The Night Watchman

Set in the 1950s on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, the novel follows Thomas Wazhashk, a night watchman at a jewel bearing plant and an Ojibwe councillor. In 1953 he works to understand a termination bill on its way to the United States Congress and to save his tribe from its consequences. His niece Patrice, who works at the same plant to help support her mother and brother, travels to Minneapolis in search of her missing sister, Vera. Louise Erdrich was inspired by the life of her grandfather, who encouraged other members of the reservation to resist the federal termination policies.