"I do not believe that time is linear. Instead, I have come to believe that time is in cycles, and that the future is a part of our past and the past is a part of our future. Always, however, we are in new cycles. The cycles omit some pieces and collect other pieces of our stories and our lives."
Make sure to refer to the Cast of Characters on p. 11 to keep the names straight and to the Glossary of Anishinaabe Terms on p. 301 to aid in your understanding.
Prologue and Part I - The Refuge pp. 1-103
"We are what we are intended to be when we have those three things that guide our direction -- our name, our clan, and our religion."
1. What is the significance of your name, your clan (or ancestors)? How do these affect your life?
2. Who are the following?
4. How do you think Native Americans are viewed by whites at this time?
5. What is the significance of the drum?
6. How does Namaybin court both Ishkwegaabawiikwe and Situpiwin Tailfeathers Woman?
7. What is the Wiindigoo --- why is it used to describe whites?
8. What seals Ishkwegaabawiikwe's affection? What is significant about this gift?
9. Why was Bugonaygeeshig killed at Leech Lake?
10. How does he symbolize the spirit of the White Earth people?
11. Why do the Anishinaabe deal with the first French priests as they did?
12. Explain the symbolism of the last paragraph on p. 55?
13. What Indian Agency policy is developed to deal with the ceremonial practices?
14. What kinds of ceremonial practices do you practice? How would you feel if you were prevented from participating in them?
15. Who is Ales Hrdlicka and what does he do? Why does this seem demeaning?
16. In 1887 the reservation is divided into 80-acre allotments. For what purpose? Why would this seem odd to the Anishinaabe?
17. How were the great lumber barons (Weyerhaeuser's, Pillsbury's, Steenerson's and Walsh's) allowed to cut timber on the reservation? How did the Anishinaabe view trees (the forest) compared to the lumbermen?
18. 1920 What does Agwajiing mean? This story haunts me.
19. 1930 Why do you think Anishinaabe boys were sent to a Catholic boarding school? What happens to Boodoo Graves?
20. 1916 Who is Lucky Waller? Read pp. 88-90
21. 1930 Why does Father Gilfillian remove the headstones?