Yesterday was Red Dress Day or the National Day for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls (and 2s+). Yesterday was also the day I finished reading Daughters of the Deer, which is an incredibly fitting book to have finished yesterday.
Daughters of the Deer by Danielle Daniel follows Marie, an Algonkin woman in 1657 who is still grieving the death of her husband and the kidnapping of her children by the Iroquois. In a decision she is influenced into by her Chief, she choses to marry a white man to help align her people with the French for help with supplies and protection. Pierre is very devout, very Christian, and he loves Marie, though she may not feel the same. Marie fears for her children, particularly her first daughter, who must live a life between two worlds.
Fast forward to 1675 when her daughter Jeanne is 17 years old and at the age when she must marry, except that her heart belongs to Josephine, a relationship not accepted by the white community they live in.
This book was so interesting and educational while still being an easy and engaging read. The characters were lovable and I felt for Marie and Jeanne the whole way along while I also felt for Pierre. I loved Marie. I loved how she did her best with what she was given and tried to stay connected to her people even when ripped away from them. I felt connected to Pierre's love for his family and love for his faith, and the confusion for where that intersected. The only thing I wish I had felt more connected to was Jeanne's grief.
There was also a lot of symbolism I found, the trees and the hawks, the wigwam being a healing place. I loved making connections between the setting of 1675 and 1657.
I think this is an equally important and accessible read. This book won't require you to have a background knowledge, won't require you to read farther into the story or the text, and it will keep you engaged and wanting to come back for more, while also delivering an important and under told story of indigenous life toward the beginning of colonization.
I highly recommend it.