Biography of writer Louise Erdrich plus summary of her story Fleur.

1. Born in 1954 Louise Erdrich

2. Erdrich was born in Little Falls, Minnesota She grew up in Wahpeton, ND Mother was French Chippewa or French Ojibwa(e) Father was German-American Maternal grandmother was tribal chairman on the Turtle Mountain Reservation Both of her grandparents worked in the Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school in Wahpeton Eldest of seven children Encouraged by her father to write stories as a child Mother would create book covers for her manuscripts Early Life

3. Attended a Catholic school in Wahpeton Entered Dartmouth College in 1972 Participated in a Native American Study run by future husband Michael Dorris (who was part American Indian and a writer) In her undergraduate years she won prizes for poetry and fiction Worked a variety of jobs After deciding she wanted to write as a career she earned a Masters Degree at Johns Hopkins Schooling

4. Married Michael Dorris in 1981 He had 3 adopted children already Together they had 3 daughters Seemed to be the perfect couple and were even called the “poster couple of multicultural literature” Personal Life

5. Early in marriage they published romantic fiction under the name “Milou North” in order to make money Michael Louise, they lived in the North (MN) Later, they collaborated on every project, but whoever wrote the entire, initial draft would be the official author The one exception, The Crown of Columbus, was published in 1991 under both of their names Starting in the 1990’s, Erdrich started writing solo and most of her work from that decade were entirely her own Collaborating with Michael Dorris

6. Dorris and Erdrich separated in 1995 Dorris committed suicide in 1997, before their divorce was final Erdrich now lives in Minneapolis, MN with her 3 children and owns the bookstore Birchbark Books Personal Life Cont.

7. She was named one of People Magazine’s “Most Beautiful People” in 1990 Since the late 1990’s she has focused on learning the Ojibwe language and studying her tribe’s culture, traditions and mysticism Interesting tid-bits about Louise

8. Novels: Love Medicine, 1984 The Beet Queen, 1986 Tracks, 1988 The Crown of Columbus (with husband), 1991 The Bingo Palace, 1994 Tales of Burning Love, 1996 The Antelope Wife, 1998 The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, 2001 The Master Butchers Singing Club, 2003 Four Souls, 2004 A Plague of Doves, 2008 Writings

9. Poetry Jacklight, 1984 Baptism of Desire, 1989 Original Fire: New and Selected Poems, 2003 Children’s Books Grandmother’s Pigeon, 1996 The Birchbark House, 1999 The Game of Silence, 2004 Writings Cont.

10. Awards Academy of American Poets Prize, 1975 Best First Fiction Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts& Letters Nelson Algren Fiction Award for "The World's Greatest Fishermen," 1982 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1982 Pushcart Prize for "Indian Boarding School," 1983 National Magazine Award for Fiction, 1983 National Book Critics Circle Award for Best Work of Fiction, 1984 Sue Kaufman Prize for Best First Fiction from The American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, 1984 Virginia McCormick Scully Award for Best Book, 1984 John Simon Guggenheim Award, 1985 Los Angeles Times Award for Fiction, 1985 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, 1985 Great Lakes Colleges Association Award for Best First Work of fiction for Love Medicine, 1985 O. Henry Prize and National Magazine Award for "Fleur," 1987 Western Literary Association Award, 1992

11. She explores Native American themes in her writing but her major characters represent both sides of her heritage “Her style is easy, offhand, quietly unostentatious, but her language often has an unpredictability and sense of surprise” The lyrical descriptions in her fiction resemble the language of her poems and the characterizations and narratives in her poetry resemble the ones in her fiction She sometimes puts realistic stories of small-t0wn life in her works and sometimes retells mythical stories Work reflects her awareness of historical events and ongoing events of Native American life Erdrich’s Writing and Techniques

12. Characters: Fleur, Pauline, townspeople, Pete Kozka and wife Fritzie, Lily, Tor, Dutch (Pauline’s Stepfather) Starts with background information on Fleur: Chippewa Indian that almost drowned twice; instead the person who saved her or the first person to get close to her died. This led to the townspeople being scared of her and caused them to believe many things about her. They wanted to drive her off the reservation, but no one had the guts to. Then one day, she left on her own for the summer. This is where the story begins. Fleur Summary

13. Goes to the town Argus Gets a job at Pete Kozka’s butcher shop Sits down and plays cards with the men; which is unheard of Every night she wins exactly a dollar Men are getting very angry and save up all of their money One night they played so long all of their money was on the table; on the last hand Fleur won Lily, Dutch, Tor, Fleur and Pauline are present Lily flipped out and went after her Fleur hides while Lily is wrestling a pig (with the other men watching) and when he is pinned down she runs The men catch her and assault her During all of this Pauline is watching in the shadows too scared to come out Summary Cont.

14. The next day a tornado hits The three men hide in the freezer; leaving Pauline behind She ends up locking the door from the outside Aftermath: nothing is really damaged much except for the places in the butcher shop where the three men worked; the back rooms where Pete and his wife lived were unharmed; even the last cigarette that Fritzie had sitting in an astray was undisturbed It was a few days before they realized the men were missing They found them frozen to death huddled up together in the freezer Summary Cont.

15. Fleur returned to the reservation where she had a child; she lives down on Lake Turcot No one goes to visit her or even sees her other than Pauline Some say the child is the waterman, Misshepshu’s or that it is a white man’s Everyone talks and tells stories but no one really knows the truth Summary Cont.

16. What is Erdrich’s nationality? Where did Erdrich go to school? In the story Fleur, what happened to the man she cursed after she almost drowned the second time? What event led to the men attacking Fleur? What are some of the things the townspeople believed about Fleur? Questions

17. http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/whm/bio/erdrich_l.htm http://www.geocities.com/tonnelso/ http://www.answers.com/topic/louise-erdrich http://www.english.illinois.edu/MAPS/poets/a_f/erdrich/about.htm The Norton Anthology: American Literature Volume E Sources