How i became a ghost, p.10
How I Became A Ghost, page 10
Thanks to Steve Hawkins of the Oklahoma Historical Society’s research division, for guiding us to a good map of the various Choctaw Trails of Tear routes. I also want to acknowledge fellow members of the Choctaw Literary Revival. Inspired by Louis Owens, they include D.L. Birchfield, Roxy Gordon, Ron Querry, James Bluewolf, Phil Morgan, Lee Hester, Jim Barnes, LeAnne Howe, Clara Sue Kidwell, Rilla Askew, Donna Akers, John D. Berry, Devon A. Mihesuah, and Greg Rodgers.
I am forever indebted to Dr. Joe Moore for supporting my efforts to record tribal stories. Special thanks to museum advocates Susan Feller, Mary Robinson, and Mississippi Choctaw Martha Fergusen. Yakoke to friends and fire-lighters Charley Jones, Geary Hobson, Joe Bruchac, and Les Hannah.
About the Author
Tim Tingle is an Oklahoma Choctaw and an award-winning author and storyteller. His great-great-grandfather, John Carnes, walked the Trail of Tears in 1835. In 1993, Tingle retraced the Trail to Choctaw homelands in Mississippi and began recording stories of tribal elders. His first book, Walking the Choctaw Road, was the result, and in 2005, it was named Book of the Year in both Oklahoma and Alaska. He lives in Canyon Lake, Texas.
Discussion Questions
1. In How I Became a Ghost, there are many ghosts who make appearances throughout the story. Can you name three of them? Can you say whose experience inspired the name of the book?
2. What do Isaac and his family mean by “Treaty Talk”?
3. How did the older Choctaws say good-bye to their home?
4. What does chi pisa lachike mean? Why is this phrase so important to Choctaws? Why is it important to the story?
5. Why does Joseph hide from the soldiers? Now tell his escape story as if you were the panther.
6. Why does Naomi refuse to try and escape from the soldiers? What happens to change her mind?
7. Have you ever met a dog like Jumper? What makes him so special? Describe the Snow Monsters and how they came to be.
8. Would you like to spend a day with Isaac before he becomes a ghost, or after? Why?
9. If you were to be a ghost for a day, what would you spend it doing?
10. Who is Nita and what does Nita want more than anything?
11. What role do the Choctaw bonepickers have in Choctaw country?
12. When Naomi has a chance to leave the soldier who threatened to kill her to the mighty jaws of the wolf, why does she step in and save the soldier’s life?
13. Have you ever forgiven someone who wronged you? If so, why?
14. Who is General Pushmataha, and why does he appear in our story?
Tim Tingle, How I Became A Ghost
