I Can Make This Promise

To cheer her up, Edie’s mother takes her to the movie theater. There, Edie sees a poster for a film that features an Indigenous woman as a major character. She is surprised that the woman has blue eyes. Edie asks Lisa if they can see this film instead; she hopes it will give her some insight into her heritage. Lisa is clearly uncomfortable, but she is unclear in giving her reasons for saying no. Edie gets angry, saying that the movie could give her some information, which is “a lot more than I could say about you” (158). Edie’s mother takes her home immediately. Although Edie feels guilty about what she said, she goes to her room instead of discussing it further.

The next day, Edie tries to call Serenity, but there is no response, as her friend is still camping. She reads more of Edith’s letters and learns that the Western was edited to remove most of Edith’s lines and to provide a less nuanced portrait of its Indigenous characters. She also learns that Edith returned home to Indianola in 1977 because she was expecting a baby.

On July 12, Edie finally tells her parents, “I know where my name came from” (170). She asks Lisa why she was adopted, since Edith was clearly so excited to be a mother. Edie’s parents admit that they always planned to tell her the truth, but they wanted to wait until she was old enough to understand. They decide to take a trip to Indianola that day so Edie will be able to understand everything. Edie apologizes to her mother for the fight at the movie theater. Lisa tells her that the woman on the movie poster is a white actress playing an Indigenous character, which is why she did not want to watch it.

Edie’s father heads to work for a couple of hours, after which the trip will begin. In the meantime, Edie asks her mother about her childhood. Lisa describes growing up in a white family and explains that she gradually became interested in learning about her heritage. She also describes another Indigenous boy she knew growing up. His name was Todd, and he was also raised by adoptive white parents. Todd’s family wanted him to completely reject his Indigenous heritage, but he ultimately reclaimed it as an adult. Edie hopes that Edith’s story will have a similarly happy ending.

When Edie’s father returns, the family goes on a trip. They take a ferry across Puget Sound. On the way, Lisa explains to Edie that they come from the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes. She and Edie’s father also talk about how they met and how they first started trying to find her biological family. They tell Edie that they ultimately found Edith’s brother, Theo.

Before taking Edie to Theo and Edith’s old home, her parents take her to a park by the water. It was once home to Old Man House, an Indigenous winter village. They discuss the area’s history and the legacy of colonialism. Edie sketches the landscape but does not include people at first because she is not confident that she can draw them well. Her mother asks her to add people into the landscape to better reflect the region’s long Indigenous history.