Reviewed by Janet Hilliker
At last month’s Northern Yearly Meeting Interim Session, we listened intently to a presentation about the history of Native Americans in Wisconsin. Many of us have limited contact with Native Americans and their diverse cultures. One way to become more knowledgeable and aware is to read books. Even a novel can reflect a different culture in a revealing way. Here are four examples.
The Berry Pickers — Amanda Peters
A large, close-knit Mi’kmaq family travels every summer from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries. Joe’s little sister disappears during one picking summer when he is just a child; he was supposed to be watching her. His guilt carries most of the story, following his damage from stress and the beginning of his recovery as he explores his creativity and benefits from the kindness of others. The broader trauma of racism and poverty on the family contrast with the tale of Norma and her overprotective mother. I felt that the not-quite-happy ending was satisfying and realistic.
The Tree People — Naomi M. Stokes
A fair-sized grain of salt is needed to follow the mystical themes in this engrossing mystery, featuring the Quinault tribe of the Olympic peninsula in the state of Washington. Jordan is their first female sheriff and is also a shaman of her people. She is deeply in love with her white husband, who owns a lumber company. Missing persons, a tragic tree-cutting accident, and a menacing woman complicate the underlying issues of deciding to cut the old growth forest and striving to maintain old cultural ways. This novel took me out of my comfort zone!
The Night Watchman — Louise Erdrich
Erdrich’s Pulitzer Prize winner focuses on Ojibwe people on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. It is set in the 1950’s. Thomas, a respected Ojibwe councilor, is the night watchman at a factory where several Ojibwe members work. His niece Vera has moved to Minneapolis and has not been heard from lately; her sister Patrice travels there to search for her, where she encounters violence and prejudice. Several other engaging characters round out the novel. The passage in 1953 of House Concurrent Resolution 108 in Congress motivates Thomas to lead others to fight the termination of their reservation and their rights. The legislation aimed to assimilate Native Americans and deprive them of their tribal lands and resources.
The Seed Keeper — Diane Wilson
Imagine Rosalie, a young Dakota woman disconnected from her heritage, being treated kindly by her white farmer boss, John. To escape her oppressive foster home, she later marries him and has a son, Tommy. The story begins with her complex grief after his death and her uncertainty about who she really is. At intervals within her process of growth, flashbacks show her ancestors’ struggles, including broken treaties, the largest ever United States execution, the 1863 forced march to Crow Creek Reservation in South Dakota, and experiences with boarding schools. Rosalie reunites with an old friend, Gaby, who has become an activist and writer around concerns about genetically modified seeds. Her other friends include a white woman who encourages Rosalie to garden. Slowly the family’s tradition of seed saving unfolds, and Rosalie connects with a relative she did not know she had. The book ends with Rosalie’s hopes for reconciliation with Tommy. This fascinating and sensitive novel was featured this year in my book club; our discussion was quite revealing. And of course, if you have not yet read Glen Copper’s novel Angels Dancing on the Head of a Pin, it also includes interesting Native American material concerning Wisconsin.