“
Juana Maria
” is what the missionaries christened her when she came to their mission in her 40s. With her real name lost, O'Dell opted to call her fictional doppelgänger Karana.
What is Karana's secret name?
It's after this time together that she tells Tutok her secret name:
Karana
(22.12).
What was karanas tribe name?
A photograph of a Native American woman, believed to be Juana Maria, who was the last surviving member of her tribe,
the Nicoleño
. They called her “the wild woman,” “the lost woman,” and “the last of her race.” Catholic priests baptized her Juana Maria. In his award-winning book, O'Dell called her Karana.
Is Karana real?
Some have called her “Karana.” Others “Juana Maria.” Still others, simply, “The Lone Woman.” Yet
her true name remains unknown
. She is one of the nameless, faceless women of history, and she belongs to the California of my youth. Many versions of her story exist.
Where is Karana buried?
(O'Dell spared his protagonist, Karana—and his young readers—this fate.) She was buried at
Mission Santa Barbara
.
Who is MON-a-nee?
Karana names the otter Mon-a-nee, which means
“Little Boy with Large Eyes
.” Mon-a-nee is difficult to keep fed, however, and after three days that Karana cannot feed him because the sea is too rough to fish, she returns to the tide pool to find that he has gone back to the ocean.
Who is karanas dad?
When the Russian captain identifies himself, Karana's father answers by giving his name. He says his name is
Chief Chowig
. Karana is shocked because that is her father's secret name and he has told it to a stranger.
Who found Juana Maria?
Despite 18 years in solitude, she was discovered “smiling”
After several futile attempts at locating the lost woman who failed to depart with the rest of her tribe in 1835, the Captain of a ship called
the Peores Nada
, a man by the name of George Nidever, finally located Juana Maria in 1853.
How old is Ramo?
Ramo is a curious and mischievous
six-year-old boy
who is the proud informant of everything that happens on the island.
Who is Nanko?
Nanko is
the man who brings the news that the ship that has landed on the island
is not the Aleuts'. Rather, the ship has arrived to carry the people of Ghalas-at to the mainland (woo!). His role in the novel is that of a messenger.
Why did Karana jump off the ship?
Why did Karana jump from the ship that carried her tribe?
She noticed that the blue dolphins were no longer following it
. She saw her little brother running with his fishing spear along the cliff. She could not bear to leave the place where her father had died.
Is there a blue dolphin?
Blue dolphin cichlid (Cyrtocara moorii), a fish endemic to Lake
Malawi
in east Africa. Blue Dolphin and Blue Dolphin 2, ships operated by Tsugaru Kaikyō Ferry in Japan.
Did Juana Maria have a pet?
She stayed behind, legend maintained
, because she had jumped overboard to go back for her infant child — untrue. Grimmer lore insisted that on returning, she'd found that wild dogs (which she befriends in the sanitized 1964 film version of the book) had devoured the child — also untrue.
What did Karana find out about her people who had left the island many years before?
Karana inquires about the ship that had taken her people many years before, but it is not until much later that she finds out
that it had sunk soon after it reached its destination
.
Is the Island of the Blue Dolphins real?
Alone on an island for 18 years.
Island of the Blue Dolphins is a work of historical fiction based on the life of an American Indian woman who spent 18 years in isolation on
San Nicolas Island
, one of eight Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California. In the book she's named Karana.
