Sing Down the Moon

Scott O’Dell’s children’s novel Sing Down the Moon (1970) is a work of historical fiction focusing on a mid-19th-century Navajo teen girl who calls herself Bright Morning. She and her people live as shepherds and farmers in Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Bright Morning faces a series of trials in the novel: First, she is taken captive and sold into slavery; after she escapes home, white soldiers force her people to leave their village and endure a long, harrowing march, known as the Long Walk, to a reservation in Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. Eventually, Bright Morning and her husband, Tall Boy, decide to escape the reservation and return to Canyon de Chelly to start a new life. The novel depicts the confrontation between Native Americans and European colonialism and draws attention to the Long Walk as an example of the injustices committed against Native Americans by the US government. The novel received several awards, including the Newberry Honor in 1971. This guide references the 1998 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt edition of the novel.

Plot Summary

Bright Morning (a pseudonym the narrator ascribes herself later in the novel) is a Navajo teen who lives in Canyon de Chelly. At the outset of the novel, she excitedly anticipates the arrival of spring because it signifies the chance to watch over her mother’s flock of sheep, proving her maturity. She also pines for a young, highly regarded warrior named Tall Boy. One morning, Bright Morning is watching the flock with her friend Running Bird. Suddenly, a pair of Spaniards captures them with plans to sell the girls into slavery in a nearby city. Bright Morning and Running Bird are separated and sold as servant girls. Bright Morning rejects life as a slave, despite the assurances of a slave named Rosita, who says their white mistress treats servants well.

At an Easter celebration in the city, Bright Morning meets Nehana, a Nez Percé slave girl who tells Bright Morning where Running Bird lives. Nehana and Bright Morning secretly plan an escape. On another night of the Easter celebrations, Bright Morning, Running Bird, and Nehana make their escape while the religious ceremonies distract the city’s citizens. The Spaniard slavers track them down, but Tall Boy and his friend Mando miraculously appear to stop the Spaniards from returning the girls to slavery. In the ensuing fight, Tall Boy is shot in the arm and severely injured.

Bright Morning is happy to be home. Her mother insists that Tall Boy is no longer a suitable husband because his injured arm will end his days as a warrior. White soldiers known as the Long Knives appear in the Navajo village and order Bright Morning and her people to leave. At first the tribe does not believe the threat, but when the Long Knives return, the Navajo escape into the wilderness. They attempt to wait out the Long Knives, but the soldiers do not leave. Instead, they burn the Navajo people’s homes and destroy their crops.

The tribe acknowledges its defeat and surrenders. The Long Knives force the Navajo to begin a long, harrowing march to a reservation in Bosque Redondo, near Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Thousands of other Native Americans join them on the journey. The march becomes known as the Long Walk. Many Native Americans die on the journey, and the march wears down the wills of those who survive. Once they arrive at the reservation, Bright Morning and Tall Boy marry, and she becomes pregnant. She tells Tall Boy she wants to escape the reservation and return to Canyon de Chelly. Bright Morning believes her sheep survived her absence and will sustain them if she and Tall Boy return, but he calls her plan foolish.

After fighting with an Apache man who attempts to steal his firewood, the soldiers imprison Tall Boy. One night, he sneaks out of the prison to visit Bright Morning. He intends to sneak back into prison before morning comes, but Bright Morning and her mother criticize Tall Boy for being weak. Embarrassed, he finally agrees to escape the reservation with Bright Morning. They leave immediately without saying goodbye to their families. Bright Morning and Tall Boy’s son is born in the wilderness before they finally arrive back at Canyon de Chelly. They decide to settle in a hidden canyon in the area, where they find one of Bright Morning’s sheep and its lamb.