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by Angeline Boulley, 2021
Engrossing mystery recommended to me by Cousin Gretchen. It’s YA, but well-written and a page-turner. I loved the setting (Ojibwe community of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians and Sault Ste. Marie, in upper Michigan). I loved the main character (Daunis, 1/2 Indian, 1/2 rich white girl). It’s modern day times and Daunis has to mesh her Indian traditions and culture with modern day American culture. Unfortunately, meth has taken over the lives of some of her best friends. A friend (Travis) who has become hopelessly addicted to it shoots and kills Daunis’s best friend, Lily. Daunis becomes a CI (Confidential Informant) for the FBI, who have come to town and are hoping to find the main meth dealers. It’s a love story and a mystery and I learned a lot about ancient Indian traditions intertwined with modern-day lives. The Elders of the Indian community, whom Daunis visits with almost every day, end up saving the day, saving her life.
Beautiful love story, too, between Daunis and Jamie Johnson, one of the FBI undercover agents posing as a high school senior and a hockey player.
Here are things I liked and things I learned:
“Ninde Gidayan” means You have my heart. (Daunis speaks “Nish” a lot with her family and community.)
Sault Sainte Marie is pronounced Soo Sainte Marie. Only tourists pronounce it “Salt” Sainte Marie.
There is a four-day journey to the next world for those who have died. The first day is for the deceased to mourn their loved ones. The second day is for atonement. The deceased person must face every person they have harmed in their lifetimes. When Daunis thinks of Travis’s second day (he shot Lily and then shot himself), she writes: “Time is a concept of our earthly minds. In the spirit world, his second day might last an eternity for him. As it should. My nails dig into my palms. I want Travis to suffer. To feel our pain…”
Lily’s funeral is a mixture of Catholic and Native traditions. Some tribal members are Catholic and others do not like the Catholic Church at all since it was involved in the stealing of Indian children from their homes and families and putting them in boarding schools and forcing them to forget all of their traditions and languages. During Lily’s funeral, prayers are said to the Creator: “We pray for Lily June Chippeway. Creator knows her by her Spirit name: Thunderbird Woman. We are thankful for the time we shared with her. We honor her gifts. We wish her a good journey. We keep her love in our hearts. Thank you most greatly, Creator.” The Lord’s Prayer is recited in Anishinaabemowin, their language. Regarding the Lord’s Prayer, she writes: “Does closure come from forgiving others and being forgiven for our failings? Do we resist temptation from evil by believing in a righteous justice?”
Daunis’s aunt is a beautiful and strong woman. She was wild at one time, but has settled down with a good man, Art. She tells Daunis: “Art taught her that love wasn’t supposed to be a roller coaster; it could be a walk in the woods. She told me there’s a phrase in our beautiful language for when you no longer walk alone on your path but are together for the journey on this earth: wiijiindiwin.”
Some of her Auntie’s wisdom: “Auntie told me once that a girl needs at least one grown man in her life who sees her worth as inherent. Values her just as she is, not dependent upon her appearance or accomplishments.”
More of Auntie’s wisdom: “Auntie has shown me how to be a strong Nish kwe–full of love, anger, humor, sorrow, and Joy. Not as something perfect: She is a woman who is complex and sometimes exhausted, but mostly brave. She loves imperfect people fiercely.”
Daunis loves to go jogging in the early morning and each morning she starts out with a prayer. One day, her prayer is for zaagidiwin. “Love is the first Grandfather teaching we receive as babies–even before birth, as new spirits traveling while our bodies are forming to the cadence of our mother’s heartbeat. Love from our parents, family, and Creator is with us as we draw our first breath in this world.”
There are seven Grandfathers in the Ojibwe culture, and each day she prays for one of them: Humility, Bravery, Honesty, Wisdom, Truth, Respect, Love. Beautiful!