Louise Erdrich's Tracks Analysis

Louise Erdrich’s novel Tracks, serves as a tool to awaken the past of the people that have been forgotten, and their culture that is no longer thought about or misconstrued. This novel offers insight and powerful knowledge into the rich lives of Native Americans. Erdrich uses specific characters in her novel to show the culture and religion of one specific group of Native Americans. Tracks connects the reader to the lives and struggles of Ojibwa people by telling the story of three main characters, Nanapush, Fleur, and Pauline, as they fight against modern colonialism. Nanapush and Fleur demonstrate their adherence to traditional Ojibwa religion and culture by doing traditional forms of medicine and connecting as one with the land, while Pauline demonstrates her rejection to Ojibwa religion and culture by denying her Native American religion and

The story line of Nanapush shows the many instances where he portrays his commitment and sticks to his Ojibwa roots. The first instance that seems to be the most prominent in the novel is Nanapush’s denial of modern medicine and dedication to traditional medicine. In the novel Nanapush is speaking to Lulu, Fleur’s daughter, and explains how he cured her through the “certain cure songs that throw the sick one into a dream and cause a low dusk to fall across the mind” (Erdrich, 167). In this part of the novel, Nanapush is exhibiting his denial to modern medicine and colonialism by turning down the help from a doctor and deciding to cure Lulu, who was very near to death, the way he knew to cure the sick. Nanapush shows his commitment to Ojibwa culture by singing the cure songs that were so dear to him and assured him the most safety and health for Lulu. Through his power and belief in the Ojibwa culture, he denied colonialism and showed the power that tradition has, especially Ojibwa