Spirituality in The Round House
How can a nation be conquered? The Round House, by Louise Erdrich, is a story of American Indians wrapped in oral tradition and mythology that can instruct affirmative action through mysterious parallels to another time. The Ojibwe are among the largest groups of Native Americans-First Nations north of Mexico. They are dependent on roots to provide a foundation for sustainability. However, the Reservation often produces shaky foundations that result from a conflict of sovereignty. The community protects one another when justice seems ephemeral, yet these tribal actions clouded in mystery may also create secrets that bind. The genocide of a race can result from the introduction of disease or starvation that kills the physical body or from the desecration of the spirit that is tied to hope and the will to survive.
A key image to keep in mind is the introductory scene, taking …show more content…
Linden Lark is the non-Native man who rapes Geraldine with cruelty and pursues further destruction of the Coutts family with methodical precision. Geraldine has left the protection of the Round House that is no longer used as a powerful center of a sovereign people. Her vision is obscured by the rapist’s bag that prevents awareness of her surroundings. This technical reason prevents this Ojibwe woman from receiving justice. Tribal, state and federal jurisdictions regarding the location of the rape must be established before the perpetrator of the crime can be tried and punished. On a parallel storyline, in 2009 Amnesty International reported in ”Maze of Injustice” that one in three Native American women would be raped in their lifetimes; non-Native men perpetrate 86 percent of these sexual assaults upon Native women. The individual assault and rape of Geraldine Coutts parallels the assault and attempted genocide of the American Indian, both in body and
How can a nation be conquered? The Round House, by Louise Erdrich, is a story of American Indians wrapped in oral tradition and mythology that can instruct affirmative action through mysterious parallels to another time. The Ojibwe are among the largest groups of Native Americans-First Nations north of Mexico. They are dependent on roots to provide a foundation for sustainability. However, the Reservation often produces shaky foundations that result from a conflict of sovereignty. The community protects one another when justice seems ephemeral, yet these tribal actions clouded in mystery may also create secrets that bind. The genocide of a race can result from the introduction of disease or starvation that kills the physical body or from the desecration of the spirit that is tied to hope and the will to survive.
A key image to keep in mind is the introductory scene, taking …show more content…
Linden Lark is the non-Native man who rapes Geraldine with cruelty and pursues further destruction of the Coutts family with methodical precision. Geraldine has left the protection of the Round House that is no longer used as a powerful center of a sovereign people. Her vision is obscured by the rapist’s bag that prevents awareness of her surroundings. This technical reason prevents this Ojibwe woman from receiving justice. Tribal, state and federal jurisdictions regarding the location of the rape must be established before the perpetrator of the crime can be tried and punished. On a parallel storyline, in 2009 Amnesty International reported in ”Maze of Injustice” that one in three Native American women would be raped in their lifetimes; non-Native men perpetrate 86 percent of these sexual assaults upon Native women. The individual assault and rape of Geraldine Coutts parallels the assault and attempted genocide of the American Indian, both in body and