![]() ![]() Patrice works in the Turtle Mountain Jewel Bearing Plant, but it is clear Patrice, if given the chance, is capable of better things. The Night Watchman has many characters, not least Thomas himself, although the character who really stands out is Pixie Paranteau, or Patrice, as she prefers to be known. If this sounds a little dry, then it is possible you have not read Louise Erdrich before. In a brief introduction Louise Erdrich tells us Thomas Wazhushk is based on her grandfather, Patrick Gourneau, who fought against the termination of the treaties – the termination, in effect, of the tribes. ![]() ![]() Set in the early 1950s, The Night Watchman tells the story of Thomas Wazhushk, a prominent member of the Chippewa Council, and his efforts to stop the US government’s proposed bill to abrogate nation-to-nation treaties, which would force Native Americans off the land given to them. Towards the end of Louise Erdrich’s excellent novel The Night Watchman are the words ‘ Ambe bi-izhaan omaa askiing miinawa.’ Spoken by a Chippewa woman to her daughter, these are words many readers will not know the explicit meaning of, but such is the skill of Louise Erdrich they comprise one of the most moving phrases in the novel. A look back at the novel that won Louise Erdrich, most recently author of The Sentence, the Pulitzer Prize. ![]()
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