Elizabeth Gargano discusses Ojibwa story cycles and oral narrative

Elizabeth Gargano’s article “Oral Narrative and Ojibwa Story Cycles in Louise Erdrich’s The Birchbark House and The Game of Silence” critically analyzes the authenticity of Erdrich’s works. In this post I will explain how Gargano argues her points.

Gargano argues that Erdrich uses a cyclical narrative structure and a “collective cultural vision beyond the individual consciousness of her fictive protagonist” to reflect an Ojibwa worldview, (Gargano 28). This worldview contains a “gratitude to nature for its gifts, the preciousness of communal knowledge and traditions, and the integration of daily activities with sacred experience,” (28).

She first discusses a point of view which allows for a “collective cultural vision.” According to Gargano, The Game of Silence reflects the Ojibwa understanding of nature. She describes how Erdrich incorporates the thoughts of animals and creatures into the narrative of main character, Omakayas. She also notes that Erdrich permits a point of view of the other village members through the thoughts of Omakayas’ brother, Pinch.

Next Gargano discusses the Ojibwa story cycle present in Erdrich’s works. She writes of Ercrich’s use of the four seasons to partition her story. Each of the seasons brings different types of work for the Ojibwe. Gargano describes how Erdrich uses this to illustrate how the Ojibwa activities mirror the natural processes. Next, Gargano states that “[Erdrich’s] homage to the Ojibwa story cycle emerges most prominently, however, in her integration of traditional oral tales into Omakayas's narrative,” (30). An example Gargano uses is when Omakayas gains wisdom and applies her grandmother’s story’s traditional values to new experiences by retelling the story.

Gargano’s next point focuses on Erdrich’s incorporation of daily activities with sacred experience in her novels. Gargano gives examples from both of Erdrich’s stories. In the Birchbark House the teaching story of Nanabozho, a traditional figure, inspires Omakayas. The story of The Litter Girl and the Wiindigoo teaches Omakayas to trust her own powers in The Game of Silence.

Gargano concludes her essay by observing that Erdrich suggests ways in which readers can enter the text more deeply, “offering subtle linkages between event and narrative that evoke a complex Ojibwa worldview.” Gargano believes that this does not present the illusion of understanding the Ojibwa experience but allows readers to contemplate how to relate to the Ojibwa culture.

Work Cited:

Gargano, Elizabeth. "Oral Native and Ojibwa Story Cycles in Louise Erdrich's The Birchbark House and The Game of Silence." Children's Literature Association Quarterly 31.1 (2006): 27-39.