>> "WHERE WOLVES DON'T DIE" IS THE DEBUT NOVEL FROM ANTON TREUER RELEASED LAST MONTH.

TREUER IS A PROFESSOR OF OJIBWE UP AT BEMIDJI STATE UNIVERSITY AND HAS WRITTEN SEVERAL NONFICTION BOOKS EXPLORING, CELEBRATING, AND PRESERVING THE OJIBWE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE.

WE'RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE THE AUTHOR OF "WHERE WOLVES DON'T DIE" WITH US TONIGHT.

ANTON TREUER, THANKS FOR MAKING THE TRIP DOWN.

PROFESSOR, IT IS GREAT SEEING YOU.

WELCOME BACK.

>> THANKS FOR HAVING MY.

>> Cathy: YOU'VE WRITTEN A TON OF BOOKS BUT THIS IS YOUR FIRST STAB AT A Y.A.

NOVEL FOR YOUNG KIDS, YOUNG ADULTS.

WHAT POSSESSED TO YOU DO THAT?

>> OH, ALL KINDS OF THINGS.

OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, BOTH OF MY PARENTS HAVE PASSED AWAY.

WE HAVE NINE CHILDREN, WE GOT SIX OUT THE DOOR, THREE TO GO.

I AM LIVING IN KID LAND ALL THE TIME IN MY PERSONAL IFE BUT MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE, TOO.

I THINK WE HAVE ALWAYS RELATED TO THE WORLD THROUGH STORY AND EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT INDIANS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK, A PREVIOUS BOOK, WE DID A YOUNG ADULT ADAPTATION OF THAT AND I'VE JUST BEEN WORKING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE A LOT.

SO I WANTED TO TRY MY HAND AT FICTION AND, YOU KNOW, SOME PEOPLE DON'T MAKE THE TRANSITION VERY WELL, SO I FIGURED THE BEST THING TO DO WOULD BE TO TEST-DRIVE EVERYTHING WITH MY OWN CHILDREN.

SO I READ IT OUT LOUD TO THEM IN HAPTERS AND I KNEW IF THEY WERE WALKING AWAY OR JUMPING INTO THEIR PHONES THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS THE BEST BAROMETER AND THEY WOULD BE THE STUFFEST JUDGES BUT THEY WERE INTO IT AND FLIPPING PAGES WITH ME AND IT WAS PRETTY EXCITING.

>> Cathy: COOL.

>> Eric: YOU CALL THIS A HUMAN STORY SET IN AN INDIGENOUS CONTEXT.

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT?

>> YEAH.

NATIVE LIT IS NOT JUST FOR NATIVE PEOPLE AND NOT JUST ABOUT NATIVE THEMES, IT'S ABOUT THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE, SO THE BOOK'S A STORY OF 125-YEARS OLD NATIVE KID, STARTS IN NORTHEAST MINNEAPOLIS.

HE'S DEALING WITH A LOSS, PRIOR TO THE START OF THE BOOK, AND IMMEDIATELY FINDS HIMSELF EMBROILED IN A MAJOR DRAMA.

HE'S KIND OF LOOKING FOR CLUES TO A MURDER AND FINDING HIMSELF IN THE PROCESS SO BOTH A THRILLER AND A TENDS KERR COVERAGE-OF-AGE STORY.

>> Cathy: I ONDER, WRITERS TENDS TO WRITE FROM EXPERIENCE, SO EZRA, I'M WONDERING HOW MUCH OF HIS LIFE MIRRORS YOUR OWN JOURNEY AS A YOUNG PERSON.

>> AH.

WELL, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION SO IT'S CONSTRUCTED BUT, YOU KNOW, I'VE FOUND MYSELF OFTEN FRUSTRATED WITH NATIVE LIT.

UP UNTIL A FEW DECADES AGO, MOST OF IT WAS AUTHORED BY NON-NATIVE PEOPLE WHO HADN'T EVEN TALKED TO ONE OF US, IT WAS THE IMAGINED NATIVE.

AND IN MORE RECENT YEARS, WE'VE HAD A LOT MORE WONDERFUL NATIVE-AUTHORED NATIVE LIT BUT EVEN MOST OF THE WORK OUT THERE ARE STORIES OF TRAGEDY AND TRAUMA, CHARACTERS WHO LaMENTION THE CULTURE THEY NEVER HAD AND I SPEAK OJIBWE AND TAKE MY KIDS HUNTING ALL THE TIME AND WE HAVE A LIVING, BEAUTIFUL VIBRANT CULTURE AND I WANTED TO GIVE PEOPLE A WINDOW INTO THAT BUT TO SHOW THIS HUMAN EXPERIENCE THAT STILL HAS A 15-YEAR-OLD KID DEALING WITH THE STRUGGLE WITH THINGS, WITH, YOU KNOW, COMING OF AGE.

IT'S FULL OF TENSION BUT I THINK IT SHOWS SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT.

>> Eric: THE BULLYING IS -- THAT SEEMS TO COME UP WITH THE INTERNET AND SO FORTH, A LOT OF BULLYING ONLINE AND SO FORTH, THAT WAS INTERESTING THAT YOU PLAYED THAT PART OF IT UP.

>> SURE.

I MEAN, FIRST OF LL, WHO IN THEIR CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES NEVER HAD THAT?

YOU KNOW, SO IT'S A WINDOW INTO, YOU KNOW, THE TENSIONS THAT ALL OF US AS HUMANS NAVIGATE AND THE DESIRE THAT I THINK ALL OF US HAVE TO BOTH FIND MY OWN WAY TO BREAK FROM OUR PARENTS AND EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING.

I HAD THE IDEA THAT A LOT OF HIGH SCHOOLERS HAVE HAT I'D FINISH SCHOOL AND GO SOMEWHERE ELSE AND NEVER COME ACK AND FINISH COLLEGE WITH THE THOUGHT THAT I WANT TO GO HOME AND NEVER LEAVE.

YOU KNOW, SO WE HAVE THIS TENSION BETWEEN WANTING TO BELONG AND BE ACCEPTED AND, AT THE SAME TIME, YOU KNOW, BE INDEPENDENT, SO, OF COURSE, - EZRA IS DEALING WITH ALL OF THAT.

MY OWN KIDS, YOU KNOW, I HAVE TEENAGERS WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH A LOT OF THESE THINGS SO THERE ARE COMPOSITES OF EXPERIENCES, PERHAPS, BUT CERTAINLY IT'S NOT THE STORY OF ANYONE OF THEM.

>> Cathy: BY THE WAY, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK IN THE LANGUAGE, YOU KNOW, SUPPORTING THE LANGUAGE.

YOU HAVE A GREAT -- IF FOLKS HAVEN'T SEEN IT, YOU HAVE TO GO FIND Dr. TREUER ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITH THE WORD OF THE DAY.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THAT?

>> I'M NOT EVEN THE FIRST ONE TO DO AN OJIBWE WORD OF THE DAY BUT IT'S BEEN REALLY A PLEASURE TO DO THIS WITH MY DAUGHTER.

THERE'S A OT HAPPENING IN THE OJIBWE LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION, THE UNIVERSE, PROBABLY A BIGGER CONVERSATION.

WE HAVE A OJIBWE WWW.OF STAR WARS OUT.

THERE'S A ROSETTA ZONE FOR OJIBWE AND FINALLY MARSHALING THE EFFORTS FOR THE IMMERSION SCHOOLS.

>> Eric: "WHERE THE WOLVES