A Study Guide for Virginia D. Sneve's "The Medicine Bag"

By Gale and Cengage

A Study Guide for Virginia D. Sneve's "The Medicine Bag," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Short Stories for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Short Stories for Students for all of your research needs.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cengage Learning - Gale
• Release date: Jul 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781535838313

Book preview

10

The Medicine Bag

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

1975

Introduction

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve's The Medicine Bag tells the story of a young Native American boy named Martin and his Lakota great-grandfather Grandpa). When Grandpa suddenly makes an appearance in Martin's neighborhood, the boy is embarrassed by the old man's appearance and strange ways. Soon, however, Martin learns how important his Native American heritage is to him, and how much he loves his great-grandfather. As Grandpa nears the end of his life, he passes a special treasure on to Martin, a medicine bag.

First published in Boy's Life magazine in 1975, The Medicine Bag is one of Sneve's early works. Sneve, an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and award-winning author, was born and raised on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. She draws on her heritage in her various works, including her readily available collection Grandpa Was a Cowboy & an Indian and Other Stories, published by the University of Nebraska Press in 2000. The Medicine Bag is included in this collection.

Author Biography

Sneve was born on February 21, 1933, on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, where she was also raised. She is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe, known in their own language as the Sicangu Lakota Oyate, or Burnt Thigh Nation. Her father, James H. Driving Hawk, was an Episcopal priest. Her mother was Rose Ross Posey. Although Sneve's parents were a great influence on her, they often had to travel off the reservation to find work. During these times, Sneve and her brother lived with their grandmothers. The stories Sneve heard from her grandmothers influenced her later writing career. Sneve attended school on the reservation and graduated from St. Mary's Episcopal High School for Indian Girls in Springfield, South Dakota, in 1950.

Sneve graduated from South Dakota State University with a bachelor of science degree in 1954, and she began working as an English teacher. In July 1955, she married Vance M. Sneve, an industrial arts teacher. Sneve became a full-time homemaker and mother in 1956, and she did not return to teaching until 1965, when she took a position teaching English, speech, and drama at the Flandreau Indian School,