He didn’t even have to get his hands bloody.”Īt home, Patrice fends off two suitors. Watkins decided to use the power of his office to finish what the prophet had started. Erdrich writes, “Joseph Smith and the early Mormons had tried their best to murder all Indians in their path across the country, but in the end did not quite succeed. That bill is not fictional, nor was its most vehement supporter, Arthur V. So as usual, by getting rid of us, the Indian problem would be solved.” Wazhashk’s careful reading reveals that emancipation really means termination - if the bill becomes law, the Chippewa will cease to exist as a legal entity, losing their land and the few intact protections provided them in treaties “that were promised to last forever. Then one day in 1953 comes news of a “tribal emancipation” bill in the U.S. Sometimes, the ghost of a boy who didn’t come home from that boarding school keeps him company. Between his rounds as watchman at the new jewel bearing plant that provides the town’s best-paying jobs, he writes countless letters, official and personal, in the elegant Palmer Method hand he learned in boarding school. Like Gourneau, the fictional Thomas Wazhashk, the night watchman of the title, is a member of the tribal advisory council for the Turtle Mountain Band.Ī gentle, thoughtful man, Wazhashk is deeply devoted to his family and community. One of the book’s major plotlines is based on the life and letters of Erdrich’s maternal grandfather, Patrick Gourneau. Related: Review: Erdrich's 'LaRose' a compelling tale of disaster and survival

Erdrich the night watchman