85 pages • 2 hours read
Louise ErdrichA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
“The voyageurs watched from a distance as the baby crawled in a circle, whimpering and pitiful. Her tiny dress of good blue wool was embroidered with white beads and ribbons, and her new makazins were carefully sewn. It was clear she had been loved.”
As the book opens, a group of voyageurs (fur traders) have found a baby who is the sole survivor of a smallpox outbreak on Spirit Island. This analysis of her clothing as a reflection of the love her deceased family had for her prepares the reader to see clothing used as a symbol of affection throughout the novel. We later learn that this baby is Omakayas, the protagonist.
“Birds were singing, dozens of tiny white-throated sparrows. The trilling, rippling sweetness of their songs contrasted strangely with the silent horror below.”
When she is older, the springtime song of the white-throated sparrow will frequently accompany Omakayas and bring her comfort. When she learns of her origins, Omakayas remembers that this birdsong kept her alive as a baby. This birdsong is also a sign of the powerful connection that Omakayas shares with the animal world.
“When she talked to the manitous, Nokomis dipped out a pinch of tobacco. ‘Old Sister,’ she said to the birchbark tree, ‘we need your skin for our shelter.’”
We meet Nokomis as she prepares to build the family’s summer birchbark home. Nokomis is established from the start as the family’s spiritual leader; she talks to manitous, or spirits, and always has tobacco with her to make offerings. The prayer she offers to the birchbark tree shows the humility and respect with which the Anishinabeg approach the natural world.
“She knew that when she needed the bear she would be able to call on the bear. The bear had understood something she had said and she had understood something the bear had thought, and although she couldn’t tell exactly what, Omakayas turned back to her task with her head clear and her hands cheerful.”
In this passage, Omakayas has just returned home after her first encounterwith the bear family. Unsure what to make of the meeting, she feels the presence of the mother bear with her and takes comfort in their newfound connection. This marks the beginning of Omakayas’s spiritual journey; she becomes more introspective after this, and Nokomis recognizes that Omakayas shares a special connection with the spirits.
“Neewo means “fourth” and that was what they called the baby, but soon, Grandma said, the baby would have to have a name. The tiny boy was a spirit, so far, who had come to live here and was deciding whether or not to stay.”
In Omakayas’s community, only certain people who possess the power to dream names may name babies. Though Neewo is old enough, no one has been able to dream a name for him; this is a sign of his tenuous hold on life, and a foreshadowing of his early death.
“Her mother’s and father’s makazins always had a certain way of turning toward each other, Omakayas thought […] Soft and open, [Deydey’s makazins] seemed relieved to flop inside the door and nestle into the safe embrace of Mama’s pair.”
Makazins frequently reflect the character of their owner in this book (Old Tallow’s makazins are worn and falling apart, for example), and they are often associated with love (such as the beautiful makazins worn by the baby on Spirit Island). Here, as Omakayas observes the makazins of her parents, their arrangement helps to illustrate the loving relationship between Mama and Deydey.
“‘Before they were born, before they came into this world, the chimookoman must have starved as ghosts. They are infinitely hungry.’”
Fishtail says this as he, Deydey, and Albert LaPautre discuss moving west to escape the advancing white settlement in their area (white man is called chimookoman in Anishinabe). Though Deydey and LaPautre are part-white, all three men live as Anishinabeg and are concerned about the European settlers. Fishtail is particularly suspicious, as this quote illustrates. Later, he learns to read so that he can understand chimookoman treaties.
“Finally, Pinch got ahold of the black tip of Andeg’s pride and joy, his tail. ‘Gaygo, Pinch!’ Everyone gasped. This time it was Andeg who spoke!”
Andeg, Omakayas’s pet crow, quickly becomes a valued member of the family. He shows remarkable intelligence, and even learns to speak a few words. Each family member has repeated the phrase “Gaygo [stop it], Pinch!” to the misbehaving Pinch so many times that Andeg has learned to say it. Andeg uses this phrase to great effect later. When Pinch is near death with smallpox, Andeg says “Gaygo!” to urge Pinch to cling to life. Andeg also says “Gaygo!” to LaPautre as the man tries to steal a trap, convincing the bumbling LaPautre that Andeg is his spirit guide.
“Omakayas shivered. Angeline touched her shoulder. Mama stroked Pinch’s rough, haylike stack of hair. Baby Neewo was the first to make a sound, and that sound was a sudden cry.”
Here, Nokomis has just finished a prayer asking the spirits to protect her family from disease and starvation over the winter. As the family stands in solemn silence, Neewo cries out. This cry foreshadows the suffering to come. The family will suffer both illness and hunger, and Neewo will be the one to die.
“‘Listen to them,’ was all Nokomis said, touching Omakayas’s face. She spoke so earnestly, with such emotion in her voice, that Omakayas was always to remember that moment, the bend in the path where they stood with the medicines, her grandmother’s kind face and the words she spoke.”
Nokomis says this to Omakayas as the family is moving into their cabin for the winter. Omakayas has expressed interest in Nokomis’s medicine for the first time, and she tells Nokomis that the bears talk to her. Omakayas does not appear to understand the seriousness of her power until this moment. Nokomis also possesses spiritual powers, and with interactions like this, she guides Omakayas through her spiritual development.
“‘Take their ways if you need them,’ she said, ‘but don’t forget your own. You are Anishinabe. Your mother and your grandmother are wolf clan people. Don’t forget.’”
Omakayas remembers Nokomis saying this as she approaches a mission school in town with Angeline. Angeline is curious about the school and wishes to learn how to read. Later, when she has recovered from smallpox, she attends the school and teaches the alphabet to her family. This advice from Nokomis reflects the delicate balance in their relationship with the white settlement. While some elements of European culture can be useful, the Anishinabeg must be mindful of their own heritage.
“She smiled to herself and had the odd, sudden, curious knowledge that, if it ever came to that, Old Tallow would protect her, Omakayas, with her life.”
Omakayas is never quite sure what to make of Old Tallow, who is gruff and occasionally mean but always treats Omakayas more gently. Here, as Old Tallow sits near Omakayas, the young girl notices the old woman looking at her with the same genuine affection she holds for her dogs. Although Omakayas does not yet understand the cause of this affection, this scene foreshadows the revelation that Old Tallow has saved her life.
“‘Don’t give up,’ It was Angeline, her voice gentle, kind. ‘You are doing very well, neshemay, little sister.’”
Omakayas and Angeline have an occasionally-troubled relationship. Omakayas adores and looks up to her sister, although Angeline sometimes treats her cruelly and inspires envy. When Omakayas asks Ten Snow to teach her how to bead, Angeline mocks her. Now, as Omakayas struggles to make makazins for Neewo and grows frustrated, Angeline shows kindness to her sister. This happens while the women of the family are amicably sewing together, and Angeline is showing Omakayas that she really does belong in this setting.
“Omakayas acted without hesitation. She put out the little fire in the birchbark house. If they were all to die together, then let it be so. She would not stay outside alone and away from those she loved, no, not even if it meant her life.”
At the beginning of the smallpox outbreak, the healthy members of Omakayas’s family retreated to a birchbark shelter so that Mama could care for Angeline in the cabin. Now that Omakayas is left alone in the shelter, she elects to join her family in the cabin and possibly die with them. Omakayas ends up nursing her entire family, and even though she loses Neewo, she is essential to everyone else’s survival. This is the first indication of Omakayas’s power as a healer, and Old Tallow later suggests that this was the purpose for which Omakayas was saved as a baby.
“She held him through another night, held him when his chest went drum-tight and he struggled for breath. Held him when he drew that breath, deep from the heart. She held him when he died.”
This is the lowest point for Omakayas and her family. Almost everyone is near death, and Omakayas loses her most beloved brother, Neewo. Though both Nokomis and Omakayas have a close relationship with the spirits, they cannot save the boy, and several signs have indicated that this fate was inevitable. Omakayas at first fears that Neewo won’t be able to find his way to the spirit world, but upon learning that Ten Snow has also died, she takes some comfort in the knowledge that Ten Snow will care for the baby’s spirit.
“Omakayas got sick, too, but not with the smallpox.”
Being (unknowingly) immune to smallpox, Omakayas has worked herself to exhaustion caring for her family through their illness. As they begin to recover, the weight of her grief over Neewo and Ten Snow sends Omakayas into a crushing depression; she ceases to eat or interact with others. Though Mama is too grief-stricken to help, Old Tallow shows her affection for the girl by feeding her and urging her to go outside. This is the first small step toward her recovery.
“‘I’m going to help you,’ said the woman. ‘I feel sorry for you, and I love you. Just remember to give me tobacco. I’m the bear spirit woman.’”
As Omakayas continues to grieve over Neewo, Nokomis and Mama decide to put charcoal on her face to invite a spirit dream. On the third attempt, Omakayas dreams a conversation with the bear spirit woman. Omakayas already has a relationship with the bears, and this dream confirms for her that the bears will protect her. Bears are associated with medicine, and they eventually help Omakayas to become a healer.
“The great buck stood still in the calm light. Deydey lifted his gun, breathed his hopes. Then thanks. One shot. The shot went true. One Horn died easily, right then.”
This scene illustrates Nokomis’s connection with the spirits, and the Anishinabe people’s respectful relationship with nature. As the family starves, Nokomis dreams of the buck One Horn waiting for Deydey to hunt him; Deydey then finds One Horn precisely where she predicted. Because One Horn is sacrificing himself for the family’s survival, Deydey honors the buck by dressing in his best clothes for the hunt, thanking One Horn, and giving the buck an easy death. Later, as the family eats the venison, Omakayas reflects on One Horn with gratitude and respect.
“Pinch brought laughter back to life. He brought their souls back into their bodies. The harder they laughed the more they knew, now, they would survive.”
The mischievous and energetic Pinch has only caused trouble up to this point. However, when he sets his pants on fire and gets stuck in a bucket, he discovers the healing power of laughter for himself and his family. Though he remains mischievous, Pinch demonstrates greater empathy after this incident and begins to take pleasure in making his family members happy.
“Words she had not expected came from her lips. ‘Will you give me your medicine?’”
This scene is the culmination of Omakayas’s encounters with the bear spirits. In the woods on her own, mourning Neewo, she meets the bear family and offers them advice and tobacco before requesting that they share their medicine. Omakayas experiences immediate results and hears voices from the plants in the woods, confirming her special spiritual connection with the bears.
“‘Ho! I couldn’t have done a better job,’ she said, pleased. Nokomis gazed proudly at her granddaughter for several long moments. ‘My girl, you’re strong in healing.’”
Shortly after requesting medicine from the bears, Omakayas finds herself treating Pinch’s badly burnt feet. Her instincts serve her well, as Nokomis confirms, and even Pinch behaves well under Omakayas’s competent supervision. This is Omakayas’s first experience as a healer, and we learn that she will remember it fondly for the rest of her life.
“She couldn’t change that any more than she could change being who she was, Omakayas, who heard the voices of plants and went dizzy. Omakayas, who talked to bear boys and received their medicine. Omakayas, who missed her one brother and resented the other, who envied her sister. Omakayas, the Little Frog, whose first step was a hop. Omakayas who’d lost her friend.”
Omakayas thinks these things after she has let Andeg join a group of crows to mate. Knowing that she cannot change her friend’s nature brings her comfort, and she finds that this helps her to accept her own nature since she cannot change herself, either. Through this revelation, Omakayas learns to accept her faults and the tragedies of her life.
“‘Megwetch, little brother,’ said Omakayas, surprised to say the word.”
Omakayas and Pinch have had a strained relationship throughout the book, but Pinch finally learns empathy and how to display love for his sister in the closing chapters. Here, Omakayas thanks her brother for handing Andeg over to her. Andeg flew to Pinch because he stood still while Omakayas got over-excited. Previously this would have caused Pinch to gloat, but now he surprises her with his kindness.
“‘They kept me alive,’ said Omakayas, to herself, not quite understanding her own words. ‘I remember their song because their song was my comfort, my lullaby. They kept me alive.’”
Omakayas says this as Old Tallow reveals her true origins as the baby from Spirit Island. Though she was only a baby, Omakayas discovers that she remembers the song of the white-throated sparrows. Their song has comforted Omakayas elsewhere in the book, and this revelation shows another element to Omakayas’s connection with the animal world.
“She heard her little brother as though he still existed in the world. She heard him tell her to cheer up and live. I’m all right, his voice was saying, I’m in a peaceful place. You can depend on me. I’m always here to help you, my sister. Omakayas tucked her hands behind her head, lay back, closed her eyes, and smiled as the song of the white-throated sparrow sank again and again through the air like a shining needle, and sewed up her broken heart.”
These are the closing lines of the book, as Omakayas hears Neewo communicating with her through the song of the white-throated sparrow. Omakayas has finally learned her true origins and is ready to move past her grief and look to the future. Just as the act of sewing clothes has been used as a sign of love, here sewing acts as a metaphor for the healing that Omakayas finds in the birdsong.
By Louise Erdrich