Aleutian Sparrow

Pre-Reading:When this issue was first brought up in the classroom, i had no idea what it was about. When Dr. Frye mentioned that something this extreme happend i was shocked. Many questions ran through my head like, why was i never told about this, and how could people be so cruel to their own people. As i began looking through these websites i felt a variety of feelings. I felt mad for never have been told about this, i felt sad for the people that it happend to and i felt anxious to read the book to get a better understading of the story. I think that it is really aweful that we have never been taught about this in school. I feel like the majority of people in our class have never heard of this terrible tradgedy either. These people were taken from their families and their culture and put in a place where they had no idea how to live. I am really glad that we are learning about this right now in class because it is something so important and it needs to be taught about in schools so that something that terrible does not ever happen again.After reading:I felt that this was a very touching book. It opened my eyes to a situation that i was never aware of. This group of people were taken away from everything they have ever known. After reading the book i sat there and thought about what it would be like to have been one of the native peoples. I may have lost touch with my family, or nearly starved to death. That would be such a scary thought wondering day to day if you will see the sun rise again. A quote from the book that i really liked was, "we are descended from the fierce Aleut, our home is a necklace of jewels around the throat of the Bering sea." pg 52. I thought that this was a beautiful description and it really enforced how these people felt. They were fierce and they would not give up, thats what this quote said to me. I have always grown up in the same place, and i can not imagine ever being torn from my home and placed somewhere that i was not used to. On page 54 she talks about how damp the area is and how they are always wet and uncomfortable. There is so much vegetation and they are not used to this. She refers it as "smothering" and i really liked how she worded that because it gave me a glimpse of how that might feel. A part of the book that was really an eye opener for me was on page 56 when they were talking about the German prisoners of war. "They are well fed, we hear. They have cots, and blankets, they have a room to stretch their long legs, and good sanitation and an infirmary." This part of the book made me especially angry because these were our own people being treated like dogs when the german prisoners were being treated nicely and basically living in a hotel while the aleutians suffered. I would have been so angry and sad if i were in their shoes and i saw that. In the book it says that her mother does not have any money and she walks to every shop and basically begs for work. That would have also been very hard, being so poor and having to watch your mother beg for work to try and make money for the family. I cant imagine what a helpless feeling that may have 'been. Another quote that really made me think was on page 95. It says "perhaps somewhere people sleep in dry beds and take the sunlight for granted." I know that sometimes i go to bed at night not even thinking anything of it. But this made me realize how fortunate i am to have a warm bed, food to eat, and the opportunities that are available to me. I thought that this was a really great book, that really opened my eyes to a terrible tradgedy that i had never even heard of. I liked the format of the book, each page giving you a little insight of what went on.