David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "termination"
The Night Watchman
THE NIGHT WATCHMAN is based on a true incident involving Patrick Gourneau, Louise Erdrich's grandfather. The fictionalized version of him, Thomas Wazhashk, is fighting government termination of the Chippewa Turtle Mountain reservation. Wazhashk is the Chairman of a committee under the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
He is also a night watchman at the jewel-bearing plant just outside the reservation. He has many mystical experiences while on the job. In one incident, spirits let him back in the plant after he locks himself out. His niece Pixie also works there. Much of the book is about Pixie's confusion in respect to sex. She's drawn to a boxer named Wood Mountain.
Pixie is also looking for her sister, Vera, who has disappeared. For the first time in her life she visits the big city of Minneapolis, where she portrays a sexy Babe the Blue Ox at a notorious. During her search for her sister she does manage to rescue Vera's baby. Vera is symbolic of sexual exploitation of Native American women.
Erdrich skips around quite a bit. We even meet two Mormons who are trying to convert the Chippewa. This is somewhat ironic since Joseph Smith, their prophet, taught that Native Americans were really the lost tribes of Israel. Another Mormon, Senator Arthur V. Watkins, sponsored the bill to dissolve the Turtle Mountain tribe to assimilate them into American life. He's a pompous ass.
The Chippewa arrange a meeting with a senate committee considering dissolution of their tribe. Thomas has been working on his presentation for months, so much so that he makes himself sick. Perhaps the best thing he does is to thank Arthur V. Watkins after their presentation is over. Watkins is surprised. No one has ever thanked him before. You will route for Thomas throughout the story. He is a lovable character.
Wood Mountain comes to love, Archille, the name he and Pixie gave the baby. The baby will become important in the resolution of Pixie's feelings toward Wood Mountain.
Another strange little character is Millie Cloud who did her Master's thesis on the Turtle Mountain tribe. She will present to the Congressional committee also. She grew up a city Indian, but is very much drawn to Pixie and her family.
This novel is not Erdrich's best work, but it addresses an important moment in American History: how we consistently broke the treaties we made with Native Americans. In Erdrich's plot, Arthur W.Watkins is trying to do it again.
He is also a night watchman at the jewel-bearing plant just outside the reservation. He has many mystical experiences while on the job. In one incident, spirits let him back in the plant after he locks himself out. His niece Pixie also works there. Much of the book is about Pixie's confusion in respect to sex. She's drawn to a boxer named Wood Mountain.
Pixie is also looking for her sister, Vera, who has disappeared. For the first time in her life she visits the big city of Minneapolis, where she portrays a sexy Babe the Blue Ox at a notorious. During her search for her sister she does manage to rescue Vera's baby. Vera is symbolic of sexual exploitation of Native American women.
Erdrich skips around quite a bit. We even meet two Mormons who are trying to convert the Chippewa. This is somewhat ironic since Joseph Smith, their prophet, taught that Native Americans were really the lost tribes of Israel. Another Mormon, Senator Arthur V. Watkins, sponsored the bill to dissolve the Turtle Mountain tribe to assimilate them into American life. He's a pompous ass.
The Chippewa arrange a meeting with a senate committee considering dissolution of their tribe. Thomas has been working on his presentation for months, so much so that he makes himself sick. Perhaps the best thing he does is to thank Arthur V. Watkins after their presentation is over. Watkins is surprised. No one has ever thanked him before. You will route for Thomas throughout the story. He is a lovable character.
Wood Mountain comes to love, Archille, the name he and Pixie gave the baby. The baby will become important in the resolution of Pixie's feelings toward Wood Mountain.
Another strange little character is Millie Cloud who did her Master's thesis on the Turtle Mountain tribe. She will present to the Congressional committee also. She grew up a city Indian, but is very much drawn to Pixie and her family.
This novel is not Erdrich's best work, but it addresses an important moment in American History: how we consistently broke the treaties we made with Native Americans. In Erdrich's plot, Arthur W.Watkins is trying to do it again.
