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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

5. 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) All of his kids were accidents, but he was his best accident.
(d) He is the son he always wanted.

6. During what battle in Montana was Custer killed?
(a) Little Bighorn.
(b) Rosebud.
(c) Wounded Knee.
(d) Fallen Timbers.

7. What war does the narrator say Hector's grandmother was born before?
(a) The American Indian War.
(b) The Revolutionary War.
(c) World War II.
(d) The Civil War.

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

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

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

11. 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) A gentle man who strove for peace.
(c) An angry man who left everyone.
(d) A joyful man who loved everybody.

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

13. Who does the narrator say likely killed Hector by accident?
(a) One of Hector's ex-girlfriends.
(b) Another Coeur d'Alene Indian.
(c) A reckless driver.
(d) A close family member of Hector's.

14. How many children did Hector's grandmother have?
(a) 1.
(b) 3.
(c) 11.
(d) 7.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator says that Hector's grandmother's children were the first generation to do what?

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)?

3. What information was carved into Hector's wooden grave marker?

4. Why is the narrator certain Hector did not get into the car with white strangers?

5. At Hector's grave, the narrator wonders if it is possible for an Indian to die in what way?

(see the answer keys)

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