Chenoa stepped into her favorite red skirt and smiled at her reflection in the mirror. She was so excited to start at her new school. She was already planning on inviting all of her new friends to her birthday party next week.

"My my don't you look beautiful this morning" said Chenoa's mom. "I can't wait to hear all about how your first day goes my darling".

"Thanks mom! I've got to go, the bus is waiting for me!" Chenoa said as she grabbed her backpack and scurried out the door.

Chenoa made her way to Mr. Nichols room, smiling to all the new kids she passed in the hall. When she got to her classroom she went right up to Mr. Nichols and introduced herself. "Hello Mr. Nichols, I am Chenoa, your new student. Where should I sit?" she asked.

"Hello Chenoa, what a unique name you have. I am pleased to welcome you to class. You can sit right upfront next to my desk." Mr Nichols replied. smiling warmly at her.

When the bell rang for recess, Chenoa rushed out to the playground to meet her new classmates. "Hello," said Chenoa to two girls near the swings. "My name is Chenoa, I'm new here. Can I play with you guys?"

"Chenoa? What kind of name is that?" replied the blonde girl. "It's a traditional name from my tribe," said Chenoa. "Oh, so you're an Indian?" said the other little girl. "If you're an Indian where's your red dot on your forehead?" asked the blonde girl again.

Chenoa looked at the girls and wondered why they were being so mean. She started to cry and the two girls ran off to play jump rope. Chenoa stood there wishing that she had a normal name. She had never felt embarrassed of who she was and where she came from before. Today though, she would have given anything to be named Emma or Rachel.

Mr. Nichols saw Chenoa crying and headed over to see what was wrong. "Chenoa why are you crying? Did something happen?" he asked. "Two girls said I had a weird name, and then made me feel embarrassed about being Native American. They called me an Indian," Chenoa answered back.

Mr. Nichols called over the other girls to talk with them all. "Girls, you really hurt Chenoa's feelings today. It is never okay to make fun of someone who is different than you." he said. "We are sorry Chenoa, we didn't mean to hurt your feelings. We honestly were curious about your name." replied the girls in unison.

"Also I didn't say that comment about the dot to be mean," said the blonde. "I didn't realize that there were two different types of Indians". "Well actually I'm not Indian," said Chenoa. "I am native American, but a lot of people don't understand why it's hurtful to be called an Indian". Chenoa said drying her tears as the two girls smiled at her.

Back in the classroom, Mr Nichols announced that they would be doing a new project. Every student was to trace the ancestry as far back as they could. They would then each present to the class about their heritage. Chenoa smiled at her new friends and thought about how fun this project would be for her!

When Chenoa walked through her front door later that day with her two new friends in tow, Diana and Lily, her mom smiled and asked how the first day went. "It was great mom! We got assigned this fun project to learn about our heritage. I can't wait to tell the class all about the history of our tribe, but for now we are going to go play on the trampoline," Chenoa said enthusiastically as she and the girls headed out back.