Early Indigenous Literatures

Kinship with non-humans

Bonnin again makes the horse a central character in her story. Not only is the horse, Ohiyesa, tied to the grandfather, but the wisdom of the tale centers around this animal's familial ties by which the creature is "bound on the spirit-trail" (135). Although horses feature in the other stories as symbols of liberation and connection, Ohiyesa centers in "The Trial Path" as further emphasis that not only does kinship not have to be biological, but that Dakota kinship relies on responsibility/reliability within and beyond human relations.

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