Rez Dogs

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Middle Grade | Published in 2021

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-12

Chapters 13-15

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary: “Beadwork”

Malian works on her traditional Wabanaki beadwork, perfecting a bracelet. She learned beadwork from her grandmother who is a champion beader. Malian takes a break to sit outside and watch the clouds, passing her grandfather who is carving wood. She thinks about how difficult it is to fill the time. After eight weeks, she is starting to get bored and understands why the muskrateers broke into the school gym to play basketball, even though she doesn’t condone it.

Malsum hears the car before Malian does. He walks with a low growl to the end of the driveway. A white van with “OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT” written on the side pulls up. Malian immediately knows that the blond woman with a clipboard must be from social services. When Malsum’s growl gets deeper, the woman gets back in her van and shouts to Malian to get her dog. Malian says: “Not my dog […] He belongs to himself” (90). The woman says she needs to speak to Malian’s grandparents, to make sure Malian is in “a fit environment” (91). With Malsum by her side, growling, Malian tells the woman she is fine and refuses the woman’s demand to go into the house. Malian gives the woman her parents’ phone number and tells her to call them if she has questions before putting on a cheery smile and saying: “Thanks so much for your concern […] bye-bye now” (93).

Grandpa Roy comes out and says that he wished he’d had a dog like Malsum when he was younger—it might have saved him from being taken away to the boarding school.

Chapter 8 Summary: “A Moose Story”

Grandma Frances passes some moose meat over to Malian, urging her to eat. She asks Malian whether she has heard the moose story. Malian knows the story but says she would like to hear it, so Grandma Frances tells her:

A family of moose were sitting around their fire when a pipe floated into the lodge. None of the moose touched it. Finally, a young bull moose said: “I’ll be the one to take that pipe” (100). As soon as he touched the pipe, he found himself running through the snow, being chased by a hunter. The moose turned and let the hunter shoot him, whereupon the moose found himself back in the lodge, unharmed, with the other moose. The moose explains, “it’s a good thing to accept a gift like that. Whenever a human hunts that way, it’s good for us to give ourselves. That way he only takes our meat but does not harm out spirit” (102).

Grandma looks at Malian and tells her that her uncle Philip offered a gift of tobacco before hunting the moose they are eating.

Chapter 9 Summary: “Potatoes”

When it rains, Malsum lies under the porch and keeps watch. Grandpa Roy thinks the rain might turn to spring snow, “white manure,” which reminds him that it is time to plant his potatoes. The rain also reminds Roy about an old story, “the good planter” (114), which he shares:

Notkikad (the planter) gave daily thanks to the Creator and his crops were usually the best. He continued to give daily thanks even when his crops began to fail because of frost, excessive heat, birds, and finally another early frost which killed his last seeds. That night Notkikad had a dream in which he heard a voice saying he would receive a gift of seeds, and sure enough, he woke to find a bag of big seeds at the foot of his bed. The snow melted so he planted the seeds and the sun shone for seven days, allowing the seeds to grow. Grampa Roy explains that special time of year is called “Nibun Alnoba, a person’s summer. The white people call it Indian summer” (118).

Malian enjoys her grandparents’ stories. She appreciates the distraction they provide while she waits for the slow Internet to connect so she can do her schoolwork, or the way they sit together and watch Star Trek on Netflix.

Chapters 7-9 Analysis

Traditional Indigenous skills, such as beading and wood carving, are woven into the narrative. For example, Grandma Frances is a champion beader and Grampa is carving a wooden bear. However, Bruchac’s Indigenous characters are not one-dimensional or archetypes of Indigenous American elders. Grandma and Grampa also enjoy movies and binge-watching the original Star Trek series, highlighting the coexistence of traditional and modern life on the reservation.

The novel shows how Indigenous Americans still endure judgmental and suspicious interference by governmental agencies. This is illustrated by the official who shows up from social services, ostensibly to check that Malian is in a “fit” environment. Malsum protects Malian from the official and Malian shows her respect to Malsum by telling the official that Malsum “belongs to himself” (90)— subtly pointing out that living things are given freedom and respect on the reservation, unlike the way that government agencies treat Indigenous nations. Grandma’s story of the tobacco offering from the hunter to the willing moose is another example of the respect and gratitude shown to living creatures by the Wabanaki. By telling Malian the story as they eat moose meat, Grandma is ensuring that the wisdom and sentiment behind their culture is being passed to a new generation.

The novel emphasizes how the Wabanaki value working with nature rather than trying to control it. For example, Grampa shows gratitude for the early spring snow (“white manure”). He tells the story of the “planter,” who always gave gratitude to the Creator despite multiple setbacks, and was rewarded with seed and a week of unusually sunny weather. This legend is renowned enough that white people still call unusually good weather right before winter an “Indian summer” (118). Indigenous Americans call it “a person’s summer” (118), highlighting the inclusivity of Indigenous culture.