Louise Erdrich, author of this year’s One Book One Northwestern selection “The Night Watchman,” discussed her novel’s inspirations at the 20th One Book One Northwestern keynote on Oct. 15.
Moderated by SESP Dean Bryan Brayboy and SESP Prof. Megan Bang — One Book co-chairs for the 2024-2025 school year — the conversation filled the Pick-Staiger Concert Hall with an eager audience of students and Evanston locals.
One Book Director Nancy Cunniff introduced four Indigenous musicians, who performed a welcome song, featuring their synchronized beating of hand drums and accompanying singing.
“The Night Watchman” was published in March 2020, less than two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Tuesday was one of the first times Erdrich has spoken publicly about the novel since its release. In 2021, the novel won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, thanked the crowd for recognizing her book and coming to the keynote.
“It is really a childhood dream to get to be here with you tonight,” Erdrich said. “It would just make my grandfather so happy.”
The novel centers around the work of tribal chairman Thomas Wazhashk, a character whose personality and life events were based on Erdrich’s grandfather, Patrick Gourneau.
The two men share many similarities: They both belong to the same tribe, both worked as night watchmen and both have a strong penchant for writing letters.
Erdrich still carefully protects her grandfather’s letters — a collection that Erdrich inherited from her mother 40 years ago and that functioned as a major source of inspiration for the book.
Erdrich said letter-writing allowed her grandfather to fight termination, a congressional movement to abrogate long-standing treaties between tribes and the U.S. government. The agreements guaranteed the tribes reservation lands, governmental recognition and federal assistance.
In the novel and in real life, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians succeeded in fighting Congress and preserving their reservation. However, not all tribes saw the same success.
Jasmine Gurneau, the director of Native American and Indigenous Affairs, said she was reminded of her own family story as she read the novel.
“The Menominee was, unfortunately, a tribe that was terminated,” said Gurneau, who is a citizen of the Oneida Nation and a descendant of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. “I’m born and raised in Chicago, and so the Menominees that lived here played a role in helping the nation get restored from the cities.”
During the event, University Provost Kathleen Hagerty presented the One Book essay contest winner, Medill freshman and Daily staffer Mintesinot Sturm, and honorable mentions — Weinberg freshmen Sofanias Desta, Natalie Jacob and Sol Rivera.
In her essay, Rivera detailed the expose her father produced in the 1970s as a journalist, which revealed the difficult conditions of a children’s mental institution, helping spur the disability rights movement.
“It meant showing that the collective isn’t just about defeating those in power but about what radical acts of community can do to create change,” Rivera said.
In “The Night Watchman,” Erdrich explores similar themes about the community banding together to fight for change.
Erdrich recently published “The Mighty Red,” a story following a complicated love triangle between three teenagers. Although different in content from “The Night Watchman,” the story also describes a complex community and the day-to-day struggles of the people in it.
“I hope you’ll keep writing,” Brayboy said.
Erdrich responded, “There’s nothing that can stop me.”
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