Early Indigenous Literatures

Reframing of kinship ties and relationship to children.

Through the narrative of Tusee we get further insight into multiple ways of marking kinship. Bonnin underlines here that Dakota kinship formations include the integration of previous enemies who choose to integrate into the tribe. The belonging here is marked by the winning of "the Sioux warrior's heart," thereby emphasizing affection and trust as the sinews of connection. Connection is then directly linked to freedom, since the man must be allowed to be "made a real man again" in order to come to his decision to stay; belonging relies intimately on his freedom to choose. This option is further complicated later in the piece as Tusee rescues her own lover from capture and thwarts any narrative which would seek to integrate her Dakota betrothed into another nation's unit. Importantly, the enemy camp she enters does not treat the captive with respect and enflames Tusee's pride as a result.

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