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Summary Of The Last Report On The Miracles At Little No Horse By Louise Erdrich

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The Most Loving Form of Destruction Louise Erdich’s novel, The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, narrates the lives of Father Damien and the others living on the Native American reservation, Little No Horse. The time frame for this novel is from the year 1912 to the year 1997. Within the reservation, there are both Catholic priests and sisters as while as Native Americans. The mission, according the Church, is to convert the Native Americans to Catholicism. Their mission although its’ “good intentions” destroyed the lives of the Native Americans. Louise Erdrich critiques of Catholicism and its conversion, especially those on the reservation, Little No Horse through the Catholic religious figures like Father Damien and Sister Hildegarde Anne. …show more content…

His path was to convert as many Native Americans as he could to Catholicism. However over his years at the reservation, he realized that he and the other religious figures “were wrong” (Erdrich 239). He was told by multiple Native Americans, like Kasphaw, that their “world is already whipped apart by the white man” (Erdrich 63). Comments like that made Father Damien reflect on observations of the damaging effects of conversion and the white man. The act of conversion resulted in the loss of tradition and identity for the Native Americans. He became aware of the Father Damien knew that “the void left in the passing of scared traditional knowledge was filled, quite simply, with the quick ease of alcohol”. (Erdrich 239). Father Damien knew that more harm was done than good in regards to conversion. He claimed that it was the “most loving form of destruction” (Erdrich 55). He drew this conclusion after both personal experiences like with Kasphaw as well as interactions with other religious figures on the

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