Literature And Culture: Tracks By Louise Erdrich

My friend, I am at the end of my Literature and Culture class and this being so I've taken it upon myself to culture you. You see, in this particular class I learned a thing or two about Native American culture... sort of. I digress. No matter, sit down and shut your yap and prepare yourself for a one-sided conversation you didn't know you needed. As I dictate dictatorial to you information about the Native American culture.

The first thing I need to drill into your thick skull is the current affairs of Native American reservations. Now, I know you think everything is all rainbows and cupcakes, after all, they have those sick and profitable casinos. However, friend what you're failing to acknowledge as you dream of hitting the jackpot is the

Stay with me only ____ more words to get through, you're doing great. Understand in this class, we didn't learn about individual tribes, but rather some generalizations affecting most tribes. As well as generalizations that are hard to attribute to anything else aside from the source. You follow me? For example, I was given the novel Tracks by Louise Erdrich to read. This book is excruciating to relate to any actual Indian reservations as it focuses on the affairs of individuals from a fictional supernatural perspective. “...the novel chronicles the drama of daily lives overshadowed by the clash of cultures and mythologies.”(Book Jacket Notes) Generally and exceedingly loosely speaking having land taken from them by white folk is really the strongest relation going for it. Everything else is really there for a somewhat captivating

This movie is much better at relating to actual Native American reservations as it isn't fictional. See friend, in this particular documentary, the narrator is actually attempting to rediscover some of his heritage that has been lost. Things lost to his culture through oppression or time, through an understanding of Native American films, the filmmakers, and indian actors. “I’m on a journey to make sense of how Hollywood’s fantasy about Indians influenced the world, even natives like me.”(Diamond) For, as you know friend the Indian people had their way of life unabashedly taken from them by settlers. All different tribes Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw, Crow, and Cheyenne just to name a few had everything maimed from their hands. This film in a weird way by following the narrator's journey actually highlights what has been lost, language, childhoods, families, homes, culture, things you can't replace or make up for with bright lighted casinos. Along with these lost things while following the narrator we obviously are shown the places he visits and in doing so are indirectly shown just how poor and poverty-stricken Native American reservations actually are. Unfortunately, more often than