Two Old Women

From the beginning to the end of the novella, stars connote the presence of a savior. Before Sa’ is born, her mother stares intently at the stars because they are the only things that can distract her from the pain of labor. She then names her daughter Sa’ after the stars’ power to turn miserable pain into something wonderful. Stars also play a comforting role when Ch’idzigyaak awakens after their first night alone and abandoned. Even though everything is dastardly wrong, she looks up to where “the northern lights still danced above” (21) and instead of grief or fear she is filled “with awe” (21). The women juxtapose the “deep cold surrounding them” (21) with the much more comforting “bowl of stars” (21) above them. When Daagoo and the young men are searching for Sa’ and Ch’idzigyaak, they never would have found them if not for the “small lights of the many stars above” (95).

The babiche—a lacing of rawhide strips which Ozhii Nelii gifts her mother before they abandon her—is a symbol of connection for Sa’ and Ch’idzigyaak. This gift of connection contrasts the lack of connection that contributes to The People’s suffering.