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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who does the narrator imagine is buried in Hector's empty coffin?
(a) His aunts, uncles and cousins.
(b) The entire tribe.
(c) Hector's killers.
(d) Himself.

2. At the graveside, what does the narrator hope the Indians who killed Hector did as they "buried his body deep in the woods" (3)?
(a) Cried.
(b) Buried their hate.
(c) Felt guilty.
(d) Sung him an honor song.

3. Who sang an old mourning song by the graveside after Hector's casket was buried?
(a) The whole group of mourners.
(b) The narrator's mother.
(c) The narrator.
(d) The tribal elder.

4. Who does the narrator say he knows is buried in Hector's empty coffin?
(a) His mother.
(b) His entire tribe.
(c) His great-grandmother.
(d) His father.

5. What information was carved into Hector's wooden grave marker?
(a) His name and date of burial.
(b) His name and a quote from a mourning song.
(c) HIs name only.
(d) His name, date of birth, and date of disappearance.

6. What does the narrator plan to do at the end of the story as he stands in the cemetery?
(a) Live longer than every other Indian in the world.
(b) Bury the memory of Hector for good.
(c) Take care of his mother.
(d) Find out who killed Hector.

7. How old was Hector's grandmother when she moved to the newly formed Coeur d'Alene reservation?
(a) In her 30s.
(b) In her teens.
(c) In her 20s.
(d) 7 or 8.

8. The narrator says that Hector's grandmother's children were the first generation to do what?
(a) Live in a house with four walls.
(b) Go to college.
(c) Go to war.
(d) Move from the reservation.

9. Which South Dakota battle does the narrator say the U.S. Army massacred hundreds of unarmed people?
(a) Rosebud.
(b) Fallen Timbers.
(c) Wounded Knee.
(d) Little Bighorn.

10. Due to the violence to which Hector was born into, the narrator says it was inevitable Hector would become what?
(a) A violent man who died violently.
(b) An angry man who left everyone.
(c) A gentle man who strove for peace.
(d) A joyful man who loved everybody.

11. Who holds Hector in the photograph the narrator has of him?
(a) His aunt, Agitha.
(b) HIs mother, Alice.
(c) His grandmother, Agnes.
(d) His sister, Abbeth.

12. At the graveside, what does the narrator hope whoever killed Hector would do?
(a) Send him a letter telling him where his body was buried.
(b) Commit suicide.
(c) Pray for forgiveness.
(d) Turn himself in.

13. What did one mourner say white archeologists would do 100 years from now after Hector's grave was buried?
(a) Put the empty coffin in a museum.
(b) Try to find out who buried and empty coffin.
(c) Come up with some nonsense reason the empty coffin was buried.
(d) Find the empty coffin and wonder what it all means.

14. What is the best thing the narrator recalls his father saying to him?
(a) Take care of your mother.
(b) You are a fine young man.
(c) He is the son he always wanted.
(d) All of his kids were accidents, but he was his best accident.

15. Why is the narrator certain Hector did not get into the car with white strangers?
(a) Because there were no white people living near the reservation.
(b) Because white men would not try to pick up an Indian.
(c) Because Hector had his own car.
(d) Because he would only get into a car with other Indians he knew.

Short Answer Questions

1. What war does the narrator say Hector's grandmother was born before?

2. How many children did Hector's grandmother have?

3. Who does the narrator say likely killed Hector by accident?

4. What does the narrator think Hector may have done which got him killed?

5. During what battle in Montana was Custer killed?

(see the answer keys)

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