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allidoiswinnick 's review for:
The Night Watchman
by Louise Erdrich
12/10. One of the best novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer & extremely well deserved.
Based on a true story, the novel centers around a (real) bill proposed by Congress in 1953 to terminate the status/"benefits" of the Native American tribes living on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota, and the fight by members of the tribe to prevent the bill from being passed.
There were certain passages that I read three times over just to soak in every word that Erdrich wrote. This novel reminds me so much of why I love reading. It took a real event and adapted it to fiction to teach many people, including myself, about the horrible mistreatment of Native American people throughout history. Erdrich's words carry so much power. Her imagery is astonishing. The way she shows respect for nature as the ultimate source of life is remarkable. The characters and their stories are simply tremendous.
This story is a unblinking portrayal of the lives of Native Americans, and it was a huge wake up call to my lack of education surrounding the treatment, displacement, and systematic abuse of Native Americans. The American education system leaves a huge hole teaching about the way early white settlers treated Native Americans, stole their land, and "rented it" back to them. And not enough is spoken about how the governmental abuse of Native Americans has continued all the way up to present day.
Similar termination bills to the one that was proposed in this novel resulted in over 100 tribes losing their status, benefits and recognition, removing Native Americans from their own land, which resulted in even more severe poverty and starvation. 21 tribes went extinct as a result of the US government. And it's still going on. Under the past Trump administration, a bill was proposed to terminate the status of the Wampanoag tribe. Not only do many Native American tribes face termination, displacement, and continuous theft of their land, Native American women are at an extremely high risk of sexual assault. The policies in place to protect the people that were here before us, who were stolen from and stuffed onto small fractions of land and left to fend for themselves, are truly horrific.
I will be reading more novels by Erdrich and continuing to educate myself on this topic, while looking into resources of how to support Native American communities. Please read this novel!!!
Based on a true story, the novel centers around a (real) bill proposed by Congress in 1953 to terminate the status/"benefits" of the Native American tribes living on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota, and the fight by members of the tribe to prevent the bill from being passed.
There were certain passages that I read three times over just to soak in every word that Erdrich wrote. This novel reminds me so much of why I love reading. It took a real event and adapted it to fiction to teach many people, including myself, about the horrible mistreatment of Native American people throughout history. Erdrich's words carry so much power. Her imagery is astonishing. The way she shows respect for nature as the ultimate source of life is remarkable. The characters and their stories are simply tremendous.
This story is a unblinking portrayal of the lives of Native Americans, and it was a huge wake up call to my lack of education surrounding the treatment, displacement, and systematic abuse of Native Americans. The American education system leaves a huge hole teaching about the way early white settlers treated Native Americans, stole their land, and "rented it" back to them. And not enough is spoken about how the governmental abuse of Native Americans has continued all the way up to present day.
Similar termination bills to the one that was proposed in this novel resulted in over 100 tribes losing their status, benefits and recognition, removing Native Americans from their own land, which resulted in even more severe poverty and starvation. 21 tribes went extinct as a result of the US government. And it's still going on. Under the past Trump administration, a bill was proposed to terminate the status of the Wampanoag tribe. Not only do many Native American tribes face termination, displacement, and continuous theft of their land, Native American women are at an extremely high risk of sexual assault. The policies in place to protect the people that were here before us, who were stolen from and stuffed onto small fractions of land and left to fend for themselves, are truly horrific.
I will be reading more novels by Erdrich and continuing to educate myself on this topic, while looking into resources of how to support Native American communities. Please read this novel!!!