Warrior Girl Unearthed

The presentation for the Friday workshop is on “professional boundaries and ethics” (243). As they present on grooming in the workplace, Pauline realizes that Chief Manitou was trying to groom her, which implies building a trusting relationship with a minor in order to exploit them, especially for illegal sexual activity.

After work, Erik and Perry walk out holding hands, and she kisses his cheek. She runs back into the building after forgetting her backpack, trips over something and lands on Claire. The trip triggers a panic response in Perry. Claire is distressed about an upcoming dinner with her “stepfather,” Lockhart, which she says with air quotes. He insists on having dinner with her before his international trips even though they barely talk. Perry suspects that Claire’s mom Caron didn’t leave to Europe willingly.

On the way out, she runs into Web, who relates that Mackinac now claims Lockhart’s items are “culturally unidentifiable” and thus ineligible for repatriation. Perry knows that institutions use this label to “hold onto funerary belongings” (250). Perry thinks Cooper’s “by-the-book approach assumes a fair playing field” when power is immensely unbalanced (250).

Web confides that he believes Perry’s theory about Lockhart’s grave robbing, which she conveyed to him in Chapter 15. He encourages Perry to visit the “great fishing spots on the south end of the island” (251). Perry knows from Claire that Lockhart is about to go overseas.

Erik stays at Perry’s for dinner, and they kiss. She gets sad when she looks at him and tells him that she’s going to do something he can’t be a part of.

Shense drives by with Washkeh and asks if Perry and Elvis Junior want to drive around. Perry asks if they can go to Lockhart’s property for “reconnaissance.” Perry tells Shense what her mom told her about the land: It used to be the Nodins’ but they sold it in “hard times.” After the casino was built and “per cap” payments established, they tried to buy their land back, but Lockhart refused.

Shense observes the power lines on Lockhart’s land, tracking them and finding where Lockhart’s generator is. She wants to help Perry and thinks Lucas and Pauline would also like to help.

Perry sees a headline about Lockhart turning over his Ojibwe items to Mackinac on Columbus Day. This angers her enough to take Lucas’s truck to Teepees-n-Trinkets that night to look for the ceremonial pipe. On the way, she wonders whether Lucas is Pauline’s “sneaky snag.” She makes a semaa offering before the window and enters. The display is empty. She goes to the museum room to grab the family moccasins instead but finds the whole room empty.

On the way back, she feels guilty for not acting sooner. Although it’s after midnight and stormy, she goes to southern Sugar Island. She searches Lockhart’s barn but finds only vintage cars. This makes her suspicious about why he’d need an accompanying silo, so she checks there next. Inside, she finds hanging shadow boxes, each with the remains of an ancestor. In the center sits a comfortable swiveling chair from which Lockhart can view them.

The next morning, Perry is covered in bruises from her escapades, including on her forehead. Pauline does her hair in a side part to hide the bruise; when Perry asks whether Lucas is Pauline’s “sneaky snag,” she doesn’t answer.

Perry can’t focus on the Friday presentations. She wonders if Lockhart is meeting with international museums “where they still display Indigenous skulls and skeletons” (276). She now realizes that she needs help with her “heist.” At their team meeting, she tells Erik and Shense to leave the room. Erik, who is on probation, does, but Shense wants to stay so that her daughter is proud of her someday.

When they take a break, Erik returns and apologizes that he can’t be involved. Later, Perry covertly tells Web where she found their ancestors. He promises to help find transportation for the ancestors. Perry is thankful for her support system, which includes Warrior Girl, whom she can feel with her.

Perry goes with Shense to pick up Washkeh. Shense’s Uncle Jimmy agreed to cut a tree down on Lockhart’s powerlines during the next storm. This would give them three or four days without power. Shense predicts that the generator would last two days max, and the cameras would last another eight hours, giving them a 12-hour window 60 hours after the power is cut to get their ancestors.

When Perry gets home, Stormy is talking to her parents about their own repatriation work. She and Stormy pick vegetables for dinner in the garden. She offers him semaa and asks if she can trust him with a secret; he agrees. She tells him about the ancestors. He says that only people past child-bearing years can prepare baby remains; they’ll need to recruit Elders.

Perry invites Lucas for dinner. When she sees him looking at Pauline, she knows that Lucas is “in love” with Pauline and is her “sneaky snag.” After dinner, the three meet in the treehouse. She tells them about Shense’s timeline and their role in the plan. She asks Lucas whether his Granny June and her best friend, Minnie, might help prepare any baby ancestors for reburial. In addition, Lucas agrees to get a boat to transport him and Pauline to and from the property. Pauline will get burner phones and ski masks. When they leave, Perry sees Stormy walking away, having heard everything they said.