Warrior Girl Unearthed

Perry Firekeeper-Birch drives her twin, Pauline, across Sugar Island to the Tribal Council’s offices for Pauline’s first day of her paid Kinomaage Summer Internship Program. Perry skipped the internship interview to go fishing. While Pauline looks forward to her internship and college, Perry wants to stay on Sugar Island.

On the way home, Perry crashes into a gate after swerving to avoid hitting a mother bear and cub and must get her car towed. Later, as Perry and her family eat dinner, her Aunt Daunis arrives. Daunis already paid for the repairs and arranged for Perry to take a spot in the internship program to pay off her debt.

Perry offers semaa, tobacco, as they cross the St. Mary’s River, as is customary. Before beginning work, she offers semaa to a cedar bush, or “ghiizhik,” breaks off two sprigs, and blesses her insoles with them.

She walks through the museum in the Cultural Learning Center, which recounts Anishnaabe history in both Ojibwemowin and English, to find her supervisor, Cooper Turtle. She sees a basket woven by her maternal great-grandmother, Nokomis Maria. Perry cleans the inside of display cases and hates it so much that she decides to use her break to look for new jobs downtown.