O-gî-mäw-kw Mit-i-gwä-kî (1899) is a novel by Simon Pokagon. Published posthumously, the novel is a semi-autobiographical story of adventure, romance, and tragedy set in the American Midwest. O-gî-mäw-kw Mit-i-gwä-kî reflects the themes and concerns that shaped Pokagon’s life as a writer and activist, including the devastating effects of alcohol on Native Americans and the increasing pressures of modernization on indigenous tradition. Both personal and political, O-gî-mäw-kw Mit-i-gwä-kî is a vastly underappreciated novel by a pioneering Native American author.
"On my return home from Twinsburg, Ohio, where I had attended the white man’s school for several years, I had an innate desire to retire into the wild woods, far from the haunts of civilization, and there enjoy myself with bow and arrow, hook and line, as I had done before going to school." After years of hard work at some of the most prestigious institutions in the Midwest, Simon Pokagon longs to return to the places and people of his youth. On his journey home, he reconnects with his old friend Bertrand, who takes him into the woods to hunt, fish, and build a birch canoe. Back with his tribe, Simon goes looking for his sweetheart Lonidaw, who agrees to marry him. Together, they build a new wigwam and live a hunter gatherer lifestyle, sustaining themselves on a diet of fish and wild rice. While their early days together are idyllic, they face tragedy later in life as their children—now grown—suffer from the effects of alcoholism.
This edition of Simon Pokagon’s O-gî-mäw-kw Mit-i-gwä-kî is a classic work of Native American literature reimagined for modern readers.
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