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Early Indigenous Literatures

The Trial Path (3)

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"The Trial Path": Relational Reproductions of Kinship To further complicate (non)biological kinship, I turn to Bonnin’s “The Trial Path.” The story is between an elder and her grandchild, who sits firmly atop a bed of sweetgrass as her grandmother tells of her family history. Following a young man who has killed his best friend/brother, “The Trial Path” shows the man going through a test which will determine whether he will be put to death for the murder.[1] Upon successfully completing the test, he is welcomed by the dead man’s family: “The old warrior father rises. Stepping forward two long strides, he grasps the hand of the murderer of his only son. Holding it so the people can see, he cries, with compassionate voice, ‘My son!’” (Bonnin 76). Through the trial, the man is linked back into his kinship ties, which he had severed through his act of violence. His connection to the family is further demonstrated as integral to the well-being of the community, as emphasized by the father “[h]olding it [his hand] so the people can see” (Bonnin 76). While the tale does not negate the longstanding effects of the violence (the family is bereft, there is emphasis on this being the father’s “only son”), it does emphasize that alternative kinship methods must come from a space of justice and continuance for the community to be well again (Bonnin 76). By valuing both biological and nonbiological kinship, “The Trial Path” presents Indigenous expansions of kinship as integral routes of healing and justice all while being framed through the connection of a grandmother and her granddaughter.

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*all images come from the public domain from the following: Zitkala-Ša, American Indian Stories. [Internet Archive] Brigham Young University, Washington: Hayworth Publishing House, 1921.*
[1] Though the man is not biologically related, he is routinely referred to as the “brother” of the man he murdered due to their love and affection for one another.