If a monster hid among you, what would you do? Embedded in this story is another, a story from deep in tribal oral history, a memory of an era when Joe’s Ojibwe ancestors lived on the plains during a time of great hunger. It is a story of community law from the pre-reservation days. It is a story of the youth of Nanapush, a recurring Erdrich character from the beginning of her fictional history. In this starving time, the small community feared the presence of a windigo, a neighbor or family member secretly turned cannibal whose identity is unknown, but who must be found out and dealt with before killing (or further killing) takes place. Nanapush’s tale, repeated across the generations, is one of ancient law in which the customary application of justice may be problematic but provides a precedent nonetheless.
