Part of our assignment for my Senior Seminar class (the class for which I have read the past four books) was to familiarize ourselves with Chippewa myth and also to come to class able to talk about several critical approaches to this text. Google searches did not turn up very reliable sources on Chippewa myth, so I ended up looking at several books in Ames (Illinois Wesleyan's library) on Ojibwa religion and mythology. A few books had some really good information about the creation myth which is centered around Nanabozho who is also known as Nanapush. These myths obviously have relevance since Nanapush is also the name of one of the narrators of the novel. The Water Monster, Mishebeshu, is also a major figure in Chippewa myth and appears in the novel as the Lake Man who Fleur is purportedly in league with. Water and wind also figure heavily in the mythology. Wind is personified by four brothers who are controlled at various times by Nanapush through his tricks. All these motifs play heavy roles in the narrative and are worth brushing up on if you were previously unaware of their significance.
There are a lot of parallels between Tracks and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. Both novels feature non-white protagonists attempting to find their identity and happiness in a society dominated by whites. Tracks differs from Song of Solomon because the characters in Tracks are trying to keep alive their own society and are in touch with their traditional culture. The characters in Song of Solomon try to get back in touch with a culture they never knew and are trying to subsist within white society rather than creating their own. Ultimately, African-Americans are Americans since they were bereft of their own heritage for so long. Native Americans on the other hand were left their culture but not their land. Yet that does not mean that the characters in Tracks are in any less of a search for their identity, especially the young. Characters like Pauline, Fleur, Eli and Nector Kashpaw watch their culture fail to survive in the face of western oppression and greed. They struggle to reconcile what they are being told by their elders, what they believe about their heritage and the realities they face every day. Much like Milkman and Guitar try to orient their history and their family's history within their current experiences, the youth in Tracks do the same with a much more concrete reminder of what was.
The narrative also illuminates the damage done to the traditional family/clan structure which was very important in Native culture. None of the main characters have a nuclear family intact. In particular, there is a distinct absence of biological fathers in the text. Even Eli's status as Lulu's biological father is put into question. The families have been destroyed by disease, alcohol and hardship. As a result there is no hierarchy of authority or an established process for decision making. There is no natural check to improper behavior or built in defense against the encroaching lumber company. In-fighting features heavily in the novel as the Native community comes under constant attack from both internal and external pressures. I believe those threats are only made possible by the disintegration of the family and the loss of authority that results. Before that disintegration, there is no possible way the Lazarre and Morrisey boy assault Margaret Kashpaw like they do. Nor is Nector allowed to betray Fleur in the way he does. The break down of the family robs the community of its ability to protect itself. Nanapush, Fleur, and the Kashpaws do what they can to form a substitute family, but it can only do so much and the bonds are not as strong as blood.
I am writing a longer paper on this book that will touch upon the ideas I have sketched out in here. I am going to compare Pauline from Tracks's and Macon Dead from Song of Solomon's attempt to find their identity and how that attempt impacts their status within the community. I'll probably post a few updates from the paper at various points, but I also hope to continue to read and make posts about other books. Right now, my agenda is to post about W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe and Love Medicine.
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