Education of Little Tree

Chapter Summaries

black - summary blue - lesson

Chapter 1 - Little Tree

• setting - during Great Depression (20’s & 30’s)
• 5 years old - naive - doesn’t realize people are making fun of him, thinks lady is sick
• lives w/ grandparents after death of parents
• made fun of on the bus b/c of their ethnicity ("How," raised hand, people laughed) - Native Americans weren’t accepted by society during this time
• Granma sings Little Tree a song - tells how Cherokee accept him & how he got his name - nurturing and comforting him

Chapter 2 - The Way

• Granma made him moccasins - heritage, nurturing, loving
• Granpa makes LT get up on his own - teaches responsibility
• Granpa teaches Little Tree to trap turkeys- practical, survival
• Granpa discusses The Way when Little Tree sees the hawk eat the quail - only take what you need, only take the smallest, use everything you take, life is a natural cycle

Chapter 3 - Shadows on a Cabin Wall

• Granma reads to Little Tree and Granpa - vocabulary, history, Shakespearean works
• discussing GW being messed up in the head b/c of Granpa’s uncle being kicked by the mule - do not judge others
• travel to settlement for coal oil, new books
• Granma makes LT use words he learns from dictionary
• LT and Granpa hitch ride w/ professor - ask about George Washington - Granpa doesn’t trust politicians - doesn’t believe gov’t should regulate individuals’ lives

Chapter 4 - Fox and Hounds

• Maud and Ringer are old and losing their senses but still sent to guard corn patch - old people/animals need to feel their worth
• Granpa takes LT on fox run at night - teaches LT to trail a fox - survival
• dogs chased Ol’ Slick
• Granpa predicts the route of the fox - fox always runs in circle, gets smaller and smaller until runs into den
• Ol’ Rippitt chases Ol’ Slick (fell in the water and tried to cheat)- teaches LT not to cheat

Chapter 5 - "I Kin Ye, Bonnie Bee"

• woman asks Granpa for directions to Chattanooga
• he gives general directions and is slow about it - makes the woman angry - people’s perceptions of behaviors are different - people stereotype
• Granpa doesn’t like to use lots of words, especially big ones and homophones - don’t have to be highly educated to express your feelings
• LT heard Granpa telling Granma that he "kinned" her - love and understanding go hand in hand
• Granpa understood ‘Coon Jack (friend of family in charge of songbook box at church), therefore loved him

Chapter 6 - To Know the Past

• G & G want LT to know past - have to know past to succeed in future
• where Cherokee came from and what they’ve been through - history, life isn’t always fair
• LT learned about Trail of Tears (some refused to leave, many died)
• G & G tell LT about family history - great - grandpa and Red Wing

Chapter 7 - Pine Billy

• LT works out in the field - has to put weight on the plow - cover fields w/ leaves - have to work for what you want/ responsibility
• Pine Billy brings over sweet potatoes and tells stories - LT learns he can’t always get what he wants - leaves the rest of the sweet ‘tater pie
• thinks he will get rich - catching criminal and dip contest
• Granpa runs over yellow jacket’s nest - watch where you’re going

• Granpa and LT cuss at the mule, Granma hears LT and gets on Granpa about it - teaching LT not to cuss around Granma

Chapter 8 - The Secret Place

• LT finds his own secret place
• Granma tells him all Cherokee have a secret place - heritage
• Granma talks about the two minds - spirit and body - life/spiritual education
• Granpa tells LT about the white man’s road the Cherokee dug up to make the men leave - persistance pays off, dispute between cultures

Chapter 9 - Granpa’s Trade

• Granpa teaches LT how to make whiskey - learns a trade/practical education
• LT has his own jobs to do - stirring, put wood on fire - responsibility
• chased by the law - runs away and hides - government shouldn’t regulate individual
• Granma thought LT was lost but he was hiding, she’s happy to see him- loved by his grandparents

Chapter 10 - Trading with a Christian

• Ringer dies - experiences death, better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
• LT and Granpa go into town and see the politician talking
• politician ignores them b/c they are Indians and they don’t have right to vote - prejudice against Indians during this time
• "Christian" man trades LT a calf - LT is suckered
• LT gives the money that he was going to spend on Granma
• calf dies - can’t trust everybody, don’t judge a book by its cover
• calf had a disease so they couldn’t eat it, but did skin it and use skin - make the best of what you have

• LT gives a poor girl his moccasins - has learned to share no matter how little he has
• the girl is happy to have them - generosity is rewarding
• the girl’s father makes her take them off and beats her - excessive pride, prejudiced against Indians, father teaches daughter not to want things
• Mr. Barnett’s trade was "jumping teeth" - never had messed up

Mr. Lett made him mess up - stuck his tongue in the way

Chapter 12 - A Dangerous Adventure

• GP and LT go fishing - practical/survival
• GP gets bit by a rattler
• LT runs home for GM - responsibility
• GM helps to heal GP - home remedy, how to cure