Post #5 Yellow Raft

The character of Rayona interests me. She has a quiet, powerful confidence that I admire greatly. For such a young age (she is 15) I am impressed with the maturity she seems to have. At the age of fifteen I think I was more concerned about my volleyball game, how I looked each morning before school, and whether or not the cute guy next to me thought I was cute back. I was definitely not concerned about finding a place to stay at night or getting food to eat. I have never had to worry about my mother trying to commit suicide or dumping me on the side of a road on a highway. The differences I have had in my life compared to Rayona have been great. I have been given a confidence die to what I have been brought up as from my parents. But Rayona lacks this background and yet she has a confidence about her. So does confidence come from where you grow up and your background or from a person on the inside? I looked at the readings and I have become confused about the reaction the kids on the reservation had with Rayona. In class we were told that being half African American and half Native American was “cool” on the reservation. So why do the kids on the reservation not take to Rayona? They shun her from immediately from the time they met her. I find this interesting because a people that have been so discriminated themselves are discriminating against a type of people themselves. This I feel is ironic and hy[picrytical.