Native American Women in 2 Novels
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This study will examine two works of fiction, Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine and Susan Power's The Grass Dancer, in order to understand how Native American heroines/women are depicted in at least these two examples of Native American literature. The study will reflect the fundamental belief of Native Americans that their culture in its origins and evolution owes a great debt to women, and that women are responsible in important ways for the very survival of the culture, despite the fact that women have been the victims of much abuse from both white and Native American cultures (that is, from Native American men, who are often portrayed in a negative light in these books). The generations of women depicted in these two books, particularly in Erdrich's novel, serve as threads holding together the living fabric of Native American culture as it struggles over a fifty-year period to survive in an environment which is wholly hostile to it. The major heroines in Erdrich's novel are Marie Lazarre Kashpaw, Lulu Lamartine, and Rushes Bear. The structure of the book is cleverly laid out, with much work required on the part of the reader to understand the relationships and even the identities of the characters at various times. The reader may become confused in sorting out these complexities, but there is never any doubt that the female characters, with all their various and unique talents (and even their shortcomings), hold the culture together through the half century of events cover
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ed and in her old age is shown to be a true heroine for her survival and her wisdom. Rushes Bear, on the other hand, is a straight-ahead warrior willing and able to challenge any man, Native American or white, face-to-face:
I learned not to meet Rushes Bear head on, so when she showed up one morning, i pretended at first not to see her. She was down at the slough, a gun cradled close, sighting into the reeds. She followed a mallard with the barrel, peppered it, then gave a high trill (Erdrich 96).
Lulu Lamartine is a third version of the Native American heroine as depicted by Erdrich. Her description of herself proves to be accurate:
No one ever understood my wild and secret ways. They used to say Lulu Lamartine was like a cat, loving no one, only purring to get what she wanted. But that's not true. i was in love with the whole world and all that lived in its rainy arms. . . . And so when they tell you that I was a heartless, a shameless man-chaser, don't ever forget this: I loved what I saw.
. . . And yes, it is true that I've done all the things they say. That's not what gets them. What aggravates them is I've never shed one solitary tear. I'm not sorry. That's unnatural. As we all know, a woman is supposed to cry (Erdrich
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2130
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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