA from the University of Texas at El Paso and her MA/MFA in Children's Literature and Writing for Children from Simmons University in Boston. She won the 2018 Lee & Low Books/Tu Books New Visions Award for her debut novel, Julieta and the Diamond Enigma. Find out more at luisanaduarte.com.

Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781620148396
Lexile Measure
720
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Tu Books
Publication date
September 24, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV039090 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | New Experience
JUV016150 - Juvenile Fiction | Historical | United States - 20th Century
JUV039120 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Prejudice & Racism
JUV011040 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - Native American
Library of Congress categories
Families
Family life
Indians of North America
Indian families
Relocation
Umpqua Indians
American Indian Youth Literature Award
Winner 2020 - 2020

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