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Synopsis
Follow the trail of sacred ceremonial objects stolen from the Minnesota Red Earth Reservation's Ojibwa tribe in this first-of-its-genre Native-American lesbian mystery. The list of suspects grows - white racists from a town bordering the rez, a young Indian man struggling with problems at home, the county coroner and his cohorts - as Tribal Chairman Jed Morriseau, often disliked, always powerful, is found murdered. Renee LaRoche is caught up in these events, drawn by the traditions of her tribe and honor of her family into tracking the thieves and investigating the killing. As she struggles to sustain a new relationship with Samantha Salisbury, a visiting women's studies professor at the white college in nearby Granite Rock, Renee finds herself torn between the ways of her people and helping her chimook lover come to terms with the differences in their cultures.
BookList
Teacher Renee LaRoche lives and works among her fellow Red Earth Ojibwa on Minnesota's northern plains. She turns amateur sleuth when priceless ceremonial artifacts are missing and the tribal chief is found with a bullet in his back. Her white lover, Samantha, who already wonders whether love will ever bridge the cultural gap between them, soon despairs of diverting Renee from an increasingly dangerous path of investigation. "Suits" (i.e., the FBI investigators responsible for Indian affairs) come to complicate the case, yet Native American wisdom prevails. Meanwhile, readers will learn Ojibwa words of greeting and blessing as they enjoy a lesbian mystery that adds some cultural diversity to that subgenre.