“The Unkillable Mother”: Sovereignty and Survivance in Louise Erdrich's <em>The Round House</em>

What is it about?

This essay examines Louise Erdrich's treatment of women in her novel The Round House. Drawing on work by Sarah Deer, Gerald Vizenor, Paula Gunn Allen, and Patrick Wolfe, among other writers and theorists, it establishes links between Geraldine Coutts, mother of the novel's narrator, and Buffalo Woman, an important cultural figure, in a series of metaphors on Ojibwe culture, past, present, and future. In creating these links, the essay argues, Erdrich demonstrates ongoing Ojibwe survivance and resistance to colonial domination.

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