Sovereignty Lost And Tentative Retrieval In The Round House

As a renowned contemporary Native American novelist, Louise Erdrich is highly acclaimed by both common readers and scholars. She is one of the most prominent Native American writers of the past thirty years in the United States and a leading figure of the second wave of Native American Literary Renaissance. Her books are often landing on the New York Times best-seller list and they have brought Erdrich an impressive array of literary awards such as the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and the U.S. National Book Award. She enriches American literature and produces a lasting voice in American fiction, moving flexibly in both the mainstream culture and Native American culture. With her lyrical and powerful writing style, she represents the survival problems of Ojibwe people and invites readers to witness the struggle of her people.Erdrich’s North Dakota Saga has established her position in Native American literature of contemporary United States. For decades, critics home and abroad have mainly focused on her North Dakota Saga. In 2012, Erdrich’s fourteenth novel The Round House won the National Book Award. Through the traumatic experiences of an Ojibwe family, Erdrich has illustrated the tangled judicial system on the reservation and the far-reaching impact upon Native Americans. The newly awarded novel has further confirmed her place in contemporary American literature. This thesis will explore the severe loss of Ojibwe sovereignty as well as Erdrich’s suggestion of retrieving it in The Round House.The first chapter will demonstrate racial oppression embodied in the loss of ancestral land, the deprivation of tribal jurisdiction, and the encroachment upon Ojibwe religion. The deprivation and encroachment are glorified by Manifest Destiny and justified through legal power. Through Assimilation program, Native Americans have been gradually disempowered and their tribal sovereignty has been inevitably undermined.The second chapter will further demonstrate Ojibwe spiritual crisis arising from the loss of Indian ancestral land, the deprivation of tribal jurisdiction, and the encroachment upon Ojibwe religion. Ojibwe people are confronted with plights including the decline and discontinuity of tribal culture as well as the pervasive racial discrimination. Their tribal sovereignty has been further damaged due to the assimilation program and the white dominance.However, Erdrich does not stop at the dilemma and she suggests the possible revival of the Ojibwe traditions and restoration of tribal political sovereignty. The third chapter will explore the tentative retrieval of Native cultural and political voice in this novel. Erdrich enables readers to consider possible ways to prevent Ojibwe voice from further disappearing. Her suggestion mainly focuses on the rejuvenation of Ojibwe traditions as well as conforming to the rules set by the dominant power.In The Round House, Erdrich has represented the longstanding Ojibwe survival problems throughout her novel and suggested attempts to work through them. Through depicting Ojibwe survival predicaments and their consequent reaction, Erdrich has illustrated resilience and vitality of Ojibwe tribe. She has demonstrated how Ojibwe people adapt and survive when they are confronted with myriad catastrophes. She believes that her people will survive in the contemporary world in spite of all the plights. Native people are capable of keeping pace with the times and they are able to change in accordance with current situation. Erdrich suggests that with joint efforts, Native Americans are likely to retrieve their lost tribal sovereignty in the contemporary American society.