Chickadee: Prologue–Chapter 5

by Louise Erdrich
This fourth book of The Birchbark House series is set in 1866 around the Great Plains, where an eight-year-old Ojibwe boy is unhappy about being named after a bird, until he learns that small things can have great power.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 5, Chapters 6–12, Chapters 13–19, Chapters 20–25
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. remote
    inaccessible and sparsely populated
    Omakayas, Animikiins, and their family lived in a remote land that gave them everything they needed: birchbark for making houses, animals and plants for food, wood for warmth, and cold sparkling water to dip and drink from the lake.
  2. stagger
    walk with great difficulty
    “You were out collecting wood for a big fire, Nimama, when suddenly the snow just whirled down out of nowhere! It was a flash storm, a blizzard! You started back to the lodge. You staggered, carrying your load of wood.”
  3. perch
    sit, as on a branch
    Omakayas thought of how the chickadee, unafraid, had perched near her the entire time.
  4. precarious
    not secure; beset with difficulties
    He still had far to go, he thought, and took one careful step after another on the precarious ice.
  5. snare
    a trap for birds or small mammals; often has a slip noose
    So how about checking my rabbit snares? How about doing a little hunting, too?
  6. frail
    easily broken or damaged or destroyed
    Animikiins was trying to scrabble back onto frail ice.
  7. roost
    sit, rest, or settle, as on a branch or perch
    During the winter, the fat partridges, binewag, liked to roost on low tree branches.
  8. enigmatic
    not clear to the understanding
    She was the daughter of their mother’s powerful, enigmatic, bold, and sometimes bloodthirsty cousin, Two Strike.
  9. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    The boys trudged behind her, each carrying a rabbit.
  10. insulation
    material reducing transmission of sound, heat or electricity
    Animikiins heaped snow into a circle, high as he could. The snow was good insulation. He would sleep on a bed of boughs with thicker boughs to cover himself.
  11. misgiving
    uneasiness about the fitness of an action
    The third night, with great misgivings, they divided and ate the bowl of stew that had been sitting by the fire for Animikiins.
  12. wigwam
    a Native American lodge frequently having an oval shape
    The snow was heaping higher and higher around the entrance of the wigwam.
  13. elated
    full of high-spirited delight
    Although the air was hard and cold the twins were elated to walk out on top of the drifts.
  14. keen
    having a sharp cutting edge or point
    She pulled a toboggan behind her and had a keen hatchet in her belt, which was lucky, for she hadn’t been walking half an hour when Animikiins hailed her.
  15. hail
    greet enthusiastically or joyfully
    She pulled a toboggan behind her and had a keen hatchet in her belt, which was lucky, for she hadn’t been walking half an hour when Animikiins hailed her.
  16. cache
    save up as for future use
    By the time they cached the meat near their camp, hoisting some into a tree, burying some in snow, they were warm and excited.
  17. tender
    easy to cut or chew
    Omakayas brought in the tenderest pieces of meat and began to make a feast.
  18. lull
    make calm or still
    Warm and full, lulled by the grown-ups’ voices, they fell into a charmed sleep and dreamed, as they always did, together.
  19. brutish
    resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility
    Every year Zhigaag came to sugar, sometimes bringing his brutish sons.
  20. jeer
    a mocking or contemptuous remark
    He just complained until someone gave him sugar to quiet him, and every year the old man’s taunts and jeers grew worse.
    “Look at that weakling! He’s scrawny like his namesake!”
  21. tonic
    a medicine that strengthens and invigorates
    Of course, every so often he had paused to drink the strengthening and delicious, faintly sweet sap, but everyone did that. Sap was a spring tonic.
  22. lilting
    characterized by a buoyant rhythm
    The chickadee had begun its spring song, which was a sweet and lilting song, not the mischievous scolding of winter.
  23. insignificant
    of little importance or influence or power; of minor status
    Why couldn’t he have a protector like the bear or the lynx or the caribou or the eagle? Why was he singled out by such an insignificant little bird?
  24. appall
    strike with disgust or revulsion
    He had a sudden thought that appalled him—he would be a grown man and still be called Chickadee!
  25. adversity
    a state of misfortune or affliction
    The chickadee is always cheerful even in adversity. He is brave and has great purpose, great meaning.
  26. intently
    with strained or eager attention
    It did not peck up the nuts but stared intently at its namesake, then at Great-Grandmother.
  27. regard
    look at attentively
    She stared back just as hard at the bird. They regarded each other for what seemed like the longest time to Chickadee.
  28. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    He meant to trip her and his snaggle-toothed grin showed that he would enjoy seeing her sprawl at his feet.
  29. frayed
    worn away or tattered along the edges
    Her walking stick came down on John Zhigaag’s head, smashing down his lumpy, frayed, treasured top hat.
  30. moccasin
    soft leather shoe; originally worn by Native Americans
    First, he untied the old man’s dangling moccasin strings.
  31. furtively
    in a secretive manner
    Makoons sneaked furtively and quickly back to Zhigaag’s shelter, which rattled with his snores.
  32. hilarity
    great merriment
    Late the next morning, at the time when John Zhigaag usually rose, there was a roar of hilarity from the end of the sugar camp.
  33. rave
    talk in a noisy, excited, or declamatory manner
    They watched impassively as their father raved and swore at the pieces of his coat.
  34. crafty
    marked by skill in deception
    These two sons, Babiche and Batiste, were silent, crafty, massive men who liked no one better than each other.
  35. ascertain
    learn or discover with confidence
    They looked around the gathering to ascertain who had embarrassed their father, not because they loved him, but because they loved revenge.
  36. pall
    a sudden feeling of dread or gloominess
    A pall fell over everybody at the camp, and Nokomis stamped away muttering that the gathering would be ruined now.
  37. undertaking
    any piece of work that is attempted
    With these two hard men watching everything that took place, the ease and pleasure of the undertaking, the taste of sugar after a hard winter, and the sharing of the maples’ gifts, would be spoiled, she said.
  38. trough
    a long narrow shallow receptacle
    Omakayas knelt beside a maple log that Animikiins had scraped and smoothed into a sugaring trough.
  39. ladle
    put a liquid into a container by means of a large spoon
    Nokomis ladled syrup, which had been boiled until it was so hot the surface crumpled like a thick skin, onto the heavy tray.
  40. exude
    release in drops or small quantities
    The scent of the new sugar was so pleasant, and behind them the kettles of bubbling sap and hot fires exuded such a fine aroma.
Created on Tue May 14 16:25:43 EDT 2024 (updated Mon May 20 11:12:48 EDT 2024)

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