Transactions in a Native Land

Mixed- blood Identity and Indian Legacy in Louise Erdrich's Writing

Abstract

Erdrich is a metis Chippewa writer whose multivoiced semi-autobiographical fiction expresses the Indian mixed-bloods' complex mediation between the marginal world of the reservations and their urban surroundings. Problematically suspended between her ethnic memory and her role as an active cultural agent in the white world, Erdrich advocates a crossing of boundaries between the white and red cultures and effectively dramatizes their dialogue through a series of portraits of half-breed women. Finally, by deconstructing sanctioned Indian stereotypes, Erdrich provides a "mixed-blood" version of the colonialist theme of ethnic intermarriage.