Set in the 1950s, 'The Night Watchman' follows a Native American tribe fighting for their rights as Congress prepares to terminate their nation-to-nation treaties and land ownership rights. Louise Erdrich says her grandfather inspired the main character.
. His name is Thomas Wazhashk.Thomas was named for the muskrat, wazhashk, the lowly, hardworking, water loving rodent. Muskrats were everywhere on the slough-dotted reservation. Their small supple forms slipped busily through water at dusk, continually perfecting their burrows, and eating . Although the wazhashkag were numerous and ordinary, they were also crucial ... In the beginning, after the great flood, it was a muskrat who had helped remake the earth.
Erdrich based the character on her grandfather, who, like Thomas, was a tribal leader of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, who, as the novel opens in the fall of 1953, are facing an existential threat: They're among the first five tribes slated to have their nation-to-nation treaties and land ownership rights abrogated by the U.S.
I reread his letters every so often to get a grip on why I'm doing this writing. I mean, he was a wonderful writer. His letters are beautiful, full of humor and storytelling. And he wrote them during this time when he was fighting termination and working as the night watchman. And what I think I absorbed was his sense of decency, and his commitment to his family and his people. It's hard to write about a decent person, you know. It is. It is hard. When I write characters.
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