Characters & Connections
What is the familial relationship between Jacquie Red Feather and Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield?
Half-sisters / same mother
What two opposing concepts does the spiderweb represent, according to Opal and Jacquie's mother?
Home & Trap
What attribute of Tony Loneman's identity does Orange use to communicate a larger lesson about the dangers of judging others?
The Drone
Which character does Orange choose to narrate in 2nd person?
"She regrets that they happened. It doesn't matter that she didn't cause them to happen. She figures she must deserve it in some way."
WHO IS THIS ABOUT?
What group of indigenous people are referred to in the prologue as "the generation born in the city. We belong to the city, and cities belong to the earth"
Urban Indians/Natives
Which character starts and finishes the novel?
Tony Loneman
What is the name of the city AND state where the majority of the novel takes place?
Oakland, California
Who are Blue's biological parents?
Jacquie & Harvey
In Octavio's childhood, what bird does he shoot with a BB gun, foreshadowing his relationship with violence?
Mourning Dove (you must have written this exactly)
Orvil's fear that he isn't 'Native enough' reflects what larger message about cultural identity?
There is no single correct or authentic definition of how to be Native
To humanize him, show readers his trauma, allow him the opportunity for empathy
WHO SAYS:
"There's almost too much information out there. The internet is like a brain trying to figure out a brain."
Edwin Black
In the Prologue, what image is described as being projected and broadcasted on televisions?
Indian Head test pattern
Tony feels people staring at him because of his appearance for 2 different reasons between the beginning and end of the novel. What are they?
The drome, THEN the regalia
Which two characters have unknown fates of life or death at the end of the book?
Orvil & Edwin
Which 3 characters work at the Indian Center that plans the Big Oakland Powwow?
Edwin, Calvin, Blue
What does Blue's teddy, Two Shoes, symbolize?
Childhood innocence, comfort, influence of her past
The CENTRAL theme of There There revolves around...
Native Belonging/Identity
Why is it significant that Tony Loneman's perspective both opens and closes the novel?
Tony comes full circle after starting simply as somebody judged for the Drome/criminal activity to somebody trying to save others from violence
"He doesn't hope the way he hoped he would. He doesn't know what he expected to find. Being Indian didn't fit either."
WHO IS THIS ABOUT?
Orvil Red Feather
"needed a place to be together"
community, togetherness, belonging, being with others who understand their heritage, etc.
What seemingly innocent activity does Daniel Gonzales engage in earlier in the novel that foreshadows his involvement in the powwow?
flying his drone
Which character came up with the name "Big Oakland Powwow" ?
Calvin Johnson
Although their story lines differ, what struggle do Orvil & Edwin share?
Native identity/belonging, wanting a stronger connection to their heritage
What recurring image connects the historical violence of the Prologue to the powwow's conclusion?
Blood/Bloodshed
What common consequence of generational trauma is reflected in the experiences of Jacquie, Opal, Blue, and Orvil?
disconnection from family
Why does Orange interrupt the characters' narratives with the Interlude just before their stories begin converging?
To connect the characters to collective Native history AND/OR to build suspense and anticipation before the powwow
WHOSE NARRATION SAYS:
"The system scared you so you thought you had to follow the rules, but we were learning that that sh** was fu***** flimsy. You could do what you could get away with."
Octavio Gomez
What is the "native blood quantum" system (from 1700s) that is described in the Interlude?
Genetic/heritage based measurement used to define the rights of native peoples
"If you were at least half Native, you didn't have the same rights as white people."
What earlier detail involving the Coliseum's security becomes an especially ironic form of foreshadowing once the shooting begins?
Thomas repeatedly triggers the metal detector but is allowed inside
Dene Oxendene
How do Jacquie and Opal respond differently to the trauma of their shared past?
MUST identify how BOTH respond/cope
Jacquie-addiction/recovery, running away
Opal- superstition, control
Orvil - performing and wanting to belong
Tony - hiding and wanting to blend in under cover for robbery
Dene's storytelling project challenges what historical pattern in the representation of Native Americans?
Native stories being erased, stereotyped, or told by outsiders rather than by Native people themselves.
Despite the novel's many examples of suffering, what does Orange suggest is dangerous about defining Native identity primarily through tragedy?
It reduces Native people to victims and overlooks their individuality, resilience, and humanity.
"And he tries, he really tries to see it as being okay. It just seems like young people have taken over the place. Even the old people in charge, they're acting like kids."
WHO IS THIS ABOUT?
Bill Davis
In the Interlude, Orange explains, "we didn't have last names before they came"
What is the reason that Natives were given last names?
"when they decided they needed to keep track of us"
Why is it ironic that in the opening chapter, Tony describes himself wearing his regalia?
Tony dies in the same regalia
How did Tony Loneman first come to recognize his physical appearance ("the Drome") at six years old?
Looking at his reflection in the TV screen
Despite their different backgrounds, what similar formative childhood experience shaped Tony Loneman and Octavio Gomez?
Both grew up with absent parents and were raised primarily by their grandmothers, Maxine and Fina.
Beyond a physical location, what larger concept does Orange explore through the recurring idea of “there”?
Belonging / A sense of home
How does the novel's fragmented narrative structure reinforce the theme of interconnectedness?
The seemingly separate storylines gradually converge, demonstrating how individual lives are connected despite their different experiences.
What effect does Orange create by making the chapters increasingly short as the powwow turns violent?
acceleration, urgency, danger, suspense
Who is described as:
"One of those big, lumbering Indians. Six feet, two thirty, chip on the shoulder so heavy it makes them lean"
Thomas Frank
What is the Cheyenne word Opal's mom described to her that "means spider and trickster and white man"
Veho
What is the irony of Dene's commitment to his documentary, given the way his part of the story ends?
How does Thomas make peace with his death?
By referring to it as the State