Early Indigenous Literatures

Horse and rider reenter the scene

Horses feature again in the stories here as a celebratory gift for Tusee's first dance. The Dakota child is markedly asked what they would like and taken seriously by her mother. Her shouting and bursts of energy are treated as expected responses and her dancing is cause for celebration as she carries out this Dakota art form. The pony is again a wilder one--"fleet-footed" and seemingly spirited like Tusee. On the pony, we imagine her as her future warrior self riding to fight for herself and her nation.

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