Louise Erdrich’s The Birchbark House draws an immediate
contrast to Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little
House on the Prairie in regards to the complicated notions of race and the
racial stereotypes presented in the two stories. Wilder’s Little
House on the Prairie, while existing as a lovely facet of children’s
literature with a classic story dear to many North Americans’ hearts, presents
obvious ideas of racism and racial inequality: Ma’s entire attitude towards
Native Americans, and the fact that she “just don’t like them,”[1]
solidifies this interpretation (46). And
although the character Pa provides dissenting ideas, ascribing the Native
American culture of the novel some humanity and identity, the novel reads
holistically, especially in the twenty-first century, as a racially unequal
text. The Birchbark House, however, presents a completely different
viewpoint, written from the perspective of the Native Americans experiencing
the injustices of the white settlers.
Deydey, the father of the family in Erdrich’s story, explicitly refers
to the white settlers as “‘greedy children’,”[2]
explaining, “‘Nothing will ever please them for long’” (79). The two groups oppose each other both
historically and in terms of these literary plots, highlighting other
differences between their cultures that affect the racial connotations of these
two novels.
Whereas Wilder ascribes the Native
Americans of her novel very little agency, if any at all, Erdrich offers
completely Native American perspective.
Told from the viewpoint of a young Native American girl, Erdrich
explores Native American culture and experience as opposed to completely
shutting this existence out, as do so many other stories, constituting their
racist connotations. Most strikingly,
Erdrich explores the community associated with the Native American culture, a
clear contrast between the rugged individualism associated with the pioneer
spirit of Wilder’s story. Pa leaves
Wisconsin in Little House because
“there were too many people in the Big Woods now”1 (1). Omakayas’ family, though, thrives off of
communal work ethic and relationship bonds—when the families convene to harvest
rice, Omakayas immediately “raced off” to “find her cousins,”2
wishing to share experiences with them (94).
Furthermore, Omakayas develops a relationship with Two Strike Girl, a
cousin with whom “they eventually called each other sister”2
(98). Omakayas transcends her immediate
family to develop a strong relationship with a cousin, part of her larger
family, an action that speaks strongly of the cohesive layers of this specific
culture.
I too found comparisons between The Birchbark House and Little House. In our class discussion on Tuesday, I found even more parallels and you have enlightened me to a few more, so thank you!
ReplyDeleteI think one of the reasons I really enjoy this book is because, in a way, we are finally hearing the voice of a silenced culture. I'm writing a speech for the speech team I compete on at WSU about missing indigenous women and how the media doesn't really care about the disappearances due to missing white women syndrome and colonization. Because I'm surrounded by this literature for my research, it's beautiful, almost cathartic in a way to finally hear a story from the Native American perspective. It's long overdue.
I found the statement "Nothing will ever please them for long" very meaningful in the context of this novel as a retelling of Little House on the Prairie. Pa's restlessness and dissatisfaction with the Big Woods and then with the prairie, moving on before he was formally displaced, makes this statement seem like a direct criticism of the pioneer mindset and the Ingalls family in particular.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy that you commented on the fact that Erdrich allows complete agency of the Native American mindset via Omakayas. Telling, too, is the how acute and widespread the effects of the "chimookoman" are felt in the story by way of Erdrich's seemingly economical textual allowances, ie: although the "white man" is not mentioned very much at all, his effects are widespread. Nice read.
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