My Name Is Not Easy

$17.99 US

Advance Praise for
My Name Is Not Easy

$20.95 CAN

DEBBY DAHL EDWARDSON

has lived at the northern most tip of North

My name is not easy. My name is hard like

America in Barrow, Alaska, for over thirty years.

ocean ice grinding at the shore or wind

She married into the Ińupiaq community and

“Haunting and deftly composed.…With fi erce love and fi rst-hand
pounding the tundra…

most of what she writes about is set within this

culture. It’s not the culture she was born into, but
knowledge, Edwardson brings beautiful, harrowing, courageous lives
Luke knows his Ińupiaq name is full of sounds

it’s the one she feels she belongs to in every sense
along the Arctic Ocean to readers.”

white people can’t say. He knows he’ll have to

of the word. While
My Name is Not Easy
is fi ction,

—Howard Norman, author of
What Is Left the Daughter

leave it behind when he and his brothers are sent

it was inspired by real stories from a number of

to boarding school hundreds of miles from their

boarding schools that once operated throughout

“Here is a book from the far North that shows a diff erent, and equally
Arctic village.

Alaska.

important side of the Civil Rights Movement.…Th

e words soar off the

page and then, beautifully bring us home.”

At Sacred Heart School things are diff erent.

Blessing’s Bead
, her debut novel, was chosen by

—Helen Frost, author of
Crossing Stones

Instead of family, there are students—Eskimo,

Booklist
as one of the Top Ten First Novels for Indian, White—who line up on diff erent sides of

Youth and a Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth

“An extraordinary tale of love, betrayal, and above all, survival.…Th
is

the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going

title in 2010. It was also selected an International
is a novel that, like landscape, marks a reader’s soul forever.”

on. And instead of comforting words like
tutu
and Reading Association Notable Book for a Global

—Ellen Levine, author of
Freedom’s Children: Young Civil Rights

maktak
, there’s English. Speaking Ińupiaq—or Society and an American Library Association Best

Activists Tell Th

eir Own Story

any native language—is forbidden. And Father

Book for Young Adults. Visit her online at:

Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is

www.debbydahledwardson.com

“My Name Is Not Easy brought me to tears as I remembered the
ready to slap down those who disobey.

loneliness and confusion I felt when I left my own home in Arctic
Alaska for boarding school.…Th

is young adult novel evokes a time

Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But

and place in the Alaska Native world that is important to remember.”

he’s not the only one. Th

ere’s smart-aleck Amiq, a

Jacket design by Alex Ferrari

—William L. Iggiagruk Hensley, author of
Fifty Miles from Tomorrow:

daring leader—if he doesn’t self destruct; Chickie, Jacket photograph credit © 2011 istockphoto/Phil Date

A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People

blond and freckled, a diff erent kind of outsider;

and small quiet Junior, noticing everything and

writing it all down. Each has their own story to

tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School—and in the wider

world—will never be the same.

www.marshallcavendish.us/kids

Ages 12 up

My Name is Not easy final jkt_.indd 1

18/07/2011 8:49 PM

M A R S H A L L C A V E N D I S H

my name is n ot easy final text_.indd i

18/07/2011 8:25 PM

Text copyright © 2011 by Debby Dahl Edwardson

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Request for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591. Tel: (914) 332-8888, fax: (914) 332-1888. Web site: www.marshallcavendish.us/kids

Th

is book is a work of fi ction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are used fi ctitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Other Marshall Cavendish Offi

ces: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196 • Marshall Cavendish International (Th ailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke,

12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Th ailand • Marshall Cavendish

(Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Edwardson, Debby Dahl.

My name is not easy / by Debby Dahl Edwardson. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: Alaskans Luke, Chickie, Sonny, Donna, and Amiq relate their experiences in the early 1960s when they are forced to attend a Catholic boarding school where, despite diff erent tribal affi liations, they come to

fi nd a sort of family and home.

ISBN 978-0-7614-5980-4 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-0-7614-6091-6 (ebook) 1. Indians of North America—Alaska--Juvenile fi ction. 2.

Alaska—History—1959—Juvenile fi ction. [1. Indians of North America—Alaska—Fiction. 2. Alaska—History—1959—Fiction. 3.

Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 4. Catholic schools—Fiction. 5. Boarding schools—Fiction. 6. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.E2657My 2011

[Fic]—dc22

2011002108

“Unchained Melody” lyrics by Hy Zaret, music by Alex North,

© 1955 (Renewed) FRANK MUSIC CORP. All Rights Reserved.

Reprinted by permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.

Book design by Alex Ferrari

Editor: Melanie Kroupa

Printed in China (E)

First edition

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

my name is n ot easy final text_.indd ii

18/07/2011 8:25 PM

For Saganna—George L. Edwardson,

who taught me to see the world through his eyes.

It’s a good world.

“Oh, only for so short a while you have loaned us to each other.

Because we take form in your act of drawing us,
And we take life in your painting us,

And we breathe in your singing us.

But only for so short a while have you loaned us to each other.”

—Father’s Aztec Prayer

my name is n ot easy final text_.indd iii

18/07/2011 8:25 PM

Contents

PART I: THE DAY THE EARTH TURNED OVER (1960–1961)
My Name Is Not Easy /
Luke 3

Looking for a Tree /
Chickie 10

Never Cry /
Luke 17

Indian Country /
Sonny and Chickie 28

How Hunters Survive /
Luke 37

Snowbird /
Chickie 49

Kickball /
Sonny 56

Th

e Size of Th

ings Back Home /
Luke, Sonny & Chickie 65

PART II: THE DAY THE SOLDIERS CAME (1961–1962)
75

Rose Hips and Chamomile /
Donna 77

Burnt Off erings /
Luke 85

Military Trash /
Chickie 100

Th

e Day the Soldiers Came /
Luke 108

Th

e Meanest Heathens /
Sonny and Amiq 119

PART III: WHEN THE TIME COMES (1962–1963)
137

Coupons and Bomb Shelters /
Chickie 139

Our Uncle’s Gun /
Luke 149

Eskimo Kiss /
Chickie 155

Forever /
Luke 161

my name is n ot easy final text_.indd iv

18/07/2011 8:25 PM

PART IV: THE EARTH CAN’T SHAKE US (1963–1964)
167

He’s My Brother /
Chickie 169

Eskimo Rodeo /
Luke 177

Unchained Melody /
Donna 186

A Weak Spot or a Secret Strength /
Luke 193

Our Story
197

Civil Disobedience
216

Good Friday
228

EPILOGUE: A NEW GUN /
Luke
240

AUTHOR’S NOTE
245

my name is n ot easy final text_.indd v

18/07/2011 8:25 PM

my name is n ot easy final text_.indd vi

18/07/2011 8:25 PM

PART I

The Day the Earth Turned Over

19601961

Th

e elders say the earth has turned over seven times, pole to pole,
north to south.

Freezing and thawing, freezing and thawing,

fl ipping over and tearing apart.

Changing everything.

We were there.

We were always there.

Th

ey say no one survived the ice age but they’re wrong.

Th

ere were seven ice ages and we survived.

We survived them all. . . .

my name is n ot easy final text_.indd Sec1:1

18/07/2011 8:25 PM

my name is n ot easy final text_.indd Sec1:2

18/07/2011 8:25 PM