Abuses and Allotments. The setting of Louise Erdrich’s "Tracks" and its importance

The preponderance of evidence shows that the setting of Louise Erdrich's Tracks, as well as its chronological sequels Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, and The Bingo Palace strongly resembles the Turtle Mountain Reservation in the north central part of the state and Erdrich’s hometown of Wahpeton, in the southeast on the Minnesota border. Nonetheless, much has been made of the similarity of the fate of the Ojibwe characters in Tracks with the historical outrage perpetrated against the White Earth Anishinaabeg from the signing of the Dawes Act in 1887 to the nadir of Native American wellbeing in the early 1920s. In 1988, the same year Tracks was published, Erdrich co-wrote with her then-husband Michael Dorris an expose of this travesty that was published in The New York Times Magazine, which added to speculation that the politicized novel was a thinly veiled account of White Earth.

Lost in the rush to place Tracks in Minnesota, however, was the fact that the historical Turtle Mountain Ojibwe in North Dakota experienced just as egregious a theft of timber-rich tribal land, both prior and subsequent to the Dawes Act, and in some ways served as the textbook example for the fraud committed at White Earth.

Table of Contents

• Abuses and Allotments: The setting of Louise Erdrich's Tracks and its importance
• The Setting of Tracks
• Land and the Dawes Act
• The Fate of the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe
• The Forced Diaspora
• The End of Tracks
• Argus

Objectives and Key Themes

This essay examines the setting of Louise Erdrich’s Tracks and the significance of its historical context to the novel's narrative. It explores the impact of land allotment policies, particularly the Dawes Act, on the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe community. The essay aims to shed light on the complex relationship between land ownership, cultural identity, and political power dynamics in the novel.

• The Significance of Land in Native American Culture
• The Impact of Land Allotment Policies on Indigenous Communities
• The Representation of History and Politics in Literature
• The Relationship Between Place and Identity
• The Persistence of Cultural Traditions in the Face of Adversity

Chapter Summaries

This section focuses on the main themes and arguments of each chapter in Louise Erdrich's Tracks. Spoilers about major plot points and conclusions are omitted. The summaries are consistent in their level of detail to provide a cohesive overview of the novel.

• Chapter One: This chapter introduces the central characters and the setting of the novel, focusing on the importance of land and its connection to Native American identity. The impact of the Dawes Act and land allotment policies on the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe community is established.
• Chapter Two: This chapter explores the experiences of different characters on the Turtle Mountain Reservation and the challenges they face due to land loss and assimilation policies. The chapter emphasizes the forced diaspora of many Indigenous families and the impact of this displacement on their lives.
• Chapter Three: This chapter delves into the history of the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe community and the efforts of tribal leaders to protect their land. The chapter also examines the corrupt practices of land speculators and the impact of their activities on the community.
• Chapter Four: This chapter depicts the culmination of the historical injustices faced by the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe, with the community facing the threat of losing their land due to tax delinquency and the encroachment of lumber companies. The chapter underscores the persistence of cultural traditions and the resilience of the community in the face of adversity.

Keywords

This essay focuses on the themes of land ownership, Native American history, cultural identity, and the impact of government policies on Indigenous communities. Key terms include: the Dawes Act, land allotment, Turtle Mountain Ojibwe, assimilation, diaspora, and historical fiction.

Details

• College: Northern Arizona University
• Grade: A
• Author: Mark Schauer (Author)
• Publication Year: 2011
• Pages: 9
• Catalog Number: V230263
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656464136
• ISBN (Book): 9783656466987
• Language: English
• Tags: abuses allotments louise erdrich’s tracks