Firekeeper's Daughter

Part 2’s Ojibwe title translates as “South,” and begins with the following saying on its title page: “The journey continues into the southern direction—a time for wandering and wondering.” This saying is highly representative of Daunis’s experience over the course of this section. While Daunis agrees to be the CI for the FBI investigation, she doesn’t yet know exactly what that entails. As Daunis learns what will be asked of her as a CI, she makes her own rules to operate by and refuses to spy on her brother or his friends. Ron and Jamie’s insistence that Daunis keep a close eye on Levi and his (and her) friends is foreshadowing for future tension, and this promise that Daunis makes to and for herself is not one that she will be able to keep. Her “rule-following” nature is being tested by the task for which she has volunteered.

As Daunis has displayed in previous chapters, she can often operate as someone who sees and understands herself in direct opposition to others. Daunis knows what she “is” by identifying that which she “isn’t.” For example, Ron asks her to pose as Jamie’s girlfriend and her first and immediate concern is that others will think she poached him from his (pretend) girlfriend just like Levi’s mother Dana did to her own mom. Daunis, when faced with the news that she will both have to learn how to make meth and find out what traditional medicines are being used in what Travis was making, calls on her female relatives and wonders what they would do. Daunis observes the changing colors in the leaves as a “promise of a momentous change” (133), which is symbolic of the tremendous change and growth that she herself is about to experience, despite her adamant belief that she will not let the FBI change her.

When Ron tells Daunis that she can apply for tribe membership with her approaching 19th birthday, Daunis refuses to consider, which is surprising given her deep desire to belong. This issue, the possibility of her enrollment in a few weeks, places a time urgency that indicates this is not the last time Daunis will be presented with the opportunity to apply for membership. Daunis begins to lean into her spirit name, “clan,” in this section, as she begins spending more time at the Elder Center with Granny June. Her elders prove to be an invaluable resource to her as she investigates traditional medicine. As Daunis cannot participate in any ceremonies during the year due to grieving Lily, she finds a way to continue learning by spending time with the elders. Daunis’s grieving year is symbolic of the grief that she carries about herself and her family that is keeping her from fully living in, participating in, and owning her place in her community. Ancestral heritage proves to be invaluable as Jonsy leads her to her first piece of evidence in the form of the “meth baby” trash bag. When Jonsy explains to Daunis why nothing is living or growing in the landfill, he makes a comment that “people who weren’t thinking seven generations ahead ruined the ground” (144). The idea that one should think generations ahead when one is making decisions about their own life comes to resonate deeply with Daunis as she both calls on help from the past and makes the decisions that she does—like pretending to be Jamie’s girlfriend—in order to help those generations ahead of her.