Louise Erdrich is an American writer who is of mixed Native American and white ancestry. Her heritage plays a role in many of her novels--many of the characters struggle to connect the two halves of themselves.
One such example is her 1988 novel called Tracks. The two narrators of the novel are Nanapush, a Native American elder who is trying to reconcile his granddaughter Lulu with her mother, Fleur. The other is a mixed race girl named Pauline who eventually comes to be Fleur’s midwife. The stories told in the novel date all the way back to 1912. Since the novel is written with two narrators, the events it details may or may not be entirely correct.
One of the main themes in many of Erdrich’s works is the disparity and relationship between Christianity and Native American spirituality. The lives of characters in Tracks are controlled by tenets of Christianity and of Native American spirituality. These apparently opposing forces often seem to form a cohesive ideology. This ideology is postmodern because, like modern pervasive forces such as the internet, these tenets of Christianity/spirituality are so tightly woven into characters’ lives they can’t separate where religion ends and the individual begins, exemplified by peoples’ fear of Fleur and hatred of Pauline.
Native American spirituality and ritual has become interwoven with Christianity in their community. The day after seeing what could have been “a spirit bear,” “the priest came, prepared for the last rites but very pleased to have a new life in their place.” Despite the Native American tradition’s prominence, this juxtaposition of Christianity and Native American spirituality is seamless, pervading life so completely it seems to be rarely questioned. Behaviors influenced by religion and spirituality vs. behaviors influenced by personal taste are not separated.
Read more about Religion in Louise Erdrich's Tracks
The second chapter of Dr. Cloud’s book is entitled, “Nine Things Hidden In Plain Sight.” Dr. Cloud starts the chapter by stating that the information for this book is not from his training as a psychologist. He states that psychology did not prepare him for helping people heal completely in all aspects of their mind, body and soul. Dr. Cloud stated that most of his training only taught him how to make people healthy. However, the nine things in the book go beyond just being healthy. They described how to make someone whole again. By following to these principles, someone is not only made healthy, but also able to function as a normal human being. This person will learn how to live again. Read more about "The 9 Things You Simple Must Do: To Succeed In Love and Life" Part 2
