This Indian Kid: A Native American Memoir

by Eddie Chuculate

Award-winning author Eddie Chuculate recounts his experience growing up in rural Oklahoma, from boyhood to young manhood, in an evocative and vivid voice.

"Granny was full-blooded Creek, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs insisted she was fifteen-sixteenths. She showed her card to me. I’d sit at the kitchen table and stare at her when she was eating, wondering how you can be a sixteenth of anything."

Growing up impoverished and shuttled between different households, it seemed life was bound to take a certain path for Eddie Chuculate. Despite the challenges he faced, his upbringing was rich with love and bountiful lessons from his Creek and Cherokee heritage, deep-rooted traditions he embraced even as he learned to live within the culture of white, small-town America that dominated his migratory childhood.

Award-winning author Eddie Chuculate brings his childhood to life with spare, unflinching prose. This book is at once a love letter to his Native American roots and an inspiring and essential message for young readers everywhere, who are coming of age in an era when conversations about acceptance and empathy, love and perspective are more necessary than ever before.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Indigenous, Native American, Biography Memoir, Audiobook, Biography

207 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2023

About the author

Oklahoma native Eddie Chuculate is an American fiction writer and memoirist and is Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee Indian. He's an enrolled member of the Creek Nation.

His memoir, "This Indian Kid," was published by Scholastic (Focus) in September 2023.

His first book, Cheyenne Madonna, was published in July 2010 by Black Sparrow Books, an imprint of David R. Godine, Publisher, in Boston. A second edition was published in July 2021. Chuculate won a PEN/O. Henry Award for the first story in the collection, "Galveston Bay, 1826." Prize juror Ursula K. Le Guin selected it as her favorite and her essay on the story appears in "O. Henry Prize Stories 2007," published by Anchor/Doubleday.

Chuculate's stories have also appeared in Manoa, Ploughshares, the Iowa Review, Blue Mesa Review, Many Mountains Moving and the Kenyon Review.

He held a Wallace Stegner creative writing fellowship at Stanford University and graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 2013 with a master of fine arts degree. He also earned an associate degree at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M.

Chuculate began a journalism career at age 16 while in high school in Muskogee, Okla., and went on to write and edit for several metro daily newspapers. He has also picked pecans, moved furniture, worked as a day laborer, received food stamps and sold his plasma in five states. He has lived in Hanna, Okla.; Jemez Pueblo, N.M.; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Portland, Maine; San Francisco; Oakland; Albuquerque; Denver; and resides in downtown Minneapolis.

Reviews

[Linda Raedisch · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I pick up a memoir, I want three things: honesty; a glimpse into a life totally unlike my own; and to find out how the author has made the world a better place. Eddie Chuculate is brutally honest with and about himself. His grandparents indulged him but also kept him in line and instilled in him a strict sense of morals. The most enchanting parts of the book, and the best parts of his childhood, were in their "Little House on the Prairie," as it was called. His mother and stepfather were more problematic. Eddie had it tough sometimes--having to cut grass and even steal to put food on the family's table while still a child--but he's not complaining. He did what had to be done. The most harrowing part is the part about the band room. Why, Eddie, WHY? He doesn't make excuses; he tries and fails to explain his own actions to himself, takes his punishment, and moves on. And he makes good! The book a lot less "exotic" than I was expecting--I had initially thought that "Chuculate" was a Mexican name. It's not; he's from Oklahoma. The exotic parts, for me, were the baseball scenes, cause what do I know about baseball? Eddie's about the same age as me, so I related to the TV shows, music and "Soul Train" jeans! Other parts, like picking up cans and flattening pennies reminded me of stories from my father's childhood. And his perennial best friend Lonnie was a great supporting character. (Maybe Lonnie will write a memoir someday, and we'll get his own take on what happened in the car that awful day before Christmas.) I'll be looking for Eddie's short stories next. Note: I would have liked to see a family tree.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great memoir for middle grade and teen to help them appreciate and understand the life of a Native American . Too often, young people just see the indigenous culture of the United States as something from the past. Young and old alike need to understand and that the indigenous people of the United States are still here, still thriving and keeping their culture alive.

*I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddie Chucalate’s memoir really allows the reader to picture his life and experiences growing up. Told through a series of stories throughout his childhood, the reader really gets to understand the connections among family and friends that helps shape who a person becomes. I really enjoyed reading about a coach that made a big difference in his life, and can only hope that all kids have such a positive influence! This memoir shows the power of supportive relationships, connections, second chances, and self-determination.

[Andrew Eder · Rating 1 out of 5]

Womp womp… was there a point to this collection? A driving force? Any sense of direction? Or was it an author just telling mundane things about their childhood?

I feel bad harping on someone’s memoir but this really had no purpose and I can’t imagine it keeps ANYONES attention let alone a MG reader.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 idk?? just couldn’t get super into the writing style there was nothing really wrong w it but it never pulled me in

[Melinda Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

May have lost one star due to the narrator not pronouncing words like Tahlequah, Haskell, Manhattan and Bacone to my liking! Poverty being a great equalizer…and my similarities to age, Native heritage, Oklahoma parents/grandparents, etc made this such an enjoyable read! Cassette recorders, phone books, izod shirts that you can’t afford and the distaste for elephant ear bell bottoms all so nostalgic!! Overall a very enjoyable walk down memory lane!

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a upper MG or younger YA memoir, this is one shouldn't be missed. I loved that the author included family photos as well. Don't forget to read the Q & A with the author at the very end.

[Christine Kreif · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave me great insight into the life of growing up on a reservation in Oklahoma.

[Jeani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The writing style was a bit too disaffected and I wanted to read more emotion and reflection in the telling. I am interested in reading some of Chuculate’s fiction, though.

[Viviana Nunez]

Good book for middle grade readers

[Leah N · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was loaned an ARC of this book by a friend. Eddie Chuculate opens the book with a short prologue about how contemporary literature written about Native Americans are either about them on reservations or set in the past. As someone who reads a fair amount of stories written by Indigenous authors, I would disagree. Is what he describes a large portion of what is out there? Of course, because many modern people still do live on the reservations of their tribe. And I think many who choose a setting of the past attempt a similar goal as Chulculate; to show the world what life is/was really like. Chuculate just grew up in a different way. I believe he really succeeds in showing people that most Native Americans are just like everyone else. He grew up going to schools in smaller communities where the cultural and ethnic diversity is high. Where the thing that separates people is not racial, but financial. I have spent time in many of the communities he did. My parents now live near Muskogee, I dated a guy from the Tishamingo/Madill area in high school, and I grew up driving through many of these towns when spending a work day with my dad. It felt like this book, minus a few anecdotes about the Creek and Cherokee communities, could have been written by anyone living in this part of the country in the 70s and 80s. It was a very typical telling of a country boy who loved sports and fishing. Which, his goal of sharing day-to-day living to break stereotypes, really works.

I struggled a little with how the storytelling was structured. He would introduce a person very briefly in the purpose of painting a stronger picture of a scenario going on. Then he would talk for several paragraphs about something sort of related, but having moved on with the narration. Then this person would come back with just their first or last name to talk about them again in a different conversation. I can chalk part of this up to me reading quickly, but how they are introduced does not make them memorable enough to keep their name in the back of your mind. I said “who?” several times while reading and had to go back to remind myself. For example; he tells a story of how many of the elementary boys had some type of side hustle on the playground. He mentions one boy in passing and what he would sell as an example. About four paragraphs later after a semi-unrelated topic, he uses the boy’s last name to talk about the boy’s father. I just felt the story telling could have been organized a bit tidier.

Overall, I think it is a decent read. Especially if you didn’t grow up in the country or in this part of the United States. It is a great insight into the life of small town living in the 70s and 80s.If you loved the idyllic picture painted by movies like “The Sandlot”, this is the real life influence. I do wish he had brought a bit more anecdotes of the Creek and Cherokee communities into the book. However, it shows how he was raised is different from much of what other media might portray.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Indian Kid tells Eddie Chuculate’s life growing up in Oklahoma as a Creek and Cherokee Indian. Chuculate is a member of the Muscogee Creek Nation and is also of Cherokee descent. His ancestors were from Alabama and North Carolina, all forced from their lands, some during the Trail of Tears. He spent his impoverished childhood moving between his mother and grandmother but lived mainly in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He was often separated from his brother and two sisters.
The book targets 7th- through 9th-grade students, but I enjoyed it immensely. Though his writing is spare, Chucalate is a virtuoso in his interpretation of everyday life. When he was awarded the PEN/O. Henry prize in 2007, author Ursula K. Le Guin wrote of Chuculate’s “calm, beautiful, unexplaining accuracy of description.” He does not overly dramatize his life despite challenges others might lament. He writes simply and from a place of love. I heard Chuculate say that from the shame and embarrassment of something his uncle said to his best friend, a Black boy, when they were in sixth grade sprang this book. That incident is described in the book. I cannot say enough about my veneration of Eddie Chuculate’s writing.
Thank you so very much to NetGalley, Scholastic Focus Publishing, and Eddie Chuculate for the ARC of this book.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The YA memoir of Chuculate is a testament to his backstory and also his want to write for this audience to tell the story of more than just Indian kids on reservations but all of the ways Indigenous kids grew up and what they experienced from the mundane to the profound.

His writing style was easy to follow and continuously moved forward in time to give a snapshot of life in the 70s and 80s, which is "historical" in nature but also contemporary enough as well. There are a few spots where to fill the void there's quite a big of name dropping of events, movies, celebrities, etc. that a 2023 kid might gloss over than really pay attention to and I would have liked to have some substituted out for more of his observations on life as a whole because as a reader, I felt connected to his story and experiences.

"I developed a taste for fried green tomatoes and fried okra and squash with the golden-brown flour coating or I carried a shaker of salt to the garden and ate tomatoes right off the vine. Crunchy radishes were good, too, with the salt. Now, vegetables from the store are tasteless to me and fruit like peaches are bland and dry compared to the juicy sweet ones from orchards in Porter Granny brought home." -Amen, Eddie! I loved this paragraph for the food memory he shares but the commentary on current food growing being far-removed from most of us.

[Kry Tiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eddie Chuculate grew up in rural Oklahoma. He is of Creek and Cherokee heritage, and raised by loving family members who worked hard to keep him on the straight and narrow.
It’s hard growing up Native. Our struggles are different from other peoples struggles. But our sense of family and community are some of our deepest values.
When your poor and constantly moving, it’s hard to establish yourself. You’re always having to adapt to the new world around you, and Eddie does a wonderfully job of portraying this aspect of his life. He tells us about his childhood, and how being great at writing can change everything.

I loved this memoir. It remains new me of my dad for many reasons. He too is Creek. He grew up in Welteeka and Tulsa, and everywhere in between. So many of the things and places Eddie went too, I’ve heard my dad talk about. (Like Bacone College, where my parents met.) He grew up poor, and he struggled. My grandparents were not rich. They were hard working, and they always took care of their kids. My mother is Cherokee, and I’ve lived most of my life in Tahlequah.

The only thing that bugged me was the narrator of the audiobook mispronounced so many names (lol)
FYI it’s pronounced like:
Tahlequah = Tally-quah
Muskogee = Musk-o-gee
Haskell = Has-kull
Bacone = Bay-cone

[Caroline Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not love this. I didn't even like it. I'm not sure why I hung in there and finished it. I usually love memoirs and I was looking forward to this one. It did not hit home. I felt like I was watching a bunch of home movies with flat, toneless descriptions of what I was seeing. Each chapter lacked emotion, a sense of story, a theme. It was just a description of events, and not even told in a way that made me feel particularly pulled in. this is doubly surprising given what a celebrated author and journalist Chuculate is. Chapter once opens with a story about his best friend falling through the ice when trying to rescue a beloved dog. I kept expecting some sort of emotion from all of this, but it was just a description of events. It was kind of horrifying. And the rest of the chairs described more horrifying events when they finally took his best friend home, but again without emotion. It wasn't until Chapter 33, the last chapter, that there was finally some emotion and reflection that tied the story together. Where was that the entire rest of the book? Really disappointing and off putting. Doubt I'll give his other books a try.

[Hilary Margitich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of YA memoir you relish from start to finish—one that makes you feel like you’ve just taken a cozy seat at Chuculate’s kitchen table to listen to him recount stories from his life. Set in Chuculate’s home state of Oklahoma during the 1970s and 80s, it’s honest and thoughtful, revealing important truths without trying too hard. I remember scenes from this book vividly, as if I were there with him—riding the bus to school, playing on the local sports teams, and navigating complicated family dynamics.

This is a book about growing up and living as a Native American, but in a slice-of-life, approachable way that has been hard to find historically in literature about Native Americans. This is Chuculate’s American story, and it’s also yours and mine. I enjoyed following his life trajectory from childhood to adolescence, as a budding sports journalist and future award-winning author. His humble, hopeful voice throughout gives this memoir a refreshing and rejuvenating spirit that is easy to love.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

In This Indian Kid: A Native American Memoir, Eddie Chuculate (of Creek and Cherokee descent) looks back on his childhood in rural Oklahoma. After opening with a heart-wrenching scene, he goes back to when he was born and tells about his life through graduating high school. Eddie moves around a lot, between his grandparents’ house and wherever his mother and stepfather have to go to find work, with most of his childhood being spent in Muskogee. I think this is a good book for middle-grade and middle school readers to learn about more contemporary (set in the ‘70s and ‘80s, it is still historical fiction) Native life than what is covered in school. I had not heard of Chuculate before picking up this novel, and I liked getting to learn a bit about his career at the end of the book. I recommend this book for students.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ed Chuculate grew up poor in material items but rich in love and friendship. An Oklahoman of Native American descent, Ed changed schools over ten times in as many years, moving back and forth between his grandparents and his mother and stepfather. Amidst all the changes he could count on a few constants: sports, his family, his friend Lonnie, and his self-confidence.

This is a YA memoir that I read to satisfy task 15 (read a YA nonfiction book) of Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge. This read less like a memoir and more like a transcript of a grandpa sitting around telling random stories from his childhood. There was no exploration of how events impacted Chuculate’s emotional life, and it was extremely hard to connect with the story or the author. It was blurbed by a number of well-known authors and publications so perhaps as the non-target audience I am just missing something, but this was quite a slog for me.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I had trouble with the writing style. It didn’t flow as well as I thought it should, especially for someone who has a writing background. It felt like it skipped quite a bit of information and was more like a journal.

The content, however, was really good. I felt connected to the story based on the details the author provided, as well as having a personal connection to Muskogee, where the author and I both spent some of our childhood years, both attending Muskogee High School, although about 20 years apart.

I loved that the author did what he intended, describing his experience growing up in middle America, rather than in a big city on one of the U.S. coasts. This was refreshing to read because I felt personally connected to the story.

[Laura Vultaggio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this memoir to fulfill Task #15 (a YA nonfiction book) of the @bookriot #readharderchallenge2024 . This memoir is structured like a chronological series of vignettes about Chuculate’s childhood growing up in rural Oklahoma.

Although he grows up poor and shuffles back and forth between multiple family homes and countless different schools, his childhood is one of love and pride in his Creek and Cherokee roots. The memoir follows him through young adulthood, where he is also encouraged by teachers, one in particular, who has a positive influence on his life and encourages him to pursue a career in writing while also giving him opportunities to help make this dream possible.

Although his life experiences were very interesting, the structure of this memoir unfortunately did not work for me and made it difficult for me to engage with his story.

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most memoirs of young Indians are filled with drunks, drugs, and deep despair, so this is a pleasing antidote to those. Young Eddie doesn’t necessarily have an easy childhood and adolescence, but he is surrounded by loving family even as he moves constantly between his mother, his father and his grandparents changing schools multiple times, sometimes several times in each year. He is also fortunate that by and large prejudice plays no part in his childhood; his best friend is Black and he has white friends and Indian friends. He is able to learn about his culture from his family. And he is also extremely lucky. Usually the ‘good’ kid, one incident in middle school could have ruined his life and sent him down a completely different path, but he is fortunate enough that that doesn’t happen

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a lot of growing up things I shared with this author, despite our being born about 20 yeas apart. Things like getting switched as punishment...saving Green Stamps for something special...a grandmother who canned with a pressure cooker (and like him, I feared explosion)...being allowed to get books from the adult section of the library because you'd read everything you could in the kid section...he even mentions dirt daubers. Those were a summer thing in my life--first time anyone has mentioned them in a book I've read. My only problem is there's a LOT of sports in his story--and I'm not into baseball/football/etc. It's a good, positive book for young readers though.

[Ramona · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enlightening story of a young native American who beat the odds. His childhood was unique, but not uncommon. The black and white pictures revealed much about the young man and his family. A great read for middle school students - teaches perseverance, friendship, importance of family and friends, and the extraordinary adaptability of children to changing circumstances. A plus is the fact that Eddie Chuculate had friends from different backgrounds and nationalities. I liked what the book jacket story overview stated: Eddie reveals that "...one's path is rarely set in stone, and there is always hope."

[H. Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short memoir that paints a clear picture of growing up Native during the 70s and 80s, great detail brings the past to life. Sports lovers will enjoy the descriptions of great moments and appreciate how the author turns this passion into a living. I wanted to understand the circumstances of Eddie’s life better. His recounting of events sticks to the child’s point of view, which is good for authenticity, but leaves so much unanswered. Really think young male readers will enjoy what all Eddie and his friends get up to. Recommend for reluctant male readers who are active and live sports.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had read the author’s note before I read this book! In the note, Chuculate explains that while many Native American memoirs are written from a place of trauma, his is not. He wants readers to see the experience of a normal kid growing up in middle America who also happens to be Native American. Chuculate wants readers to know that many Native Americans have moved on to “grander things.” With that in mind, I can appreciate his story so much more and am thankful to add his life experience to my understanding of Native American culture.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for Kansas’ AudioReader. The author recounts his childhood experiences growing up in Oklahoma with strong Native American roots. He was raised both by his grandparents and his mother, moving back and forth over time, often changing schools. He didn’t realize that this was unusual until he was a little older, and despite this was a good student who loved sports and learning. Like most young people, he made mistakes along the way, and grew to appreciate his friends and mentors along the way.

[SusanA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written book for YA about a boy growing up poor and finding his place in the world. With his grandparents, Eddie lives in a tiny home outside of town and learns to fish and make do with little but their love and support. When he is with his mother, he bounces back and forth between towns and schools, so he never really fits in. But there is nothing self-pitying about this story. Eddie tells it through a kid’s lens.

[Esperanza · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 | This was a very interesting memoir that was told through short stories about the author’s youth having to move often and at times being separated from his siblings and mom. I really enjoyed reading about his time with his grandparents. I do wish the book was a little longer to dive deeper into some of the themes he discusses in his epilogue though. Recommend if you are interested in memoirs but note that it is written is short stories rather than detailed sections of this youth.

[Alma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though chapters are labeled with the years in which Cuculate recounts his memories, he tends to jump back and forth across the years which creates a disjointed feeling to the book. I struggled to get through it, as it failed to hold my attention. Read more on my blog: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress....

[Della French · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an adult it reminded me of some things like getting the newspaper every Sunday and getting the house key out of the mailbox after school. But kids will like as well as there are some pretty timeless elements here like racism and bullying but it shows how a kid can overcome it. I’ve really seen no other book like it for kids when speaking of nonfiction/memoir for teens.