This collection of student work is from
Frank Keim's classes. He has wanted to share these works for others
to use as an example of Culturally-based curriculum and documentation. These
documents have been OCR-scanned. These are available
for educational use only.
A Broken
Home
Our home looks beautiful and happy
from the outside, but what lies within is a terrible and sad sight.
Some of my friends at work say I have the perfect family and call my
home a kingdom. Well, if they want it, they can have it. I don't
think I can live with all this violence, and I hate seeing my
children hit by their father. Many of the people I have told, about
my abusive husband, Dusty, have commiserated and said that they felt
my pain. But maybe they should come and stay here for a week and see
just how much pain there really is.
"Grace can you please
get me some dinner? I'm
starving in here!" Dusty's shouting rudely interrupted a great
daydream I was having about taking a vacation on a warm tropical
island, alone, of course. Right when my dream was starting to make me
feel good I was pulled back into the gloomy reality of my life.
Nothing could have made me more angry. But I couldn't show it, at
least not while Dusty was around.
"Yes sir," I mumbled as I made myself
get out of the soft, comfortable recliner in our living room. I stood
there for a minute, a part of me longing to sit down again on the
chair and get back to my daydream, and the other half of me telling
myself to get my behind in the kitchen and kiss my master's feet
before the fists started flying.
"Grace, you earless twit, didn't you
hear what I just said? Or do I have to go in there and pound it into
your thick skull? Come in here and fix me some dinner before I go in
there and fix your face!" Dusty's voice had that certain tone I
recognized all to well, the tone that he had right before he started
beating on me. That's when I looked up and realized he was standing
in the doorway with a look of rage on his face. At this moment, I
swear to God, all hell broke loose.
"Why do you always make me do this to
you Gracie? You drive me to this, you're the reason I hit you and
your obnoxious little offsprings. When are you going to realize that
if you just listen to me your life would be a whole lot
easier."
"Stop hitting me Dusty!
Please!"
"If I don't do this, you'll never
learn!"
The pain was agonizing. He hit me in
the back, kicked my legs, punched my chest and arms and pulled me by
the hair into the kitchen. Then he started cursing and throwing food
at me and told me to start cooking. Claude, my oldest child, came
downstairs with his sister, Jenine, to see what all the commotion was
about. As soon as Dusty saw Claude he started beating on him. His
screams were echoing in my ears. Before I knew it, I was fumbling
around in the kitchen drawers looking for something. "Ah, this will
do," I thought, grabbing a carving knife off the counter. When I
turned around I saw Dusty had started pounding on Jenine. I felt my
anger seething inside me, bubbling over. I'd never felt this way
before. Then I exploded and stabbed Dusty again and again like he was
a wild animal. Claude finally grabbed me and threw me to the floor. I
looked at what I'd done and I felt an odd sense of relief.
"Boy, have I made a mess," I said
with a cool calm voice, almost as though I hadn't realized what I'd
done. But I had. I knew I'd just gotten rid of my family's biggest
fear. And that made me feel good! Even though the cops were going to
arrest me for what I'd done, I knew there would be enough evidence to
prove that all I was doing was defending us. We would be able to show
them the bruises on our bodies and testify that he had always beaten
us. But all that matters now is that we're happy.
By
Charlotte Alstrom
My name is
Kerry and I have
AIDS
(Now I'm dead!)
Going,
Going Gone!
Man and the
Environment
Christmastime Tales
Stories real and imaginary about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1996 |
Christmastime Tales II
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1998 |
Christmastime Tales III
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 2000 |
| Summer Time Tails 1992 |
Summertime Tails II 1993 |
Summertime Tails III |
| Summertime Tails IV Fall, 1995 |
Summertime Tails V Fall, 1996 |
Summertime Tails VI Fall, 1997 |
| Summertime Tails VII Fall, 1999 |
Signs of the Times November 1996 |
Creative Stories From Creative Imaginations |
| Mustang Mind Manglers - Stories of the Far Out,
the Frightening and the Fantastic 1993 |
Yupik Gourmet - A Book of
Recipes |
|
| M&M Monthly |
|
|
| Happy Moose Hunting! September Edition 1997 |
Happy Easter! March/April 1998 |
Merry Christmas December Edition 1997 |
| Happy Valentine’s
Day! February Edition
1998 |
Happy Easter! March/April Edition 2000 |
Happy Thanksgiving Nov. Edition, 1997 |
| Happy Halloween October 1997 Edition |
Edible and Useful Plants of Scammon
Bay |
Edible Plants of Hooper Bay 1981 |
| The Flowers of Scammon Bay Alaska |
Poems of Hooper Bay |
Scammon Bay (Upward Bound Students) |
| Family Trees and the Buzzy Lord |
It takes a Village - A guide for parents May 1997 |
People in Our Community |
| Buildings and Personalities of
Marshall |
Marshall Village PROFILE |
Qigeckalleq Pellullermeng ‘A
Glimpse of the Past’ |
| Raven’s
Stories Spring 1995 |
Bird Stories from Scammon Bay |
The Sea Around Us |
| Ellamyua - The Great Weather - Stories about the
Weather Spring 1996 |
Moose Fire - Stories and Poems about Moose November,
1998 |
Bears Bees and Bald Eagles Winter 1992-1993 |
| Fish Fire and Water - Stories about fish, global warming
and the future November, 1997 |
Wolf Fire - Stories and Poems about Wolves |
Bear Fire - Stories and Poems about Bears Spring,
1992 |
Marshall
Cultural Atlas