Sisters in the Wind

You waste more energy fighting the sad than sitting with it.

Fire speaks to something chaotic inside us. It has the power to destroy, but if we respect and recognize the ways it keeps us warm and safe, we can coexist with the fire.

Jamie was right. It is a powerful moment when you witness someone cross from this world to the next. It's an honor, really.

Native families are like onions—rough-looking on the outside. People want to people the outer layers and toss them away, as if they have no value. But each layer is protecting the next, down to its innermost core. That green center, where the onion is sweetest, that's the Native child. Surrounded by layers of family and community.

That girl's a gas can looking for a match.

Firekeepers are men who strike the fire at ceremonies. They're taught to use flint and steel or wood. They keep the fire going the entire time. We have a four-day period after someone passes away when their spirit travels to the next world. Firekeepers tend the fire for four nights and four days during Enjaakid—that's what the crossing-over journey is called. Takes lots of firewood to keep it going that long.

It was one of those starry nights that made me feel powerful and insignificant at the same time. When I stood still

The ultimate survival game is for girls to survive into adulthood. For the prey to avoid the predators. It’s a wry thought that turns somber when I remember my sister. Some girls don’t survive.

Gichimanidoo is our word for God. Creator. Gih-CHEE-man-ih-doe is perfect. We humans are flawed.

If you need an intelligent go-getter, hang out with tech girls. They have resources and can get shit done.

Do you know what Gimiwan means?" I ask. "It means 'rain.

When social workers don't get trained specifically on ICWA, they miss opportunities to impact Native children's lives because they aren't challenged on their biases and assumptions." Jamie walks around the room, gesturing and emphasizing key words. "Like, not asking whether ICWA applies because the child doesn't "look" Native to them. Or assuming that if a child isn't enrolled in a tribe, ICWA doesn't apply to them. The law applies to children who are enrolled and those who are eligible to be enrolled.

It's important for students to go into the Native community at the beginning of their master's program—their first semester—before they adopt their professor's biases.

You're a gloomy cloud raining sadness all over me.

Let's end our workday on a good note...as a reminder that sometimes, for some children, the Indian Child Welfare Act makes a difference.

Those stolen girls are dead now. One killed herself a few years after coming home. The other girl, your maternal grandmother, had Maggie. When you hear the words 'historical trauma' or 'generational trauma,' it's because of places like this. And people in power today who still won't acknowledge the things that happened there.

They say children who lose a parent have grief milestones. Like, when you reach the age that your parent was when they died.

I always thought she was Cherokee because I was born in Oklahoma City, but I learned there are almost forty different tribes in the state.

And what does the bah mean when she calls her Lily-bah?" "It's a suffix added to a person's name after. they pass away." He speaks softly. "It means they aren't in this world anymore. They are something beyond who they were here.

Lucy, college is a necessity for a secure future, my dad had said a few years ago. For women, a master's degree is the minimum.

You can change my name to Misho Abe. ME-show is short for Mishomis. It means 'Grandpa.

Abe held a palmful of loose-leaf tobacco. He called it semaa—SAY-mah—and asked if I'd like to offer some to give thanks for my dad. I held out my hand. He nudged my other hand. "Left hand," he said. "Closer to your heart.

The card has a black bird graphic and unfamiliar words: Gaagaagi Noodin. The back of the card lists a cell-phone number and an e-mail address, and there's a handwritten message: Lucy, come home where you are loved.

The experienced attorneys—the well-dressed ones—always worked for the other side.