The Heart of a Chief

The Heart of a Chief (1998), a contemporary middle-grade novel by Joseph Bruchac, centers on a young Native boy who fights to protect his reservation and his heritage when he starts junior high school. Popular with young teenagers and middle-grade readers alike, the book was nominated for various awards.

The Heart of a Chief is based on a real community, the Penacook community. However, the reservation is fictionalized because of sensitive content. Bruchac is an American Indian who enjoys telling the stories of Native peoples. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas in 1999.

Chris Nicola is a Native American who lives on the Penacook Indian Reservation in New Hampshire. As an eleven-year-old boy, Chris is just about to start sixth grade, or junior high. Like all kids his age, Chris is apprehensive about starting a new school year and he worries about everything from making friends to keeping his grades up. Chris’s biggest worry, however, is how he will fit in at a “regular” school.



Until now, Chris has been educated on the reservation. Now that he is too old for the school on the reservation, he must attend a school within the wider community. Chris knows that he will stand out and that the other students won’t understand his culture. He is worried about cultural stereotypes and being a minority for the first time in his life.

Chris lives with his sister, Celeste, his Auntie, and Grandfather Doda. Chris’s father, Doto, is an alcoholic who can’t give his children the support they need. Chris’s mother died a few years ago in a car accident; Doto has never recovered from it. He spends most of his time in rehab, not caring about seeing his children. Chris misses his mother dreadfully and he wishes he could talk to Doto about her more.

At home, Chris is worried about Doda and Auntie. Doda is a senior citizen and Auntie has diabetes. Chris knows that something could happen to either of them at any time; he has no idea how he would cope without them. Doda tells him to stop worrying, but he can’t help it. For the first time, Chris feels completely overwhelmed by his life and what is expected of him.



The day arrives when Chris must start his new school. He clings to other kids from the reservation because he knows that they are the only people who understand him. They eat lunch together and attend the same classes where possible. Chris is a bright and talented student who picks up material easy, and he gets along well with his schoolteachers. However, Chris’s reliability attracts attention, and he is charged with leading a school project on Native American awareness.

Chris doesn’t want to be part of any project about his people. All he wants is to make friends and focus on his family life. However, the teachers insist that he is the right boy for the job and he has no choice but to sign up. Instead of complaining and dragging his heels, Chris decides the project is the perfect opportunity to challenge the casual way the school mocks Native American culture.

Chris’s first target is the soccer team, the Rangerville Chiefs. Chris doesn’t believe the team should be called the “Chiefs” because they’re appropriating Native American culture. He also despises their motto, “Scalp ‘em, Chiefs,” because this again mocks Native American traditions. Although Chris’s friends tell him to leave the team alone and forget about it, Chris challenges the school to do better.



To make matters more stressful for Chris, the reservation is changing. The community leaders are contemplating letting the city build a casino on the land because it might generate some much-needed income. The leaders know how this income would benefit their community although they are worried about exposing the reservation to people who might mock their culture. For some members of the community, the casino spells the beginning of the end for reservation.

Chris decides that he can’t do anything to stop the city from building a casino on his land. This is a problem, Chris realizes, for the community leaders. Instead, Chris focuses on his school project. He looks at sports names across the country and how harmful and ignorant they are. He diplomatically discusses the problem with the Rangerville Chiefs and the school at large. Chris engages everyone in meaningful dialogue and, consequently, educates them about his heritage and culture.

Finally, the school agrees that it can do more to honor Native American tradition. It agrees to change the team mascot and its motto, because it understands how offensive these icons are. When Chris speaks up about what is happening on his reservation, the school agrees to do everything it can to raise awareness about the casino and what this might mean for the Penacook community. By the novel’s end, Chris has developed the heart of a Native American chief.