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The Indian Agent in the Mirror: Why “Pretendian Hunting” is Modern Day Indian Agent Work
Author’s Note on LanguageThis essay critiques the practice of “Pretendian hunting.” The term “Pretendian,” a colonial word created by blending “pretend” and “Indian,” is harmful and reductive, and it appears here only when necessary to name the phenomenon under critique. My goal is to move beyond this label entirely, toward a way of seeing grounded…
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Prayer
Wiidookawishig indaanikoobijiganag. Help me, my ancestors. Noondawishig noongom. Hear me today. Ningitimaagiz. I am pitiful. Wiidookawishig. Help me. Niwiisagendam. I am hurting emotionally. Ninandawendam ji-wiidookawiyeg. I need you (all) to help me. Wiidookawishig indaanikoobijiganag. Help me, my ancestors. Ningitimaagiz. I am pitiful. Wiidookawishig. Help me.
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Aanikoobijigan: A Reflection on Time, Trauma, and Responsibility
I’m 8.7 kilometers into my walk, and a thought has settled into my stomach, and has migrated into a lump in my throat. I take a few deep breaths and process these thoughts. We often speak of ancestors as if they belong solely to the past. As if their stories are behind us, or stories…
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A Simple Anishinaabe Man
Before the sun returned There was darkness And in the darkness is where I dwelt For a lifetime and a year **my future self wept echoes of tears** But those tears were not for nothing, They watered the ground where my roots lay sleeping. And in their echo, I heard a sound returning, baadwewidang ~They…