Monologue Of Amelia Mahonoy

dished herself out some of the porridge and sat down across from her. Amelia was looking for a spoon to eat with but couldn't see any in the things around them. Mahonoy let her dish of porridge cool a little and then stuck in a couple of fingers and scooped some out and ate. She smacked her lips and motioned to Amelia to do the same thing. Amelia had woke really hungry and the food smelled good. Despite the warnings of her own mother to always hold her spoon like a young lady, she plunged her fingers in, scooped some out like Mahonoy and tasted the food. It was a yellow grain, kind of starchy, bland and somewhat gritty. She decided from its color that it must be ground corn meal, perhaps soaked in water and then cooked. She had eaten something like it before, only it had been not so coarse, sweetened and sometimes her family

It was attached to a leather thong, like a necklace, and she put it over Amelia's head. Mahonoy's eyes glistened with moist tears as Amelia thanked her for the gift. After Mahonoy left her, she looked inside the little pouch to see what it held. She found a tiny canoe fashioned out of beaten copper, and a little miniature doll figure crafted from finely woven cornhusk strips. She turned them over and over in her fingers marveling at the tiny, delicate workmanship. At that time she had no idea what they were for, or their meaning. Later, after she had made friends with the other Indian children she found out they were highly prized wish tokens. The Lenape often carried miniatures of things they wanted to have someday. Mahonoy was wishing that someday Amelia would have her own canoe and children. Amelia was extremely touched by Mahonoy's gesture when she understood its meaning. Sometimes the other children would trade their wish tokens, but Amelia always held on to her gift from