Summary

In Chapter 1, Daunis Fontaine, the first-person narrator of the story, begins her day with an offering of semma (tobacco) and prayer to her Creator. She stretches and then runs for five miles, a run that ends at EverCare, the long-term care facility where her White grandmother Mary “GrandMary” Fontaine has lived since she suffered a stroke.

Daunis is nervous because she plans to tell her grandmother and mother, Grace Fontaine, that she is going to delay attending the U of M and will instead take classes at Lake State her freshman year. Because her grandmother pushed her to be a doctor, Daunis is relieved when she sees understanding in her face when she announces her new plans. Daunis realizes her grandmother understands why she altered their plan.

A moment later, a bird flies into the window. Daunis knows that her Indian grandmother...