Antelope Woman

Part 3, Niswi, begins with an epigraph that further details contributions to the beginning of the world by the great-grandmother of the first Shawano.

When Cally and Deanna were born, the nurse initially threw away their umbilical cords. Noodin had sternly told the woman that she needed to retrieve them from the hazardous waste bin because they had to be sewn into turtle-shaped buckskin pouches. They would be the girls’ first toys. The nurse didn’t know which cord was which, and although it was terrible luck to play with someone else’s cord, Noodin has no choice but to make the decision herself about which cord to give each girl. Eventually, the girls lose their turtles, and Noodin is relieved that she will not have to think about this mix-up again. Rozin, however, is upset. Losing these first toys is, like having the wrong toy, bad luck. She is sure that this loss will come to haunt her and the girls, and slowly she begins to notice signs that the spirits are trying to take her daughters from her. Because the girls were never given Ojibwe names, she decides to ask Noodin and Giizis to find names for them, hoping to anchor the girls into their family and community.