All the characters were rich and well developed, even the secondary ones. I was totally absorbed in this story and was sad when it ended. I find it so enriching and interesting when an aspect of a family’s heritage can be shared so that the events and outcomes are not lost. That time in the history of the Native Americans living in North Dakota was unknown to me. I really enjoyed listening to The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. She had to leave her sister behind for the time being anyway and return home.

When Pixie found herself immersed around questionable people with compromised morals and practices she knew she had to save herself and her sister’s baby by leaving Minneapolis. Pixie was determined to find Vera in Minneapolis where she had last been seen. Her older sister, Vera, had been missing for months. Her family was quite poor but their love and devotion for each other made up for what they did not have in processions. Pixie worked at the jewel bearing plant and the money she earned supported herself, her mother and brother. She was a smart young woman who cherished the members of her family. I particularly liked Pixie or Patrice as she liked to be called. This fight led Thomas and his small committee all the way to Washington, D.C.Īll the characters in The Night Watchman were so well developed. Thomas fought back by writing letters to congress and soliciting help from whoever he could. The American government was trying to relocate these Native Americans to the cities where they would for all intents and purposes be eliminated. When he learned that Congress was trying reclaim the land owned by, lived on and given to the Chippewa American Indians in a non expiring treaty, he made it his mission to fight to retain their lawful land. Thomas was also the chairman of the Chippewa Turtle Mountain people. Louise Erdrich renamed her grandfather, Thomas Wazhashk, for the purposes of this book. The story was based on the life of her grandfather, Patrick Gourneau, who among other things, was the night watchman of the plant that produced jewel artifacts in North Dakota in the early 1950’s. She is most certainly a master storyteller. It was a real treat to hear her tell this story. The audio CD was narrated and read by the author, Louise Erdrich herself. As soon as my library reopened I once again borrowed this audio CD and was delighted in how much I liked it. Since I as so many others were confined to my house I had to give up listening to this incredible book at that time. I started listening to The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich right before the pandemic shut down my school.

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