Vera may have disappeared she hasnt been in touch in months, and is rumored to have had a baby. But Patrice needs every penny to follow her beloved older sister, Vera, who moved to the big city of Minneapolis. Patrices shameful alcoholic father returns home sporadically to terrorize his wife and children and bully her for money. She makes jewel bearings at the plant, a job that barely pays her enough to support her mother and brother. Unlike most of the girls on the reservation, Patrice, the class valedictorian, has no desire to wear herself down with a husband and kids. How can the government abandon treaties made in good faith with Native Americans for as long as the grasses shall grow, and the rivers run? Since graduating high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice. The bill is a termination that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity. It is 1953 and he and the other council members know the bill isnt about freedom Congress is fed up with Indians.

He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new emancipation bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress.

Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota.

Book Synopsis NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST, AMAZON, NPR, CBS SUNDAY MORNING, KIRKUS, CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY, AND GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOK OF 2020 Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrichs grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman. About the Book A novel based on the life of Erdrichs grandfather, who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C.-Dust jacket flap.

The night watchman