Angeline Boulley is an Indian woman of the Bear Clan from Sault Ste. Marie, a woman with tradition as an inbuilt component of her soul. She chose to write Daunis’ story as, in her opinion, there are few too many stories told by and about Native Americans.
The basis of the story comes from her own life as a young teen where she rather fancied the new boy at school. It turned out he was an undercover narcotics agent. The storyline that could have been, stayed with her and many years later, The Firekeeper’s Daughter was born, based in the modern world of the American Indian, still living with and accepting of the many traditions of the old ways.
Eighteen-year-old Daunis has always felt like an outside, both at school and within her community, that of the Ojibwe. She goes to a party, going outside for a breath of air, when she witnesses the death of her best friend in a carpark shooting.
As it turns out an undercover cop is also there and as Daunis has only just missed being shot, as she witnessed who did the shooting, he quickly gets her to a safe place, but that too comes with a catch. She is asked to go undercover into a world of drugs, lies and deceit to find out what is really going on in the community, as well as who or whom is behind the events which are slowly destroying her beloved community, which initially sounds like something she can do, and do well.
But as the murders keep on happening, the world of drugs and murder creep ever closer to those she loves and cares for, Daunis begins to doubt not only herself, but the people in her community: those she has grown up with and learned to trust.
This time old story is wrapped up in the tribal culture, the law that applies to the tribal peoples and their land, the grave injustice often done and the many shades of trust that are intermeshed in the world of crime and corruption, systemic in the so many cultures.
The Firekeeper’s Daughter captivates with reality, while offering a comprehensive understanding of life with the structures of another culture, which while rubbing shoulders with the modern world, is still very much anchored in the past. A gripping, emotional and totally absorbing read.
