Free Republic

As critical race theory and school board meetings grab headlines, it’s easy to forget that we are all the product of the childhood education we received. At 26, I rarely think about elementary school lessons. However, I was recently reminded of my favorite book from my fourth-grade class, “Island of the Blue Dolphins” by Scott O’Dell. I saw a reference to Aleuts, or the Russian term for people native to the Aleutian archipelago, and the term instantly transported me back to the book I adored.

Your pre-adolescent dreams have been dashed: some other person has found the supposed cave from Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins. To be fair, you were not quite as dedicated to the cause as Navy archaeologist Steve Schwartz, who scoured San Nicolas Island (one of the Channel Islands, controlled by the Navy) for more than 20 years for the cave that "was believed to be home to the island's most famous inhabitant, a Native American woman who survived on the island for 18 years, abandoned and alone," according to the LA Times (O'Dell based his story on her). Last...