After reflecting upon his trips to Ellis Island to honor his grandparents passage, Bruchac then reflects upon the cost of the continuous influx of immigrants to America.  As the population expanded within the United States, the borders expanded.  It was believed to be America’s divine right to occupy the land from sea to sea (Manifest Destiny).  He speaks of both this continuous expansion and of the initial conflicts settlers had with Native Americans.  He highlights the ideological differences between the Natives and the invading Europeans in one line, “when the earth became owned.”  The Natives who believed all land was communal had lived in tribes that tried to coexist with nature.  The Europeans, however, had clear systems established that allowed for the sale and ownership of land as property.  These differences in ideologies allowed Europeans to get land from Natives at “discounts.”  Technological advances allowed Europeans to further intimidate and essentially bully Natives to ensure the land “purchased” was successfully cleared of the Natives.  Bruchac can personally identify with this history due to his mixed ancestry.  The mix complicates his ancestry and how he can identify himself as an individual as his Slovak roots in American were only given rise due to the desecration of the culture and peoples of his Native roots.