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Dream Catcher - The Life of Ernie Pepion Disabilities

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Dream Catcher - The Life of Ernie Pepion
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Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	high interest, readability grades 3 to 5
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	4.69

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		decorative, discrimination, integration, non-Indian, sift, automatic, rancher, spite, wise, series, reservation, therapy, honesty, works, high, joyous
	content words:		Ernie Pepion, Blackfeet Indian, Blacktail Creek, Rocky Mountains, Vietnam War, Native American, Montana State University, Close Yet So Far, Red Man, On January

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Dream Catcher - The Life of Ernie Pepion By Colleen Messina

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¹     Ernie Pepion had many dreams. He was born in 1944 in Browning, Montana. He grew up on a Blackfeet reservation. He went to a non-Indian school. He loved to ride his horse at dawn along Blacktail Creek. He loved the beautiful Rocky Mountains. He worked as a rancher and a rodeo rider. He later served in the Vietnam War.
 
²     Ernie's dreams changed in 1971. A car accident made him a quadriplegic. He lost the use of his arms and legs. He could still speak and move one of his hands. He recovered in a veteran's hospital in California. Ernie felt that his dreams were lost forever. He had to learn how to feed himself and how to use a wheelchair. One day, he met another veteran on an iron lung who could only live for one hour a day out of the machine. During that one hour, the man would paint. Ernie wanted to learn, too.
 
³     It was hard work, but Ernie didn't give up! Painting became his therapy. He learned to share his dreams with others through his art. Ernie came back to Montana and took classes at Montana State University. He earned a master's degree in fine art, which was not easy. Ernie held his brush in one hand equipped with a brace. An engineer built him an automatic easel. The easel could go up and down while he painted. The special easel could be rotated so that Ernie could reach the top of large canvases. Ernie also learned how to paint things upside down! In spite of his limitations, Ernie did many paintings. He enjoyed painting landscapes and horses.

Paragraphs 4 to 5:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

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