Warrior Girl Unearthed

Book Reviews

Aug 28

Warrior Girl Unearthed
By: Angeline Boulley

[On my list of Most Anticipated Books of 2023]
[This book was nominated for the ‘Best YA Fiction’ category of the 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards Reading Challenge ]

“Warriors are willing to do what others can’t or won’t do for their community.”

Warrior Girl Unearthed takes place ten years after Boulley’s debut novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, which won many awards and was named by Time in their 100 Best YA Books of All Time.

Firekeeper’s Daughter’s protagonist was Daunis, then- age 18. Warrior Girl Unearthed focuses on Daunis’s niece, Perry (twin to Paulline) who is now 16. She is a good character to use to follow-up to Daunis because their personalities are similar— blunt, strong, outspoken, risk-takers, opinionated, kind, loyal to their tribe and family.

I didn’t feel as lost at first reading this book compared to Firekeeper’s Daughter. It may be because I was already prepared for the Ojibwe language and the Yooper slang to be used. It may also be that this one didn’t ALSO have all the hockey jargon and anatomy terminology that were relevant to Daunis’s character.

It felt like Boulley didn’t take on as many threads to weave together as Firekeeper’s Daughter. The plot and character were a bit simpler. Warrior Girl Unearthed is 100 pages less, as well, so I think Boulley made some good choices with her second book.

Another improvement Boulley made with this book was better writing of the text conversations. They were more realistic. Poorly written text messages is one of my pet peeves so I was happy about this.

This book felt slow in the beginning. Having not really read the Goodreads summary, I wasn’t sure what the main conflict of the story was going to be.

It starts off with Perry wrecking Daunis’s jeep and needing to earn money to pay for the repairs. This drops her into a tribal summer intern program she is less than enthused about.

Her assignment introduces her to a collection of tribal artifacts, sacred items, and ancestral remains held at the nearby university. One of the remains is a woman they call Warrior Girl.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was the set-up for the primary plot. Getting these items and remains back to their tribe where they should be. It is a discussion on the repatriation act of 1990 (NAGPRA) which was enacted not only to restore these things to their rightful place, but to make sure remains and items were treated with dignity and respect.

Perry vows to do whatever it takes to stop the college from dragging their feet on inventorying their collection and making sure Warrior Girl is returned to their tribe where she can be returned to the earth from which she was robbed.

The secondary plot is the increasing number of young women from their tribe and others going missing and the laws around what crimes are prosecuted by whom.

There are lesser threads including a small romance plus the relationship between the two sisters (twins) and their differing personalities.

So yes, it was slow in the beginning, but I think all the build-up was necessary to Perry’s character and her devotion to her vow. We have to see the challenges of jumping through hoops and doing things the legal way. We have to see the disrespect of some of the characters and her growing commitment to repatriation. We have to believe that she cares about it so much that she really is willing to do whatever it takes to complete her vow.

It makes the climax of the book and her actions make more sense.

Some things I liked: It was great checking in with Granny June again. It was nice to know where Daunis ended up. I really enjoyed the character (Sam Hill) who was just called ‘What-The’.

I liked the good familial relationships shown and that even though Perry was a teenager, she still loved and respected her parents. I liked that the romantic aspect of the book was not the driving force of the plot nor of the main character’s behavior.

I thought Boulley did a good job of using the Ojibwe language in a major way while also cluing the reader into what was said in a natural way so it didn’t feel like you were just reading a dictionary.

Some things I didn’t like: All the swearing. It was less than some books I read, but for some reason felt like more. It may be because the main character using the f-words is a 16 year-old which feels worse. There is also some drug use (Perry’s twin keeps a stash of weed gummies for her anxiety). There is also reference to ‘sneaky snags’ which is her twin out having secret sex. Nothing is said more than that, but both the drugs and the sex are referenced as if it’s no big deal.

Sure, maybe that’s a normal thing for teenagers— which I’m pretty sad about if it is— but I would not want my teenagers (whenever I have them) reading this book with that content. It’s marketed as a YA book, but in my opinion, the content is beyond that.

One thing that annoyed me, which was also used in Firekeeper’s Daughter, was the phrase ‘pointed her lips.’ It was used 8 times in this book. And I still don’t really understand how this looks in real life.

Did I like it more than Firekeeper’s Daughter?

That is a hard question. I think I liked Daunis better than Perry. But I think the ‘mystery’ part was better in Warrior Girl Unearthed. I think the pacing was better in FD. FD also had discussion around tribal traditions and the challenges they face in America as a whole, but I think it was more dominant in WGU. Really it felt like a book about repatriation but jammed into a fictional YA framework. So I didn’t like that as much.

It’s good to learn things about a culture I know very little about. But it felt a little too political. Espeically with the inclusion of the comments regarding black people shot by police. Perry’s father is part-black but it seemed like a political comment rather than necessary for the story. Or things like this:

“‘You really wanna study where women and people of color are invisible?’” This quote may have been said as an exaggeration by a character, I don’t know the author’s intention, but it’s a bit too mainstream narrative for me. Women and people of color are hardly invisible. They are thriving at all levels! They may face some unique challenges at times, but as a whole I don’t believe they are as disadvantaged as I’m told to believe.

“These moccasins were taken off of ancestors in their graves.’ He looks horror-struck. I take deep breaths before continuing.’”

“‘I saw a ceremonial pipe fully assembled.’ He grimaces. ‘You get it, Web. Lockhart shouldn’t own it, and he for sure shouldn’t be displaying it like that.’”

These two quotes are commenting regarding non-natives. They also talked very negatively about people who tried to sell these items at garage sales or on eBay. One the one hand, yes, there are people who are ‘grave robbers’ and intentionally steal things for their own financial benefit. Who openly disgrace the native traditions. And that’s a real problem.

However, on the other hand, there are people who just don’t know. They don’t know what they have. How are they supposed to know that they have a ceremonial pipe and that it’s horrifying to assemble it?! I don’t know how easy it would be to find out this information, but the book didn’t not give much grace in the way of ignorance. They found any white person touching any Native item or remains as one of the worst things.

I guess I struggle a little with wanting to respect their traditions and the sacredness of their items, but also feeling like their attitude towards this to be pretty harsh.

I do want to learn, and I know that there were terrible things done to Native Americans (like the boarding schools) that stripped them of their culture and lives, but what she was trying to teach me via a novel felt a little too forceful in this book.

So in conclusion, both books had their pros and cons, but overall I think my first impression after reading Firekeeper’s Daughter was a little better than after reading Warrior Girl Unearthed.

Religious Differences

I am not sure how to correctly state the difference between Natives who practice and worship the traditional way and Natives who became Christians, so I’ll probably say something wrong, but I’m still going to state my ponderings anyway.

[I found this article by a Christian Native American that I thought was good]

One thing that was said multiple times in different ways was:

“I stare at random tourists and wonder how they would react to their ancestors being stolen for research. I’m guessing they would see it as sacrilege.”

I would definitely not like if someone exhumed my parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents because that does seem disrespectful or jarring emotionally. But personally, I don’t know if it would really bother me if people decided to study my ancestors’ remains. To me, they are just bones. They are not there anymore. And maybe I could learn something more about my ancestors.

I understand that is not the way non-Christian Natives view it.

“We ask the ancestors to forgive what was done to their physical bodies, and we pray their spirits are at peace.”

Boulley quotes Chip Colwell saying,

“I know for these Native American traditionalists, the bones in the boxes are pulsating with power. For them, the dead are not really dead at all... For them, repatriation is a religious duty, not a political victory.”

And even with the treatment of their funerary items or other other cultural items. They treat bones and items as sacred. They think the bones have power and that their ancestors speak to them from the grave and guide them in their life.

That is different than my Christian beliefs. The Bible teaches us not to worship the body or objects, that it would be idolatry. The only eternal things are God, his Word, and people’s souls. Everything else will pass away.

If someone was going to auction off a stolen Bible for $20,000 in a disrespectful way, we may mourn the treatment of God’s Word, but I don’t think we would buy it just to return it to respect. We would (or should) use that money to help people. People who are living.

The holiest part of Christianity is the holiness of God and of Jesus. And Jesus is alive- there are no remains to protect or preserve.

When I think of bodily remains, I know it’s not my relatives. Their souls have departed. They don’t need that body anymore. They will get a resurrected body that is far better.

I say this because Boulley has brought up something I’ve never thought about before. I am exploring why I have a hard time understanding their traditions. Our religious beliefs drive the way we view the world and what’s in it and it’s very different.

Even though we have differing religious beliefs, I love that in America we are free to have and practice differing beliefs. We should still respect each other’s traditions. Their preservation and care for their funerary items does not hurt anyone so I think the repatriation act is a good and rightful thing.

I don’t think anyone should just go around digging up known burial grounds without proper authorization. That seems like a worthy law. I can understand this sentiment:

“Our ancestors’ bodies and funerary objects have been written on with markers and pens, handled, and studied by professors, researchers, and students for far too long. Their bodies, laid out in cardboard boxes, on metal shelves, is your university’s shameful reminder of the disrespect for human dignity.”

I am also not an anthropologist. If we were to just return all tribal objects from anywhere in America to wherever they go— what would we lose? I don’t know. I don’t know what the aftermath would be. I guess we would then rely on the tribes around the country to educate us on their past and culture instead of studying burial grounds for that information.

“Cooper says museums use that label, ‘culturally unidentifiable,’ as a catchall if they don’t have the resources to do a proper inventory. He says they also use it even after tribes provide evidence, because then, the museum can still hold on to the objects.’”

I can believe that museums and university departments make little effort in following through on inventorying a collection and actually trying to get it where it needs to go. I can believe there is deception used to avoid following the rules.

Recommendation

Angeline Boulley, a Native and a firekeeper’s daughter, definitely writes unique books and I enjoy reading a book written from a Native author in a setting and culture that I am not familiar with. I always enjoy learning while I read.

This book is long but doesn’t take too long to read. I think the plot is still decent and the characters are mostly likable— though sometimes Perry can be a lot.

If you plan to read this, I think I would still read Firekeeper’s Daughter first, but you wouldn’t have to.

Whether you are a Native yourself, or a non-Native, I think this book will invoke some feelings. Feelings that may be hard to understand and cause you to struggle. I think that’s a good thing.

I did say that it felt too political at times, but as I reflect, I’m glad that it made me think about what I believe and how I should interact with the Ojibwe culture and religion. I don’t have it all figured out, but it’s good for me to think about.

I think the only reason I would stop reading Boulley’s books is if the swearing continued to be as it is. (And I especially wouldn’t recommend this for YA readers as I mentioned earlier.)

Overall, this is a book about a teenage girl who discovers an injustice done to her tribe and, like a warrior, will do anything to rectify it. It’s the (mostly) selfless quest to right a wrong and uphold the religious beliefs she and her family hold.

I think most people will enjoy this book!