Summary

The stepfather schemes to send Harjo to Christian school, and he begins to make advances. After her mother leaves for work, her stepfather enters her room and rubs her back. She pretends to be asleep. Harjo plans to run away and wants to escape to San Francisco, but sees her life cut short. She realizes there is another way. She asks her mother to attend Indian School and learns about the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). She is accepted, and travels to Santa Fe in 1967. Here, she meets Louis Ballard, a composer, who becomes a mentor. And here, she finds others with similar upbringings and does not feel solitary. Most students found commonality in art, even if they tended to socialize in separate tribal groups. All students thought they were on the verge of a movement, spurred by the hippie generation outside...