INDIAN STYLE
Written by James P. Wortmann
Cover Art by Lynn Jorgenson
Illustrated by Victor Xong
Copyright © 2013 James P. Wortmann
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations used in critical articles or reviews
First Printing: 2013
ISBN #978-1-4947-7642-8
James P. Wortmann
Portland, Oregon 97203
www.IndianStylebook.com
Trademarks that appear in this book have been printed in initial capital letters (i.e. Frisbee)
Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1. One Giant Leap
2. The Times of Their Lives
3. A Good Start
4. Words Can Be Hurtful
5. Never Too Late
6. The Smallest Things
7. Big Beautiful World
8. Learning is Wonderful
9. Everyone has a Story
10. Ready for Life
11. Beautiful People
Chapter Questions
This book is dedicated to Native Peoples
Some proceeds from the sale of Indian Style go to helping Native American families in Multnomah County, Oregon
Visit www.IndianStylebook.com
Acknowledgements
The author of Indian Style would like to acknowledge and thank the following people for their contributions to this book: Silas Wortmann, Susan Elshire, Jim Baker J.D., Sally McSweeney, Eric Wortmann M.D., Nancy Smith Klos, Sheryl Abbott, Paul Ross, Paul Ezelle, Nina Kramer, John Mercer, Dr. Frank PhD, Berry Michaels, The Kowalski Family and Bruce Cockburn.
Thank you also to his editor, Molly McKitterick.
1
One Giant Leap
On the day that American astronauts first walked on the moon, people around the world were filled with a sense of wonder. The dream of touching something so far away had finally come true.
Tim and his family watched on television as the event took place. Their living room filled with cheers as American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren, stepped out of their spacecraft and onto the moon.
Tim's father, John, worked for a company that made parts used on the Apollo 11 spacecraft. This added to the pride that he and his family felt on that great summer day. They were proud Americans!
Ralph, the oldest child in the family, was eleven years old. Tim, the youngest was five. Steven, Bobby, Kyle and Cathy came in between.
Their mother, Rosie, was a special person. "It's not easy raising six children so close in age," she told her friends, "but I love it."
They knew that her smile and kindness would have been present, even if she had five more. Rosie had a gift of patience, and a gift of love.
2
The Times of Their Lives
Shortly after the moonwalk, the kids began a new school year. For the only time in their lives, all six of them went to the same school. Between kindergarten and sixth grade, third was the only grade not occupied by anyone in Tim's family.
Returning to their studies meant earlier bedtimes, and the end to sleeping in on weekdays. Changing routines was not easy, but getting organized was fun.
The children would come home from school, eat a snack, and work on their homework. From there, they headed outdoors to ride bikes and play.
If the weather was cold or rainy, the kids were likely inside the house playing games. Out in the garage, games of ping-pong were played regardless of the weather.
One of their favorite activities was riding down hills on their Flexible Racers. Flexies, as they were called, were sleds on wheels. They were very well built, and made for riding on paved streets.
In kindergarten, Tim learned how to get along with the other children in school.
"There are three things that you need to remember," the teacher told Tim and his classmates: "One, keep your hands to yourselves. Two, only take care of you. Three, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."
3
A Good Start
Kindergarten is where Tim learned how to sit Indian style. Sitting Indian style meant sitting down on your bottom, with legs bent at the knees and crossed in front of your body.
When Tim sat Indian style, he knew that it was time to be a good listener. "I like sitting Indian style," Tim told his family.
Today's young children are taught to sit crisscross. Crisscross is just a different name for sitting Indian style.
Once in a while, Tim's mom took him to a toy store after school. "Can we go to the Indian Store?" Tim asked.
The toy store they went to wasn't really called the Indian Store, but it had many Indian toys in it.
There were real leather moccasins, Indian dolls, Indian crafts, and toy bows and arrows too. The store also sold toy horses: black stallions, chestnut brown mares, brown and white pintos, and butter scotch palominos.
"I love to play like an Indian," Tim said.
4
Words Can Be Hurtful
Tim believed that he lived in the best family in the world.
He and his siblings lived in a cozy cocoon. They were secure and felt protected from the world outside.
This love and attention helped Tim in becoming a likeable child, as he grew older. He was pleasant and he was polite.
Another part of this love and attention turned Tim into a person who needed to be noticed.
He often did this by saying, and doing things that he thought were funny.
He said things like: "Only rich people own poodles." Or, "People who put up white lights for the holidays are boring!"
Many people laughed at Tim's witty remarks. In school, he learned to mimic jokes that he heard from other kids.
Sometimes, the jokes poked fun at people in unkind ways. They asked things like: "Did you hear about the Polish boy who broke his arm raking leaves? He fell out of the tree."
Or, "How do you make an Italian crazy? Put a nickel in a round room, and tell him that it's in the corner."
Tim also heard unkind jokes told about dark-skinned people, disabled people, and others as well.
Before long, telling jokes became easy for Tim.
Making fun of other people made Tim feel smart!
There were times when a kid would call another kid retarded because he or she had made some kind of a mistake.
Sometimes, they called Tim retarded when he did something they thought was stupid. Being called retarded made him feel bad!
Sometimes, he would be the one to call someone a retard, and other kids would laugh.
As he got older, Tim heard jokes about how dumb blond-haired girls were. He heard fun being made about someone else's mother.
He did not laugh then!
Instead, he thought about the blond-haired people he knew. Even though his hair was brown, these people were like him in many ways. He was not dumb.
Tim thought about all of the mothers that he knew. They were not dumb. They were nice, and he liked them.
5
Never Too Late
One day, when Tim was in third grade, he and his mother were talking about how things were going at school. "Mom, do you know anything about the country of Poland?" Tim asked.
His mom thought that maybe his class had been learning about different countries. "Poland is in Europe, next to the country of Germany," she told him. She went on to tell a story about her grandfather Joseph. "Your Great-Grandpa Joseph grew up in Germany, and his life there was very hard. He moved with his wife and children to the United States of America in hopes of finding a better life. They trave
led across the Atlantic Ocean on a large ship. When they arrived in New York, he found work as a furniture maker.
Joseph worked very hard to make his dreams come true." Then she added, "We are lucky to have a person like him in our family."
Tim's eyes filled with tears after he heard his mother's story. He thought about Poland being next to Germany. He remembered the Polish people he had made fun of. They too were hard-working people. They too had families that they loved.
Tim hugged his mother and cried.
He told her about the jokes he had been telling about Polish people. He told her about the fun he had made of other people too.
His mom looked him in the eyes and said, "Sometimes, people are made fun of because they look different. Sometimes, people are made fun of because they act different, and sometimes, people are made fun of by someone who really likes them, but doesn't know a better way of showing those feelings."
"It is not okay to make fun of people Tim, no one likes to be made fun of."
Tim listened carefully to his mother's words. He decided that it was time to make changes in how he treated other people.
"From now on, I will try to be kind to everyone," he told his mother.
6
The Smallest Things
In fourth grade, Tim joined the cub scouts. They went on fun field trips, and were taught many things about nature.
One boy in Tim's troop was different from the others. His name was Sam.
Sam looked like many other children his age. He acted like them in many ways, as well. He liked to run, ride bikes and watch television. Macaroni and cheese was his favorite meal in the world, especially if it had corn bread on the side.
Sam was learning disabled. He could not read, and his speech was not easy to understand. Like Tim, Sam was eight years old, but he was not in third grade.
Sam went to a school for mentally disabled children. At his school he was taught things that most children learn in preschool.
People with learning disabilities learn differently than others. Sometimes they cannot learn what other people are learning.
When people stare at them or feel sorry for them, they feel like they are different. They want to feel like they are like everyone else.
Disabled people work hard to be successful in life, and they feel good about what they can do!
Back when Tim went to school, people who were learning disabled were often called retarded.
Tim's cub scout troop had a Halloween party one year at Paul's house. Paul was a cub scout, and his mother was the den mother. The den mother was in charge of the troop.
He and his mother made treats to eat, and poured apple juice to drink. They put out games, and materials for making crafts. Paul's father helped by hanging black and orange colored streamers along the walls.
After everyone had arrived, they played a fun game of Pin the Ghost on the Haunted House.
Paul called all the kids into the living room, where a record player had been set up.
Some of them took seats around the room, while others stood.
Outside, the sun was almost gone for the day. The wind blew through the trees and made a rustling sound.
Paul turned on the record player, and the lights were turned out! A Halloween record started to play. It had scary sounds and haunting noises on it. The kids had fun listening to the spooky sounds.
Sam was sitting next to Tim. He grabbed Tim's arm and said, "I am scared."
"You'll be okay," Tim said, and walked him into the other room. There they made masks out of brown paper bags and drank juice.
Sam told Tim in his special way, "Thank you, you are my friend."
After that day, the two boys started doing more activities together. They rode bikes. They listened to music on the radio. They looked at comic books together.
Sam enjoyed it when Tim read to him.
Sam's mother liked Tim. She was happy that her son had someone to play with. She told Tim, "You are my son's first friend. Because of you, he is happy."
When Tim gave Sam the gift of friendship, he received the gift of love in return. He learned that all people should be treated with respect.
7
Big Beautiful World
The summer after he finished fifth grade, Tim and his family went to the country of Italy for a vacation.
Many Italians rode bicycles to get around instead of driving cars. Many of them grew their own vegetables and made their own foods.
Tim told his parents, "The Italians are teaching us ways to live a healthier life."
"You are so right Tim," said his father. "Good health is the key to a good life!"
Tim's family visited Rome, an Italian city that is thousands of years old. Rome has many beautiful old buildings. It is filled with world-famous paintings, statues, and fountains as well.
After a morning of sight seeing, they stopped to eat lunch at a park. When they had finished their lunch, they started throwing a Frisbee around.
Before long, two Italian boys came to watch. "Can we play?" One of them asked in broken English.
"Of course, please join us," my father said. They all had fun running and jumping, throwing and catching.
After the game, they sat down and talked.
"I am Stephano", one of them said, while reaching out his hand. "This is mi amico - my friend - Paulo. We are nine years old."
Tim told the boys that his family was from the United States.
They had many questions for him: "Do you surf?" "Have you been to Disneyland?" "Have you visited the giant redwood trees in California?" "Have you seen the Statue of Liberty?"
"Yes, we have visited the redwood trees," Tim said. "They are as tall as the sky!"
"We have been to Disneyland too, two times," said Ralph.
"My dad surfed when he was young, but none of us kids have been surfing," said Cathy.
Tim told the Italian boys that they had only seen the Statue of Liberty in books and on television. "What do you like to do for fun?" he asked.
"I like to ride bicycles," said Paulo.
"I like to fly my kite, and play indoor games too," Stephano added.
The boys looked sad. "We love to play, but we have to work too!"
"I work for my father, selling newspapers on the street," Stephano said.
"I help my parents at their flower shop," said Paulo.
Tim had never met children who worked at jobs other than doing chores at home.
He said goodbye to his new friends, and thought about how nice his life really was.
8
Learning is Wonderful
Back in school, Tim read that there are different kinds of Indians: Indian people from the country of India are known as, East Indians. Indians from North and South America are called American Indians.
American Indians are also known as Native Americans. They are called this because they were the first people to live in America. They were proud of who they were, and only took from the land what they needed to live.
Many Native Americans call the planet we live on mother earth. They believe that the spirits of plants, animals, people, water and earth connect all life.
Tim really liked this idea, but he had trouble understanding it.
He wondered about the name Native Americans, and asked his teacher a question. "If Indians were the first people on American land, and Americans were the first people on the moon, could we be called, Native Moonies?"
Tim was serious, but the class erupted in laughter.
His teacher looked at him and said, "Good question, but the answer is no. If we had stayed on the moon, and were able to live there for a long period of time, then the answer would be yes."
"However Tim, like the Native Americans, we should be proud to have been first. Does that satisfy your question?"
"Sure it does," said Tim.
One day, Tim watched as a family moved into a house on his block. He asked his parents if they could go over and say hello. Tim's family liked to g
reet new neighbors.
"What a wonderful idea," his mother said. "What can we take to them to make them feel welcome?"
The whole family pitched in. His Dad baked a delicious apple pie. His mom gathered flowers from their garden. The children made the family a nice card.
Tim would never forget the surprised look on their faces when they opened up their front door. They looked at Tim and his family. Then they saw all the homemade gifts. There were handshakes, hugs, and even some tears of happiness from both of their families.
"We have come here from Poland," said a boy, named Eddie. "My parents, they don't speak much English, but they hope to learn."
Eddie was eleven years old, and in a short time, he and Tim would become good friends.
One day Eddie was in Tim's garage. They were having fun working on their bikes. Tim was feeling bold. He said, "Eddie, please don't be mad at me for telling you this."
"Telling me what?" Eddie said.
"I used to tell jokes about Polish people," Tim said slowly. "I didn't mean the bad things I said, and I am sorry. I was just trying to be funny."
Eddie stared at Tim for a moment and then began to smile.
"Why are you smiling?" Tim asked.
"Because I too have told the jokes...about Americans, but I didn't know you Tim." The boys both smiled and laughed as they got on their bikes and rode down the street.
The two boys both laughed until their stomachs hurt.
Later that day, Tim remembered the Native American belief that all life is connected. He thought about the giant redwood trees that had been growing for thousands of years. He thought about kids around the world, having fun being kids.
He thought about the connection of all living things, and he smiled.
9
Everyone has a Story
In seventh grade, Tim's best friend was a girl named Suzie. Suzie and her brother were the only black children in the school that Tim attended.
Black people who are born in the United States are often called African Americans. In the same way, Tim could be called German American.
Suzie felt comfortable with Tim. They liked to study, draw, and play games together.
Although they were the same age, she often talked as if she were older than he. She was the oldest child in her family, and he was the youngest in his.
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