Why do we have presents on Christmas

one of the first Native students of linguistics and ethnography in the United States

The assault on identity came in many forms: the shearing off of braids

as the poems enact survivance

this first-person account of a young girl's struggle to find her place will inspire young readers to ask what it means to belong

Verb Animate: Poetry and Prompts from Collaborative Acts politics Why do we have presentsVerb Animate explores the nuances and joys of Erdrich's artistic collaborations with Twin Cities choreographers, visual artists, digital artists, and others. Poems generated from these collaborations are paired with reflections on the experience of collaboration and prompts for readers to use to generate their own poetry in relation to art. Art from Jonathan Thunder, a frequent collaborator with Erdrich, appears on the cover and in the book.