Where Wolves Don't Die
Part Two: Anton Treuer on Providing, Tradition, and Forgiveness
In the second half of this Headwaters Journal conversation, Anton Treuer returns to walk us deeper into the world of Ezra, the teenage Ojibwe protagonist of his coming-of-age novel, Where Wolves Don't Die. Treuer, a professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, ceremonial leader, and father of nine, reads passages from the book and then opens up about the living culture behind them. What unfolds is a conversation about what it truly means to grow up, to give, and to carry old wounds without letting them steer the rest of your life.
Why Tobacco Offerings Matter in Ojibwe Culture
Treuer explains that Ojibwe culture carries a core teaching that people are not meant to be takers, and that every harvest should be met with reciprocity. Tobacco, described as the first plant given to the people, is offered when picking berries, harvesting wild rice, hunting, or simply asking for help in prayer. He also shares how many in the region traditionally used the dried inner bark of red willow, a form of dogwood, and how communities today are encouraging a return to those original plants as a way to decolonize the practice.
What Happens at an Ojibwe First Kill Feast
After Ezra harvests his first moose under the watch of Grandpa Liam, the community gathers in a circle to honor him. Following his father's instructions, Ezra refuses the offered meat three times, each time naming who he is thinking of: children without enough to eat, elders who can no longer hunt, and the family and community who came to support him. Only then does he eat, and afterward he walks clockwise around the circle giving away every last package of his kill, a moment that leaves him feeling, for the first time, that he truly matters.
How Cultural Traditions Shape Values in Children
Treuer has stood beside each of his children for their first deer harvest, and he has watched the ceremony shape them in quiet, lasting ways. One son, without a word of prompting, hunted and processed a deer to fill the freezer of a family friend who could no longer get into the woods. The same son once canceled his own tux rental so a friend could still go to prom, explaining simply that it was his job to look out for people who don't have enough. For Treuer, the lesson is clear: values are not just proclaimed, they are instilled through the doing of tradition.
The Ethics of Hunting and Respect for Life
Treuer acknowledges that taking a life is a weighty thing and says he respects people who feel uneasy about hunting. He points out that all of us participate in taking life in some way, often at several layers of distance from the process, whether we eat meat or not. Looking that reality in the eye, and pairing it with teaching about respect, can reinforce the value of life rather than diminish it, in contrast to the dehumanizing language that so often makes harm easier in war and conflict.
Why Coming-of-Age Ceremonies Matter for Teens
Every child becomes an adult, Treuer notes, and when a culture offers no thoughtful rite of passage, young people tend to invent their own through driving, drinking, and sex. He playfully describes prom as a kind of miniature pretend wedding and asks what might change if we placed other things at the center of what it means to become an adult. In the novel, an elder uses the young bull moose as a metaphor for manhood, reminding Ezra that the young bull is the one most likely to charge and most likely to get hurt, so becoming a mature bull means learning to move a little slower and think before acting.
Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Healing Intergenerational Trauma
While Liam and Ezra's father work to pull Ezra out of his anger, Ezra is quietly changing them too, and Liam begins to face unresolved grief from his own losses. The story carries boarding school history in its background, showing how even events that feel long past can keep surfacing in native families today. Treuer describes forgiveness not as declaring that what happened was okay, but as choosing to clean up a mess you never should have been handed, and he frames healing and reconciliation as ongoing practices, much like a marriage or a gym routine, rather than a single act that fixes everything.
Notable Quotes
"None of us become what they tell us to be. We become what they do, what they show us."
"It's the doing of tradition that instills the value."
"But, dad, it's my job to look out for people who don't have enough." (Treuer's son, as retold by Treuer)
"You don't get to heal by skipping healing."
"Forgiveness is really hard. And it's not about saying what happened is okay."
"Putting a wedding ring on and saying happily ever after does not mean happily ever after. It's just a promise to practice it."
"Looking it in the eye when it's happening is honest."
"If you want to live to be a big, mature, fully antlered bull, you have to act like one." (from Where Wolves Don't Die)
