[**Images:** A small child wearing a dog-eared protective bonnet stumbles teary-eyed through the thorns and spines of the Sonoran Desert. She is being guided through the desert— or maybe led astray— by a dark spirit loping on coyote feet. The spirit gazes back at the girl and the viewer cryptically. In the next piece, the spirit stands up on two feet and takes on a humanoid, wolf-headed guise. She wears a folded 編み笠 amigasa and black serape over a similarly mixed wardrobe. The child from the previous piece buries her head in the spirit’s shoulder as she carries her through a muddy wash and a monsoon summer rain.] ◆◆◆ **N.M.:** This was pretty early in [her](https://m0r1bund.com/a-topography-of-ghosts/1117-diaspore/) tenure as a coyote. **sol:** yes, she helped her cross in either 1907 or 1908. they fight over the date (they fight over everything.) the Chinese Exclusion Act was 25 or 26 years old by then, but this was still before the Immigration Act started targeting immigrants from east asia writ large. her foster family (japanese+mestizo) had the foresight to seek citizenship before they became the monster of the week. i think that was after Arizona was admitted to the union in 1912… but in the end she didn’t have to worry about citizenship much. **N.M.:** On account of becoming a fox spirit. **sol:** i was thinking of the remoteness of their homestead but yes the fox thing as well. ◆◆◆ The depicted bonnet is based on [this Chinese-American baby bonnet from 1919](https://postalmuseum.si.edu/object/nmah_1119952). with bits of photography by [Cecelia Alexander](https://www.flickr.com/photos/aspidoscelis/25714687255/) and [Andrew Cattoir](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cactus_Wren_on_Ocotillo_(0a11bb5e-7949-4eca-986f-2b264cfd909c).jpg). rest is yours truly.