LITR 4332 American Minority Literature
Minority-Culture Presentation 2008

Tuesday, 4 November: complete Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine (expanded version 1993)

Minority Culture Reader: Ariana Gonzalez

Text Objectives:  

Objective 3.  Minority dilemma—assimilate or resist?

·         Does the minority fight or join the dominant culture that exploited it?

·         What balance do minorities strike between the economic benefits of assimilation and its personal or cultural sacrifices?

Assimilation and Resist:

·         In Love Medicine, there is both assimilation and resist. 

 

Quotes and Lines Taken from Text:

Assimilation-

·          “I was the first one to drive a convertible on my reservation.  And of course it was red, a red Olds”.  (181)-------

o   “it looked worse than any typical Indian car that has been driven all its life on reservation roads, which they always say are like government promises-full of holes”. (188)

·         “We got home just in time, it turned out, for the army to remember Henry Had signed up to join it”. (185)

·         “So you see, it was difficult for Gerry, as an Indian, to retain the natural good humor of his ancestors in these modern circumstances….And in spite of the fact that he was untrained in the honest life, he wanted it. He was even interested in getting a job”. (202)

 

Resistance-

·         “Gerry was talented at getting out, that’s a fact.  He boasted that no steel or concrete shitbarn could hold a Chippewa”. (199)

·         “Never, never, ever call the dead by their names, Grandma said.  They might answer. Gordie knew this”.  (217)

·         “These love medicines is something of an old Chippewa specialty”. (241)

·         All of Chapter 13- Love Medicine. Tradition, heritage.

o   We learn that the entire family of Kashpaws/ Pillagers/ Nanapushes had special gifts of healing and insight. 

 

Discussion Questions:

1.  Are there any other examples that you can remember from the text? ….you know there are…

2.  In Regards to assimilation and resist, does Love Medicine show more or less of it than American Indian Stories?

3.  What are your opinions on the topic of assimilation and resist in regards to heritage and tradition? Do you know of any personal experiences?