Warrior Girl Unearthed

Early Thursday, Perry finishes transcribing the Elders’ stories, which inspires her to go see the museum’s display of baskets. On the bulletin board, Darby’s missing photo is replaced with Razz’s.

Inside the museum, Perry passes Cooper talking to Fenton. Since she no longer works there, Perry makes a passive, veiled comment about how long Fenton’s inventorying is taking. As she looks at the baskets, Perry thinks about the Elders’ stories of boarding schools and lost knowledge. She wonders what she could take from Fenton’s office while she’s here meeting with Cooper. She calls Lucas to give her a ride to Daunis’s, where she can take her truck to Mackinac.

In Fenton’s office, Perry quickly searches the boxes for baskets. A man enters, talking to Fenton on the phone. Perry hides in the shower stall, next to a cereal box morbidly filled with teeth. She recognizes the man as Grant Edwards, her aunt’s rapist. When he leaves, she continues her search, taking only baskets with Sugar Island surnames.

Lockhart’s announcement is at Mackinac because Chief Manitou wants to petition for it to become a tribal college. When Perry sees Pauline go up to Chief Manitou and Edwards, Perry pulls her away and warns her that Edwards is a “wiindigoo” who hurt their aunt. Perry tells Daunis that Edwards asked Pauline if she was in college or played hockey. Daunis says that Edwards “gets off” on sexually assaulting college hockey players.

Lockhart thanks Edwards for inspiring his announcement and shocks everyone by donating his “treasures” to Mackinac. A massive uproar ensues. In Ojibwemowin, Perry accuses Fenton of purposefully holding up repatriation. Lockhart flees, followed by Edwards, then Daunis, and then Perry. Perry hears Lockhart telling Edwards that he waited 10 years to “spite” Edwards for showing the woman Lockhart loved a “good time.”

Perry chases Lockhart to reiterate the importance of the Tribe having its items, but Lockhart is resolute. She weaves back through the empty building, crying, and trips over Edwards’s dead body. Flynn sees the scene and rushes out to get help. Cooper arrives and picks her up, helping her through her shock. Daunis arrives to pick Perry up from the police station. When she hugs Perry, Daunis whispers for her not to tell the police anything.

Perry dreams that Warrior Girl is with her when she trips on Edwards’s body, from which the deer antler handle of Warrior Girl’s knife sticks out. She gets up to start her morning tasks and is joined by Pauline. Perry says that she thinks their aunt was involved in Edwards’s death. When she went chasing after Edwards, many people heard her threaten to “end” Edwards if he didn’t stay away from the twins, which could be considered motive.

Perry goes to the museum to apologize to Cooper for her outburst toward Fenton. He says that her confrontation jeopardized the repatriation process. He thinks the way they go about getting what they want is as important as getting what they want. Erik gives her a ride home and asks her if they can try “spending time together” again (209).

Perry attends a Tribal Council workshop about the missing women. Pauline and Erik are there with Daunis’s friend, Police Captain TJ Kewadin, and a woman who directs a nonprofit. She corrects their use of “MMIW” to “MMIWG2S,” which more fully represents all missing and murdered Indigenous people: women, girls, and two-spirit people.

TJ introduces Pauline and Erik’s MMIWG2S database, which catalogs people across tribes. Cooper speaks next and talks about getting the Lockhart Collection from Mackinac. Chief Manitou wants to divest from the Lockhart Collection. Web and Cooper both want to work with the college but at different rates. Chief Manitou tables the matter “indefinitely.”

Later, Web tells Perry that Chief Manitou ordered him to reassign her to Superior Shores Casino shipping and receiving. That night, she dreams that Warrior Girl offers Perry her knife. Perry almost grabs it but is distracted by Erik in the distance. Warrior Girl pulls the knife away.

Pauline wants their final project to be an investigation into Edwards’s murder. They record witness stories; everyone heard Aunt Daunis threaten to “end” Edwards.

Perry wants to ship the repatriated baskets to the Elders whose family they belong to, with the message: “This basket found its way back to you. May it bring only good memories” (223). Shense gives her a ride but must stop at the police station for a custody transfer with the father of her daughter, Washkeh. It’s her first time away from her baby; Perry sits with her while she cries.

On the way to the post office, she asks Shense to pull over at Teepees-n-Trinkets to look at the inside security system: Since Shense’s father is head of security at the casino, she can identify specifics about Lockhart’s store. When Shense gets back, she says the store’s security system is standard and simple, without alarmed windows.

Shense drives Perry home and thanks her for her support. When Perry gets inside, she learns that Daunis was arrested for Edwards’s murder.Pauline wants their final project to be an investigation into Edwards’s murder. They record witness stories; everyone heard Aunt Daunis threaten to “end” Edwards.

Perry wants to ship the repatriated baskets to the Elders whose family they belong to, with the message: “This basket found its way back to you. May it bring only good memories” (223). Shense gives her a ride but must stop at the police station for a custody transfer with the father of her daughter, Washkeh. It’s her first time away from her baby; Perry sits with her while she cries.

On the way to the post office, she asks Shense to pull over at Teepees-n-Trinkets to look at the inside security system: Since Shense’s father is head of security at the casino, she can identify specifics about Lockhart’s store. When Shense gets back, she says the store’s security system is standard and simple, without alarmed windows.

Shense drives Perry home and thanks her for her support. When Perry gets inside, she learns that Daunis was arrested for Edwards’s murder.

The next morning, TJ drops Waabun off at the Firekeeper-Birch house. Pauline and Perry give TJ detailed transcripts of their Friday interviews. Since the crime didn’t happen on tribal land and TJ has a personal connection to Daunis, he can’t help her.

Aunt Daunis’s arrest is the top news story. The next news story is about a Black man shot by police, and Perry begins crying.