The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Lesson Plan

Junior tells us that the biggest difference between Indians and white people is that Indians have more deaths and more funerals. What does Junior means when he says this?

Students will probably interpret this to mean that Indians are more likely to die young or to die from preventable causes. Life appears to be shorter and more hazardous on the rez.

Some students may notice another possible reason why white people attend fewer funerals. A couple of times Junior has pointed out that white people seems less connected to each other. While Indians seem to know everything about everyone on their reservation, a white person may know almost nothing about the person living next...