MPR News with Angela Davis

Power Pair: Brothers David Treuer and Anton Treuer on writing and Ojibwe culture

side by side of two men
Brothers David Treuer (left) and Anton Treuer grew up together on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota and are both nationally recognized educators and writers focused on Indigenous experiences and culture.
Courtesy photos

Anton Treuer and David Treuer spent their childhood together on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota, in a house that had no electricity or running water.

The brothers went on to graduate from Princeton University and become writers and college professors known for exploring and reclaiming Ojibwe culture.

Listen to a conversation from earlier this year with the Treuer brothers talking about their latest books and how their close relationship continues to evolve.

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Guests:

  • Anton Treuer is a writer and professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University and the author of many nonfiction books, including “Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask” and “The Language Warrior’s Manifesto: How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds.” His first novel “Where Wolves Don’t Die” came out in June 2024.  

  • David Treuer is the author of seven books and a professor of English at the University of Southern California. His nonfiction book, "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee," was a 2019 finalist for both the National Book Award and Carnegie Medal. He’s received a Pushcart Prize, two Minnesota Book Awards and fellowships from The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Bush Foundation and Guggenheim Foundation.  

    two young boys in front of a brick building
    Anton Treuer, left, and brother David Treuer as children on the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota.
    Courtesy Anton Treuer

Do you know a Power Pair?

We’d love to hear your ideas for 2025. We’re talking with prominent Minnesotans who you may know of separately but who reveal something new when we sit them down together. Maybe they’re married or siblings or best friends. They could be business partners or a parent/adult child dynamic duo.

Click here to suggest a Power Pair.

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This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.