Previous
Travis Flint
Daunis’s mom became pregnant with Daunis when she was 16, and Daunis believes for much of the novel that her birth (and the fact that Dad married and had another baby, Levi, with Dana) ruined Mom’s life. Mom’s parents, GrandMary and Grandpa Lorenzo, were some of the most powerful people in town, and so they refused to let her put Dad on Daunis’s birth certificate and questioned many of Mom’s parenting decisions. Though Daunis has seen Mom stand up to her parents on Daunis’s behalf, Daunis nevertheless sees Mom as emotionally fragile and mentally unwell—since Mom’s brother David’s death, Mom has started cleaning the house late at night and talking to David in the made-up language the siblings created. Daunis finds Mom annoying and overbearing—Mom likes to do things like run baths and make tea for Daunis, but she tends to hover. It’s not until the end of the novel that Mom assures Daunis that Daunis didn’t ruin her life—Mom insists she made her own choices to get where she is. Mom seems to more easily come to terms with GrandMary’s death after making this realization, and she ultimately realizes that supporting Daunis in going away to college in Hawaii doesn’t mean she’ll lose her daughter forever.
Mom Quotes in Firekeeper’s Daughter
The Firekeeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by Mom or refer to Mom. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
My Zhaaganaash and Anishinaabe grandmothers could not have been more different. […] Their push and pull on me has been a tug-of-war my entire life.
When I was seven, I spent a weekend at Gramma Pearl’s tar-paper house on Sugar Island. I woke up crying with an earache […]. She had me pee in a cup, and poured it into my ear as I rested my head in her lap. Back home for Sunday dinner at GrandMary and Grandpa Lorenzo’s, I excitedly shared how smart my grandmother was. Gramma Pearl fixed my earache with my pee! GrandMary recoiled and, a heartbeat later, glared at my mother as if this was her fault. Something split inside me when I saw my mother’s embarrassment. I learned there were times when I was expected to be a Fontaine and other times when it was safe to be a Firekeeper.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20
Quotes
Pausing in the doorway, I watch Mom massaging lotion on her mother’s toothpick legs. She exhausts herself looking after GrandMary, who wasn’t always kind to her.
What if it’s a strength to love and care for someone you don’t always like?
Mom was adamant that Uncle David hadn’t relapsed. I know now that he didn’t, but even if he had, she would have continued to love and support him.
What if my mother is actually a strong person disguised as someone fragile?
Chapter 36
Quotes
I am overcome with deep gratitude as I sit here next to Auntie before the fire. Auntie has shown me how to be a strong Nish kwe—full of love, anger, humor, sorrow, and joy. Not as something perfect: She is a woman who is complex and sometimes exhausted, but mostly brave. She loves imperfect people fiercely.
Chapter 38
Quotes
Hockey brings my community together. Native and non-Native. All ages. All neighborhoods. Here in Chi Mukwa, a community recreation building funded by the Sugar Island Ojibwe Tribe, everyone stands united for our teams. I just hope they remember today was for Robin Bailey.
Get the entire Firekeeper’s Daughter LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mom Quotes in Firekeeper’s Daughter
The Firekeeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by Mom or refer to Mom. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
My Zhaaganaash and Anishinaabe grandmothers could not have been more different. […] Their push and pull on me has been a tug-of-war my entire life.
When I was seven, I spent a weekend at Gramma Pearl’s tar-paper house on Sugar Island. I woke up crying with an earache […]. She had me pee in a cup, and poured it into my ear as I rested my head in her lap. Back home for Sunday dinner at GrandMary and Grandpa Lorenzo’s, I excitedly shared how smart my grandmother was. Gramma Pearl fixed my earache with my pee! GrandMary recoiled and, a heartbeat later, glared at my mother as if this was her fault. Something split inside me when I saw my mother’s embarrassment. I learned there were times when I was expected to be a Fontaine and other times when it was safe to be a Firekeeper.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20
Quotes
Pausing in the doorway, I watch Mom massaging lotion on her mother’s toothpick legs. She exhausts herself looking after GrandMary, who wasn’t always kind to her.
What if it’s a strength to love and care for someone you don’t always like?
Mom was adamant that Uncle David hadn’t relapsed. I know now that he didn’t, but even if he had, she would have continued to love and support him.
What if my mother is actually a strong person disguised as someone fragile?
Chapter 36
Quotes
I am overcome with deep gratitude as I sit here next to Auntie before the fire. Auntie has shown me how to be a strong Nish kwe—full of love, anger, humor, sorrow, and joy. Not as something perfect: She is a woman who is complex and sometimes exhausted, but mostly brave. She loves imperfect people fiercely.
Chapter 38
Quotes
Hockey brings my community together. Native and non-Native. All ages. All neighborhoods. Here in Chi Mukwa, a community recreation building funded by the Sugar Island Ojibwe Tribe, everyone stands united for our teams. I just hope they remember today was for Robin Bailey.
