Gaawin Gindaaswin Ndaawsii: I Am Not a Number Menominee or even exist

or even exist

the cradle was vital to a Native infant's first months of life

Few Americans know that Indian tribes have a legal status unique among America's distinct racial and ethnic groups: They are also sovereign governments that engage in governmental relations with Congress

and in the highest offices of government and the military

to understand both her and her baby’s origins

Gaawin Gindaaswin Ndaawsii: I Am Not a Number Menominee or even existDual language edition in Nishnaabemwin (Ojibwe) Nbisiing dialect and English. When eight year old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school, she is confused, frightened and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns in charge at the school, who tell her that she is not to use her own name but instead use the number they have assigned to her. When she