THE CHRISTMAS COAT: MEMORIES OF MY SIOUX CHILDHOOD by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve ~ Culture 4

THE CHRISTMAS COAT: MEMORIES OF MY SIOUX CHILDHOOD by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

Author: Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

Title:  The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood

Illustrator: Ellen Beier

Publisher:  Holiday House

Publication Date: 2011

ISBN:  9780823421343

Plot Summary

Virginia and her brother are never allowed to pick first from the donation boxes at church because their father is the priest, and she is heartbroken when another girl gets the beautiful coat that she covets. Based on the author's memories of life on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota.

Critical Analysis

One Christmas, my self-employed father didn’t have money for Christmas gifts. He stayed in the master bedroom, bed-ridden and watching TV. He didn’t know my mother had squirrelled away some money and had given it to me to shop for gifts. I knew money was tight, so I purchased gifts I thought we would need. I bought my dad a can of his favorite pipe tobacco because I noticed he was low. I bought my mom some new Isotoner gloves since she had left hers behind on the Metro bus. My dad reluctantly participated in opening presents on Christmas and was almost moved to tears when he opened that box of pipe tobacco. I was so happy that I had made my mom and dad happy that I can’t even remember what I received at all. If you have a similar story in your background, you will connect with The Christmas Coat by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve.

The subtitle clues you in that this children’s holiday picture book is from the Native American culture: Memories of My Sioux Childhood. The story is based on childhood memories from Sioux author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve. The story opens in the cold winter with children struggling through mud, snow and cold on their walk to school. The children wish for new boots and a new winter coat. They hope there will be something for them in a box of donations. But here’s the catch: the children are the pastor’s children and they are taught to serve other’s first before taking for themselves. In other words: the children can take from the donations box, but only after everyone else in the village has a chance to look first. There is a coat that will fit young Virginia, but it is claimed by another classmate. Virginia struggles with jealousy and longing for the coat, but quickly learns that the fur coat isn’t suitable for the harsh conditions of a South Dakota winter. Still Virginia longs for a coat and on Christmas day she has a huge package to unwrap. Inside is the perfect winter coat: “‘Sometimes the congregations in the East send boxes especially for the priest and his family. They ask what the family needs the most and then they try to send those items’” (unp.). The story continues: “A coat! Not a fur one, but a smooth and soft red one. It even had a hood. She looked up at Mama and felt tears in her eyes. She couldn’t say anything” (unp.).

The textual Native American cultural markers in this picture book show in the names of the characters: the Driving Hawk family, Dan Reed Buffalo, Mrs. Little Money, or Mrs. High Bear. However, the true cultural markers are in the book’s illustrations. Illustrator Ellen Beier has drawn everyone with dark hair, dark skin and strong noses. Most of the girls are drawn with their hair in braids. There are other cultural references in the background images: a picture of an Indian Chief hanging on the wall, a Native American star quilt folded in a chair, a traditionally dressed Sioux doll on a table. And the landscapes! You can feel a chill in the air looking at the houses and the snow-covered plains the children are drawn walking through on their way to church and school. Most notable, however, are the three Indian Nativity wise men in full Native American headdresses, vests and moccasins that appear on the book’s cover and during the Biblical manger scene at church: “There was a long pause before the Wise Men entered. The whole guildhall seemed to give a big ahhh as Marty led two other boys into the hall. They wore headdresses that only the wise leaders and elders of the tribe could wear” (unp.). It seems like a perfect blend of Native American traditions mixed with more modern Native American life.

Reviews

• CCBC (2012): “Young Virginia s authentically childlike feelings of disappointment and jealousy as she struggles to uphold the values of selflessness stressed by her parents are wonderfully realized. And her effort is sweetly rewarded, most notably when Christmas brings an unexpected surprise in this picture book that offers a realistic look at economic hardship in the context of a warm and loving family. Aspects of Native (Sneve is Sioux) culture are subtle elements of the story, and occasionally stand out in the illustrations.”
• Kirkus (2011): “The story unfolds in a linear, matter-of-fact way reminiscent of the writing of Laura Ingalls Wilder, with school and family scenes and a strong sense of the main character's emotions and family ties. Realistic illustrations in watercolor and gouache capture the snowy, flat landscape, the simple schoolroom and the crowd of children each experiencing something different at the holiday events. Virginia's personality shines through in this poignant story that entertains and informs without recourse to stereotypes.”

Awards

• 2012 American Indian Youth Literature Award, winner (Grade 1 up)
• 2013 Arkansas Diamond Primary Book Award, nominee
• 2013 Prairie Pasque Award, nominee

Connections

• Have community service and read the book as part of a coat drive.
• Read as part of a multicultural Christmas storytime theme. Other books could include ‘Twas Nochebuena by Roseanne Greenfield Thong and The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola.
• Author Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve does not have a professional website. Have students research her life and prepare a biography presentation.

Bibliography

Beier, Ellen. 2011. The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 9780823421343

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. October 15, 2017.

Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood. New York, New York: Holiday House, 2011. ISBN 9780823421343