From the Bookshelf of Shine & Shadow…

The Night Watchman

Louise Erdrich

Start date: July 1, 2024

Finish date: July 31, 2024

Discussion: Group Reads

Discussion leader: Nawaz Latif

Why we're reading this: July 2024 Light: R.E.S.P.E.C.T
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What Members Thought

Aug 12, 2021 Beth rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bipoc-author

The Night Watchman has two major plot threads and primary characters. Thomas Wazhashk, the titular character, receives word through his peers in the tribal organization that a bill is on its way through Congress to "emancipate" the Turtle Mountain Chippewa from government support. In effect, this will eliminate their tribe, dispersing them to cities and distributing their land to whites. Patrice (Pixie) Paranteau is in search of her disappeared sister, Vera, who moved to urban Minnesota with her The Night Watchman has two major plot threads and primary characters. Thomas Wazhashk, the titular character, receives word through his peers in the tribal organization that a bill is on its way through Congress to "emancipate" the Turtle Mountain Chippewa from government support. In effect, this will eliminate their tribe, dispersing them to cities and distributing their land to whites. Patrice (Pixie) Paranteau is in search of her disappeared sister, Vera, who moved to urban Minnesota with her baby, and hasn't been heard from since.

There's an element of mysticism and a thriving natural world throughout the story. A number of characters have true visions, and Patrice and her mother, Zhaanat, have particularly strong ones.

Patrice leaned to one side and put her ear to the trunk of a birch tree. She could hear the humming rush of the tree drinking from the earth.

Patrice's experiences can be surreal at times, particularly when she travels into the city in search of Vera, and has some literally poisonous experiences.

Whiteness' pervasive attempts at erasing and eliminating native tribes is another major theme throughout. We've learned recently in the news about how Christian schools for native children were prisons full of cruelty and death. Guess who knew, decades earlier? Thomas' childhood friend Roderick died in one of these schools, and speaks to him as a ghost during his night shifts. White men also fetishize Indian women and exploit them for sex. "Haystack" Barnes pursues Patrice for a while, and later plays the field with three of the Turtle Mountain women. He's generally presented as a naïve, largely harmless man, but there are absolutely true predators in this story. Vera's fate is a terrible one, and Patrice manages to escape from a situation that would end the same way.

There's a sense of family and community, and the various forms that love can take, throughout the book. Patrice's drunken, abusive dad, who is a force in Zhaanat's household even when he's absent for a long time. Thomas' deep bond with his father, Jiboon, who is getting very old. Wood Mountain, who loves Vera's baby at first sight, and whose feelings are reciprocated. Patrice, who's just learned about sex and is interested in trying it, but with who?

The Night Watchman's pace was a little slow to begin with, but the elements of suspense were perfectly timed to keep me interested and keep me reading. And the ending gave that heart-hitting catharsis that I didn't realize I'd been missing for a long time until it happened. As usual when a book has this kind of emotional effect, I'm at a loss how to express it. The afterword is absolutely worth reading with its warm acknowledgments and its message of hope. ...more

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