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25: “A New Best Friend”
It had been an exciting summer! A ship had sunk in the Atlantic Ocean, and she and her mother went down to the docks to see another ship bring back survivors. But when Ali tore off the “August” page from her calendar, she was happy to see the big red X on the day she would return to school and see all her friends again.
The clanging bells rang in the hallways of P.S. 69, and Ali and the other school kids rushed to their assigned classroom and took their seats, laughing and greeting one another after the long summer. Ali’s 5th grade teacher was Miss Watling. She was very pretty and much younger than Mrs. Goldie. With a brand new piece of chalk, Miss Watling printed a list on the blackboard of some of the subjects they would be studying. One of the items on the list was: the History of New York. That caught Ali’s eye.
She remembered when they first arrived in New York City, her mother told her that they had distant ancestors who were Dutch and lived in New York about 300 years ago. Their name was “Van Lent,” her mother said. They came from Holland and settled in New York. As the years went by, the Van Lent family moved west through Pennsylvania and finally to Illinois where Mr. Van Lent became a blacksmith.
About a week after school began, a new girl was brought to class. She was being introduced to everyone, just like Ali was a couple years ago. The girl had long black hair that she wore in braids. Her skin was light brown, and she wore pretty beads around her neck.
“This is Zina Littlewolf,” said the lady from the office. “She’s new to our school”. One of the boys immediately began to howl like a wolf and there was some laughter that rippled through the room.
“Enough class,” said an annoyed Miss Watling. Ali remembered when she first came to P.S. 69 and was introduced in class and how awkward she felt. But the new girl didn’t seem to get embarrassed. She just stood there until she was asked to take a seat which was right next to Ali.
“Tell us a little about yourself Zina,” said Miss Watling.
“My mother and I just moved here from Albany. We are of the Oneida tribe of Indians. Our ancestors go back many centuries in New York,” said Zina without any hesitation. Just then, a boy in the back of the classroom put his hands to his mouth and made warhooping sounds like the Indians on television when they were chasing a wagon train or the cavalry.
“Randall, it that necessary?----Sorry Zina,” said Miss Watling.
“That’s OK. I’ve heard it before,” Zina said calmly. Ali looked at her and liked her calmness. She didn’t seem to get upset with a dumb thing like a boy making fun of her. Ali remembered when her mother told her they were going to New York, “where they didn’t have any wild Indians.” Zina was an Indian, but not the kind she always saw on television.
“Well, we are very lucky to have you in class Zina. We’ll be studying the history of New York this year and I’m sure you’ll be able to enlighten us about your ancestors.” said Miss Watling with a smile as she moved on to other subjects.
Over the next couple of months, Ali became friends with Zina. She learned that Zina’s mother worked at a museum. Zina lived with her working mother, just like Ali lived alone with her mother now that Reynolds was away in school and her father had returned to California. Often times they would play in the park after school or go to the library together. One day they walked all the way down to Times Square to Woolworth’s where the Planter’s peanut man tapped on the window making little dents on the glass. They wandered around the bins in the store, looking at the play jewelry and the books. Ali would always pick up a book about an animal, like “Original Joe”, and start flipping through the pages until she was told to either buy the book or leave by a clerk. She and Zina would run down Broadway through the throngs of people, eventually making their way to an old hotel where Zina lived.
One day Miss Watling told her class that they were going on a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History near the park. What an incredible place! Mrs. Watling had her class gather in the lobby near the enormous dinosaur display. The bony dinosaur was fascinating, but
Ali and Zina walked over to a mural depicting a handful of Dutch settlers who once lived in Manhattan in the early 1600’s. New York was called New Amsterdam way back then.
“I wonder if any of those people were named Van Lent,” said Ali to Zina as they stood in front of the mural. “The Van Lent’s came from Holland and were my relatives,” said Ali proudly. Zina smiled and said, “my mother and I come here to see the displays all the time. Follow me, I’ll show you my relatives from a long time ago who were here to welcome the Van Lent’s.” When the class reached the Native American Indian floor, Zina led Ali over to the displays she had mentioned earlier.
“Look,” said Zina as she pointed to a beautiful display showing Indians rowing a boat, making pottery and engaged in other activities from long ago.
“Maybe his name was Littlewolf. Who knows, maybe the Van Lent’s and the Littlewolf’s met each other hundreds of years ago, and here you and I are today. My mother says that everywhere, everything is connected to everything else.”
Ali thought about Zina’s words. What an amazing idea that her family and Zina’s family might have known each other hundreds of years ago right there on the island of Manhattan!