Cogewea, the Half-Blood · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The endnotes provide historical and cultural annotations, including the Okanogan legend of the Shoyahpee, the medicine man's power, the tragic story of Green-blanket Feet (Sophia Pelkey), and critiques of the Indian Bureau's mistreatment of
What happens
The endnotes provide historical and cultural annotations, including the Okanogan legend of the Shoyahpee, the medicine man's power, the tragic story of Green-blanket Feet (Sophia Pelkey), and critiques of the Indian Bureau's mistreatment of tribes.
Themes in this chapter
Colonialism and Dispossession
The endnotes detail the looting of Indian lands and the government's role in the Blackfeet tragedy and other dispossessions.
Loss and Mourning
Sophia Pelkey's loss of her children and her subsequent mourning are central to the Green-blanket Feet narrative.
Spirituality and Tradition
The endnotes discuss medicine men's powers, the Happy Hunting Ground, and the significance of the Thunderbird.
Characters to notice
- Stemteemä
Narrates the tradition of the Shoyahpee's second coming and the story of Green-blanket Feet.
- Sophia Pelkey
Her tragic story of pursuing her stolen children is detailed, earning her the sobriquet 'Green-blanket Feet.'
- Robert Pelkey
Sophia's husband who deserts her and steals their children.
- Kitty Pelkey
One of the children taken by Robert Pelkey.
- Susan Winegarden
Granddaughter of Sophia Pelkey, who provided the story of Green-blanket Feet.
- Yoom’-tee-bee
A Yakima chief who was mysteriously killed by a medicine man from a distance.
Key passages
“The Okanogans, unacquainted with the destination of the migratory birds, believed that they flew to the spirit land, at the approach of winter, whence they returned with the coming of spring.”
The Okanogans thought birds migrated to the afterlife in winter and came back in spring.
Explains a traditional belief about bird migration.
“This attributive power of the medicine man to accomplish fatal injury from great distances, is not at all unusual.”
Medicine men were believed to be able to kill from afar, which was not considered rare.
Describes the supernatural power attributed to medicine men.
“The partisan historian has ever loyally refrained from touching on the moral shortcomings of our border heroes.”
Historians have avoided mentioning the moral failings of frontier heroes.
Critique of historical omissions regarding Indian wives of army officers.
“The general reader does not realize the gross and petty wrongs to which the individual Indian is subjected, even in the courts of justice.”
Most readers are unaware of the injustices Indians face in the legal system.
Introduces examples of legal discrimination against Indians.