Residential Residential

A TRUE STORY: A STRANGER AT HOME
BY CHRISTY JORDAN-FENTON & MARGARET POKIAK-FENTON
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
A Stranger at Home, sequel to Fatty Legs, is the powerful memoir of a girl searching for her true self
when she returns from residential school. Ten-year-old Margaret Pokiak has not been home in two
years and is excited to be back with her family that she has missed so much. Her return does not go
as planned as her mother barely recognizes her and Margaret quickly realizes she is now marked as
an outsider. She has forgotten the language and stories of her people, and she can’t even stomach
the food her mother prepares. In an attempt to relearn her language and her family’s way of living,
Margaret discovers how important it is to remain true to the ways of her people—and to herself.
BEFORE READING THE STORY
Since Olemaun’s return home, what do you think her time has been like? What are some challenges
she may have faced? Do you think Olemaun is looking forward to being home? Explain.
WHILE READING THE STORY
CHAPTER 1
• What do you think will be some of Olemaun’s experiences at home? Why?
• What has been Olemaun’s reactions to home so far?
CHAPTER 2
• Why would Agnes’s mother forbid her to speak English and play with Olemaun?
• How was Olemaun beginning to see herself? Why?
CHAPTER 3
• Why do you think Olemaun was upset when she was having trouble fishing? Why do you
think this is important to her?
• Olemaun’s father thinks she is going to eat when she is hungry enough. What do you predict
will happen? Do you think Olemaun will be able to stomach her family's traditional food?
CHAPTER 4
• Olemaun says, “My tears fell in the ocean, and I wish my spirit was in those tears, because
then I could follow the current back to a place where I belong.” What does Olemaun mean by
this? Where does she think she belongs?
• Why do you think Oleamun is not afraid of the dark stranger, Dubilak, like everyone else?
CHAPTER 5
• Olemaun says, “The first time I had put my feet in outsiders’ shoes they had pinched and felt
awkward. Now they were a barrier, protection against the hard earth.” She no longer feels
comfortable in her soft kamis. What do you think this means? How do you think her mother
and father would react to Olemaun's feelings toward her Kamis? Explain.
CHAPTER 6
• What does Olemaun mean when she says, “And I only had to remember how to be Olemaun
Pokiak, an Inuvialuit girl.”?
• Are there any similarities or differences between Olemaun and Dubliak?
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