The Cutting of My Long Hair

Q1. How were the Indian girls dressed?

Ans. The Indian girls were in stiff shoes and closely clinging dresses. The small girls wore sleeved aprons and shingled hair. It was Zitkala-Sa‘s first day in school. She was not yet in the school dress. She was dressed in the modest dress of her tribe.

Q2. How did Zitkala-Sa compare her own dress with that of the other girls?

Ans. The other girls wore stiff shoes and closely clinging dresses. Zitkala-Sa thought it was immodest to dress like that. She was wearing soft flat shoes and

the loose clothes of her tribe. Even without her blanket on her shoulders, she was feeling very shy.

Q3. “I felt like sinking to the floor,” says Zitkala-Sa. When did she feel so and why?

Ans. native American girl traditionally wears a blanket on her shoulders. It is considered immodest if a girl is without a blanket on her shoulders. But when Zitkala-Sa was marching in a line to the dining room, her blanket was stripped from her shoulders. In her shame, Zitkala-Sa felt like sinking to the floor.

Q4. What were the indignities that the new girls were subjected to at Carlisle Indian School?

Ans. The girls were scrutinized thoroughly and supervised by a grey‐ haired woman. They were made to wear tight fitting immodest clothes and stiff shoes. During breakfast a systematic and regimental discipline was observed. The girls with long hair had to get them shingled and they had to submit to the authorities who were strong, unfeeling and cruel.

Q5. Who was Judewin? What warning did she give to Zitkala-Sa?

Ans. All the girls were placed in a line before entering the dining room. While the girls entered from one door, the boys came in from the opposite door. Zitkala-Sa watched for the three boys of her tribe who had come in the same group. They were feeling as uncomfortable as Zitkala-Sa was.

Q6. What did Judewin tell Zitkala-Sa? How did she react to it?

Ans.Judewin who could understand a little English informed the narrator that the strange woman intended to cut their long hair. But the narrator had learnt from her mother that the enemy cut the hair of the unskilled warrior when they are captured and among their people mourners wear short hair and cowards shingled hair. So, she decided to resists. She hid herself under a bed in a dark room.

Q7. Why was Zitkala-Sa terrified When Judewin told her that her hair would be shingled?

Ans. It was a tradition with Zitkala-Sa‘s tribe to keep long, heavy hair. Only unskilled warrior who were captured, had their hair shingled by the enemy. It was considered humiliating to have ones hair shingled. Naturally, Zitkala-Sa was terrified when she heard that her hair would be cut short.

Q8. How did Zitkala-Sa try to prevent the shingling of her hair?

Ans. She crept up the stairs when no one was noticing. She went into a room. The windows were covered with dark green curtains. It made the room very dim. Zitkala-Sa went down on her hands and knees and crawled under a bed. There she lay huddled in the dark corner.

Q9. How was Zitkala-Sa found from her hiding place?

Ans. Zitkala-Sa heard voices calling her name. She knew they were searching for her. Some women and girls entered her room. Someone threw back the curtains. The room was filled with light. She was found hiding under the bed. She was dragged out.

Q10. How did Zitkala-Sa feel after her long hair had been shingled?

Ans.Zitkala-Sa was terribly shocked. She was in tears. She moaned for her mother. But no one came to comfort her. No one came to reason with her as her mother used to do. Now she felt herself as one of many little animals driven by a herder.

Q11. On learning that her long hair would be cut, the author decided to struggle first. What does this tell us about the author?

Ans. The author knows that she could never prevail against the authorities, yet she struggles against the injustice. Her mother had told her that only cowards had their hair shingled and she firmly believed that she was not one. To prove her point as well as raise her voice against the indignity, she struggles.

Q12. How had Zitkala -Sa been subjected to extreme indignities?

Ans. Since the day she was taken from her mother Zitkala had suffered many indignities. She was stared at and tossed like a wooden puppet. Her long hair was shingled like a coward‘s. In her pain when she cried for her mother no one came forward to comfort her. She was just like one of animals driven by a herder.

Q13. Describe Zitkala-Sa‟s experience of „eating by formula‟ on the first day of her school.

Ans. There were tables and chairs arranged in the dining room. Boys and girls entered the hall from opposite doors. A small bell was tapped. Each of the pupils drew a chair from under the table. Zitkala-Sa, too, pulled her chair and slipped into it. But when she turned her head, all others were still standing. She shyly began to rise but then there was a second bell and all were seated. A man‘s voice was heard at one end of the hall. Zitkala-Sa looked around to see him. But all others hung their heads over their plates. When the man stopped his mutterings, a third bell was tapped. Everyone picked up their knife and fork and began eating. Zitkala-Sa began crying instead. This ‗eating by formula‘ was too hard a trial for her.

Q14. What did Zitkala-Sa do when she came to know that they were going to cut her hair?

Ans.Zitkala-Sa crept up the stairs quietly when no one was noticing. There she found a large room with three white beds in it. The windows were covered with dark green curtains. It made the room very dim. Zitkala-Sa went down on her hands and knees. She crawled under the bed that was farthest from the door. There, she lay huddled in the dark corner. Soon, she heard voices calling her name. Women and girls entered the room. Someone threw up the curtains. The room was filled with light. Zitkala-Sa was found under the bed and dragged out. She was carried downstairs and tied fast in a chair. She cried aloud, shaking her head all the while. She felt the blades of scissors against her neck. She heard them cut off one of her thick braids. Now she lost her spirit and stopped struggling. When her long hair was shingled, she moaned for her mother. But no one came to comfort her.