The Circle of Light

Mom put her fingers to her mouth and whistled, and it was loud. Then she yelled out in a loud voice, "Hach, Hach, MosesI!" looked up at her in dismay. I had no idea what she was yelling. Then she yelled again, saying, "Hach, Hach, Moses!" A short, older Native gentleman smiled and walked towards her... I had lived with her all my life and had never heard her speak a word of that language....They talked and laughed and made the funniest sounds that I had ever heard.

Author Terry Lee Goedel, a Native American from the Yakama and Tulalip tribes, traveled around the United States with his family in his youth. His father served in the Navy for twenty-two years. After his father's retirement, he and his family finally settled on the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Northwest Washington. Terry shares the struggles and conflicts he encountered in the early 70's while trying to adapt to his newfound Native culture.