The Night Watchman

The Night Watchman is an impressive literary feat. Written to preserve the memory of the US governments attempt to close Indian reservations in the 1950s, only a small part of the book is actually devoted to narrating this controversy.

Instead it mostly focuses on the struggles of a young Native American woman. Can she find her lost sister, what is her romantic future, what to do with her deadbeat father, etc.

Through these interwoven narratives, Erorich breathes life into an Indian reservation in the post war era. Its not an idealized image: poverty, violence and alcoholism do run rife throughout the text.

But it is a proud community conscious of a tradition and culture that long predates the European settlement.

And this is where the text is most impressive. In terse and uncomplicated prose, the story unfolds as if the imagined universe of the tribe is real. Just as Christian literature may cast angels and demons as characters, The Night Watchman makes the spirits, mythologies and shamanism not just literary ornaments but key drivers of the story. Look, for example, to the characters participation in the tribes creation myth, the presence of benign and malignant ghosts and the way shamanism is able to reveal key plot elements.

Given the extent to which cultural genocide has been perpetrated against Indian heritage, this is a much needed act of preservation. In some ways, The Night Watchman continues the effort of the characters to preserve their reservations; the book becomes a means by which Indian culture can be preserved and transmitted.

In short, crisp prose combined with a deep grounding of the book in a tribes collective imagination makes for a book worth reading.

I love great storytellers like Louise Erdrich, but they are few and far between. A good book is often quickly forgotten, and a great book lingers in the heart and mind for a lifetime. The Night Watchman is a great book. The story of Thomas Muskrat Wazhashk and the story of the Turtle Mountain People during the 1950s, one of many times the United States government attempted to renege on its treaties and steal Native land is, at once, heart-wrenching, heartwarming, and powerfully life affirming.

In the early part of this tale, readers will come upon a seemingly innocuous mention of Thomas Wazhashks family quilt. Immediately thereafter, the wonder of many lifetimes flows out as one of the most inspiringly beautiful passages I have ever read in my 69 years on this planet. Then, of course, just as when I read The Round House many years ago, Louise Erdrich follows with so many equally powerful passages that remind us why her books linger in the heart and mind for so long.

It felt so wonderful to be back in the hands of a master storyteller and that is Louise Erdrich. The characters are extremely well developed and I felt as though I knew them all, I didnt want to leave this story. The setting for a novel about American Indians in the 1950s is a unique one, often books are about the start of our elimination of the Indians.I wanted to know everything about the reservation, the new bill that Congress was going to pass and how these incredible characters with all of their beliefs, visions and talents were going to survive if this bill should pass.

One of the main characters, Thomas, who is the night watchman at a jewel bearing factory is based on the authors grandfather. He is a loving, tireless man who cares deeply about the Chippewa Turtle Mountain people and his own family.

There are several stories going on in this novel but they are all part of the whole. We will watch as Thomas writes hundreds of letters to those in the government who might listen to his plea that the tribe be allowed to keep the little bit of land that they have. This once powerful tribe of hunters and gatherers was forced onto a small plot of land and had to learn how to farm in order to exist. They were given very little help from the government but even this was in danger of being taken away. They must form a committee and address Congress directly.

At the same time we learn about Thomass family, he deeply loves his wife Rose who works tirelessly to keep their family together, fed and clothed. His oldest daughter Vera left for the city, and hasnt been heard from in a while. Patrice, his other daughter works at the jewel bearing plant where Thomas is a watchman. Her job is working on a type of production line, cutting precise holes into small jewel panels.
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When Vera has been missing for a while Patrice saves up her money and goes to the city to find her. What happens to her there is eye opening as well as discouraging. We come back to that story later in the novel.

Thomass father, Bibon, lives with them, he is quite old but is filled with wisdom and inner strength. He will help Thomas in his quest to speak in front of Congress on behalf of his tribe.
Make the Washington D.C.s understand. We just started getting on our feet. Getting so we have some coins to jingle. Making farms. Becoming famous in school like you. All that will suffer. It will be wiped out.. . ..They sent us their tuberculosis. It is taking us down. We dont have money to go to their hospitals. It was their promise to exchange these things for our land. Long as the grass grows and the rivers flow.

Scattered throughout the book there are references to Indian folklore and some magical passages which are beautiful and thought provoking.

The older generation has struggled with efforts to completely change their way of life. The younger generation still looks up to the elders but also wants what they see on TV and magazines, cute clothes, nice homes, cell phones, and to live in the city. They are often pulled in two different directions.

I dont want to give away any more of this amazing story. Hopefully I have given you enough enticement to read this book. It is definitely one of my top books this year and is not to be missed. Ms. Erdrich will reward you with a great story, wonderful characters and a history of some of the terrible things that we have done to the American Indians. We virtually broke every treaty that we made with the Indians.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss

The basic plot, the story of the Indians of the Turtle Mountain Reservation threatened with dispossession of their land by white men in Washington who haven’t the slightest concept of what’s important to the Native Americans, is a good one. But the author introduces too many characters, doesn’t define them properly, and muddies the central plot with a lot of extraneous sub-plots that she doesn’t bring off very well and too many characters that she throws at the reader without developing them very well.
The whole novel is confused and annoying, and not well done. I stayed with this story until I was halfway through, and then I put it aside; I just didn’t want to deal with it any more. It’s just a poorly executed work of fiction.

First, this story opened my eyes, my heart and my mind to the vast amount of discrimination that native people encountered and continue to encounter daily.
Second, this story brought forth laughter, tears, gasps of horror,and also appreciation for the hope that was evident in the characters.
I recommend this book to everyone. I know I have been changed for the good.

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