My Name Is Not Easy: Part I

by Debby Dahl Edwardson
In the 1960s, an Iñupiaq boy is sent to a boarding school where he is forbidden from acknowledging his native language and customs.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    Jack is sprawled out on the bed reading Life magazine, and Mom’s dipping water from the fifty-five-gallon water drum to make tea for Aapa, my grandpa.
  2. authentic
    not counterfeit or copied
    Bunna’s chasing Isaac across the floor on the opposite side of the room, showing him how to play cowboy with his authentic Roy Rogers gun and holster set.
  3. scuttle
    move about or proceed hurriedly
    I watch Isaac scuttle across the floor, an uneasy feeling stirring in my stomach.
  4. fringe
    the outside boundary or surface of something
    I gaze out the window at our family: a little knot on a fringe of tundra, waving in the wind.
  5. sliver
    (figurative) a small or narrow piece or slice
    Then the plane levels out and sweeps across the tundra, rising slowly up toward the sliver of moon that still hangs in the morning sky.
  6. tang
    a suggestion of some quality
    The air has a sharp tang to it, too, like it’s fixing to snow.
  7. affidavit
    written declaration made under oath
    “It’s a permission form, Mildred, not an affidavit,” Sister says sharply, reading it slowly, like she’s looking for something.
  8. notarize
    authenticate by someone empowered to witness signatures
    “Father will need to have it notarized,” Mildred says, looking up.
  9. infirmary
    a health facility where patients receive treatment
    “Are you boys sick? Maybe I ought to take you to the infirmary? Have you caught the flu?”
  10. taboo
    a ban resulting from social custom or emotional aversion
    “They can’t eat this kind.” He leans up real close to the nuns. “You know. Taboo.”
  11. caribou
    Arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes
    Everybody knows how in the ice cellar you have to store whale meat and caribou meat in separate rooms.
  12. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    Skittish as a wolf.
    Last year she always did the same thing: held her cafeteria tray in front of her chest like it might protect her, trying to find the safest spot to sit.
  13. pawn
    a person used by another to gain an end
    And right now she had her eyes trained on Amiq, who was marching across the cafeteria with his little string of Eskimo pawns.
  14. saunter
    walk leisurely and with no apparent aim
    Amiq sauntered over to the heart of the Eskimo table, grinning down at Chickie as he passed and winking at Donna.
  15. barge
    a flatbottom boat for carrying heavy loads
    It had come north to Kotzebue on the barge, which is how Swede always ordered stuff for the store.
  16. unaccountable
    not to be explained
    “Horse meat!” the bigger one muttered, unaccountably. Horse meat. An English word nobody ever used, laced into an Ińupiaq sentence. Weird.
  17. avert
    turn away or aside
    They all sat there leaning into each other, one body of kids with a whole lot of dark, averted eyes.
  18. matted
    tangled in a dense mass
    He’s got his back to us, and the hair on the back of his head looks matted, like he just woke up.
  19. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    The trees look soft from up here, like tundra grass, billowing in the morning breeze like low-lying clouds.
  20. seasoned
    rendered competent through trial and experience
    “And I bet you’re both seasoned hunters.”
  21. abide
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    “And believe me, Father Mullen cannot abide a runaway.”
  22. patron
    someone who supports or champions something
    “It’s not money. It’s a Saint Christopher medal. He’s the patron saint of travelers,” Donna says.
  23. glare
    look at with a fixed or angry gaze
    I’m wondering about this, too, but when I look at Donna, she has such a lonely look on her face that I say, “Of course they do,” right away, glaring at Evelyn.
  24. animosity
    a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility
    Father Mullen told us that this animosity is due to savage feuds.
  25. eradicate
    destroy completely, as if down to the roots
    It will be our job to teach them to behave as educated Christians, our job to teach them that they must be the ones to eradicate the rampant ignorance and poverty that exists amongst their people.
  26. rampant
    occurring or increasing in an unrestrained way
    It will be our job to teach them to behave as educated Christians, our job to teach them that they must be the ones to eradicate the rampant ignorance and poverty that exists amongst their people.
  27. sidle
    move unobtrusively or furtively
    Rose and Evelyn and the Pete boys sidled up next to Sonny.
  28. sinewy
    possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful
    But Father’s arms were strong and sinewy.
  29. barb
    an aggressive remark directed at a person
    He put a barb in the word for Sonny’s benefit. Sonny glared at him, then looked away.
  30. ruffian
    a cruel and brutal fellow
    In Father’s mouth the word Mr. sounded small and ugly—“do you suppose your mother saved up to send you here just so you could learn to scuffle like a ruffian with your fellow students?”
  31. kerosene
    a flammable hydrocarbon oil used as fuel
    He stared at his feet hard, remembering how his mom had stayed up late at night threading those tiny beads by the smoky light of the kerosene lamp, making slippers.
  32. instinctive
    unthinking
    His eyes were shining with a strange light, and they both backed away, instinctively, both of them suddenly aware of that two-by-four waiting in the corner behind them.
  33. ominously
    in a manner suggesting something bad will happen
    Father’s voice was ominously low, but Sonny looked up, surprised.
  34. deliverance
    recovery or preservation from loss or danger
    Both of them were nodding together, like two heads on one neck, both of them eyeing the door for deliverance.
  35. curt
    brief and to the point
    Father dismissed them with a curt nod.
  36. reverberate
    ring or echo with sound
    Sonny watched Father, imagining what it would feel like to slam a kickball right through Father’s gut, right out that door, right down the hall, reverberating from floor to ceiling like gunshot.
  37. brittle
    having little elasticity
    Small and brittle, like she might break.
  38. rasp
    a harsh, grating tone or noise
    And she’d always talk with me while we ate them, too, the rasp of her voice mixing with the crackle of the fire, like they were both part of the same thing.
  39. tarmac
    a paved road or surface, especially at an airport
    And then Uncle Joe is here, striding cross the tarmac and smiling big as day.
  40. wisp
    a thin tuft, piece, or amount of something
    Joe winks, which makes his whole face wrinkle up like tissue and makes me notice, for the first time, all those little wisps of gray hair around his ears.
Created on Mon Nov 29 15:25:08 EST 2021 (updated Wed Dec 08 10:52:50 EST 2021)

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