WEBVTT

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Chapter 1.

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So there's a figure in the next
couple of poems, Ggugguyni,

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which is the Dena'ina Raven.

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And Ggugguyni is both a
trickster and a shapeshifter.

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And like me, Ggugguyni
is a fan of forms.

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Most of the time, she
lives in her true self--

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raven-feathered, sharp-eyed.

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Sometimes, like me, she
becomes her grandmother's self.

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And I want to imagine that
means that Ggugguyni is wiser.

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But the truth is, she's only a
different version of herself.

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Bored one day,
Ggugguyni flew aimlessly

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around Yaghenen, the good land.

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It was like being a child
again and looking for fireweed

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to uproot.

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She liked the joy of de-leafing
the stem, the thrill of throwing

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the naked stalk like a spear.

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Far on the edges of
Yaghenen, Ggugguyni's eyes

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saw a dwelling in a shadow.

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Curious, she landed near it.

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She shook herself and
became an old woman.

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She walked to the home,
and Half-Human Woman

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welcomed her in.

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There was no saying what
big eyes or what big teeth

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you have between the two
of them, nor did Ggugguyni

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say anything about
Half-Human's divisions.

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Instead, she took in
the Woman's doubleness.

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From one angle, Half-Human
Woman has a face like ours.

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The other, I imagine, looks
like how I feel when I'm alone.

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When Half-Human Woman
took Ggugguyni inside,

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Ggugguyni told her, "I
want you to be my baby.

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I'll swaddle you, I'll rock you,
and I will call you my own."

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This is the not-yet-traditional
part of the story.

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In the original, only
Ggugguyni speaks her desire.

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But me, I'm listening
for Half-Human Woman

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to belong to someone her
longing, her consent, silence.

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