Question

museum indians by susan power
directions:

1. circle unknown words & things you have questions about.
2. underline parts that connect to the question: how do you define who you are?

1 a snake coils in my mother’s dresser drawer; it is thick and black, glossy as sequins. my mother cut her hair several years ago, before i was born, but she kept one heavy braid. it is the three - foot snake i lift from its nest and handle as if it were alive.
2 “mom, why did you cut your hair?” i ask. i am a little girl lifting a sleek black river into the light that streams through the kitchen window. mom turns to me.
3 “it gave me headaches. now put that away and wash your hands for lunch.”
4 “you won’t cut my hair, will you?” i’m sure this is a whine.
5 “no, just a little trim now and then to even your ends.”
6 i return the dark snake to its nest among my mother’s slips, arranging it so that its thin tail hides beneath the wide mouth sheared by scissors. my mother keeps her promise and lets my hair grow long, but i am only half of her; my thin brown braids will reach the middle of my back, and in maturity will look like tiny garden snakes.
7 my mother tells me stories every day: while she cleans, while she cooks, on our way to the library, standing in the checkout line at the supermarket. i like to share her stories with other people, and chatter like a monkey when i am able to command adult attention.
8 “she left the reservation when she was sixteen years old,” i tell my audience. sixteen sounds very old to me, but i always state the number because it seems integral to my recitation. “she had never been on a train before, or used a telephone. she left standing rock to take a job in chicago so she could help out the family during the war. she was petrified of all the strange people and new surroundings; she stayed in her seat all the way from mclaughlin, south dakota, to chicago, illinois, and didn’t move once.”
9 i usually laugh after saying this, because i cannot imagine my mother being afraid of anything. she is so tall, a true dakota woman; she rises against the sun like a skyscraper, and when i draw her picture in my notebook, she takes up the entire page. she talks politics and attends sit - ins, wrestles with the chicago police and says what’s on her mind.
10 i am her small shadow and witness. i am the timid daughter who can rage only on paper

Explanation:

Since no specific question is provided (like analyzing a theme, defining a word, etc.), it's hard to give a targeted answer. If you want to analyze the theme of identity in "Museum Indians", here's a brief:

The text explores identity through the narrator's connection to her mother. The mother's past (leaving reservation, adapting to city) and the narrator's emulation (sharing stories, seeing mother as strong) show how family history and relationships shape self - definition. The snake imagery (mother's braid as snake, narrator's braids as "tiny garden snakes") also ties to cultural and personal identity, linking heritage (Dakota woman) to self - perception.

Answer:

The text explores identity through family history, relationships, and cultural imagery (like the snake - braid motif) to show how the narrator defines herself via her mother's story and their bond.