The Medicine Bag: Long Answer Questions part 2
Question 6: Give a description of Grandpa’s outlook and behaviour after Martin’s friends Hank tells him about his brother’s meeting with the old man.
Answer: Although Martin tried very hard to stop them but his friends came over to his house to see “the great Indian of Bell View Drive”. Martin’s best friend, Hank said that since his own brother had already seen him three times, Grandpa should be well enough to see them too.
When Martin and his friends arrived at his house, Grandpa was already sitting on the patio. He was wearing his red shirt but that day he also wore a “fringed leather vest, decorated with beads”. Instead of his regular cowboy boots he wore ” beaded moccasins on his feet “.
He also had on his “old black hat” which had been “brushed” and the “feathers in the beaded headband was proudly erect”. His hair lay in “silver strands over the red shirt collar”.
Martin and his friends stared and one of them whispered “wow!” in amazement.
Grandpa looked up at Martin, his eyes twinkling as if he were laughing. He nodded and Martin’s face felt warm. He knew that Grandpa had understood his fear about him being embarrassed.
Then Grandpa greeted the boys and Martin’s friends lined up to shake his hand as Martin introduced them. They were so polite with Grandpa that Martin nearly laughed.
Then Grandpa told Martin, that he knew his grandson, would be bringing his friends so he dressed in his “good clothes”. Martin offered his friends lemonade but no one respond because they were so occupied listening to Grandpa’s story of how he had killed the deer for his vest.
Grandpa did most of the talking while Martin’s friends were there. Martin was very proud of his Grandpa and amazed at how “respectfully quiet” his friends were.
As his friends left, they shook Grandpa’s hand again and told Martin that Grandpa was “really great”. They said they did not blame him for keeping his Grandpa all to himself and asked if they could come again.
This meeting had changed Martin’s thought about Grandpa completely.
Question 7 : Explain the vision quest of Grandpa’s father?
Answer: Grandpa’s father in his early manhood, ” made a vision quest” to find “a spirit guide” for his life. At that time the great Teton Sioux people had just been forced to live on reservations. There was a strong need for guidance from Wakantaka, the Great Spirit. Many young men were filled with “despair” and “hatred”, feeling it was pointless to seek a vision when their traditional life was gone.
However, his father held for onto the old ways. He carefully prepared for the quest with a purifying sweat bath. Then he went alone to the top of a high hill to fast and pray. After three days, he received “a sacred dream” in which he found “the white man’s iron”.
He didn’t understand the vision, as the white people were their enemies then. When he came down the hill, he found the broken piece of iron kettle, which he believed confirmed his dream. He took the piece of iron for his medicine bag, which he made from elk skin years earlier.
When he returned to his village, he told his dream to the wise elders. They gave him the name ” Iron Shell”, but they also didn’t understand the dream’s meaning. This first Iron Shell kept the piece of iron with him always, believing it would protect him from evils of unhappy and sad days.
Then a terrible event occurred for Iron Shell. Soldiers forcibly took him and several other young men from their homes and sent them to a white man’s boarding school far away. Iron Shell felt very “angry and lonesome” for his parents and the young girl he had married before he was taken away.
Initially Iron Shell refused to cooperate with the teachers who tried to change him and did not attempt to learn.
One day, it was his turn to work in the school’s blacksmith shop. As he entered the building, he realised that his special power or “medicine” had led him there to learn and work with the white man’s iron.
Then Iron Shell became a blacksmith and worked at this job when he returned to the reservation. He cherished the medicine bag for his entire life.
When Iron Shell was old and Grandpa was an adult, Iron Shell gave the medicine bag to him because no one was performing the vision quest ritual anymore.
Question 8 : Write a note on Iron Shell’s life.
Answer: Iron Shell was an important character in Grandpa’s story about the medicine bag. He was a Native American who lived in the area known as Montana and Dakota. Iron Shell was Grandpa’s father. He was a person who gave much importance to the ancient traditions of his people.
In his early days, he decided to go on a spiritual journey or a “vision quest” to find a “spirit guide” for his life. At that time the Great Sioux people were forced to live on reservation, due to this, many young men were filled with anger and despair and “hatred”, feeling it was pointless to seek a vision when their traditional life was gone.
But Iron Shell held onto the old ways. He prepared for the quest with a purifying sweat bath. Then he went alone to the top of a high hill to fast and pray for three days. He received a sacred dream in which he found the white man’s iron. He didn’t understand the vision as the white men were their enemies then.
When he came down, he found a broken piece of an iron kettle, which confirmed his dream. He kept the piece of iron for his medicine bag, which he had made from elk skin years earlier.
When he returned to his village, he told his dream to the wise elders. They gave him the name Iron Shell but couldn’t understand the dream’s meaning. Iron Shell kept this piece of iron with him always, believing it would protect him from bad things of the sad time.
After some time a terrible thing occurred for Iron Shell. Soldiers forcibly took him and other young men to a white man’s boarding school far away.
Iron Shell felt very “angry and lonesome” for his parents and his newly married wife. Initially he refused to co- operate with the teachers who tried to change him and didn’t attempt to learn.
One day it was his turn to work in school’s blacksmith shop. As he entered the building, he realised that his special power or “medicine” had led him there to learn and work with the white man’s iron.
After that Iron Shell became a blacksmith and worked at this job when he returned to the reservations. He cherished the medicine bag for his entire life.
When Iron Shell became old and Grandpa was an adult, Iron Shell pass the medicine bag to him because no one was performing the vision quest ritual anymore.