The library has many resources that relate to themes in The Night Watchman. Examine government documents and testimonies surrounding termination policies, delve into the sacred stories of the Chippewa, and learn about the MMIW movement.
Themes
Boarding Schools
“The government boarding school was a day’s wagon ride if you started well before dawn. Thomas’s mother, Julia, or Awan, wept and hid her face as he went away.” (p. 99)
Federal Policy
“In the newspapers, the author of the proposal had constructed a cloud of lofty words around this bill–emancipation, freedom, equality, success–that disguised its truth: termination. Termination. Missing only the prefix. The ex.” (p. 90)
Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women
“Vera had had a plaid dress, a Toni home permanent, white anklets, for her trip to Minneapolis. And Patrice was putting a bit of every paycheck away in order to follow Vera, who had maybe disappeared.” (p. 13)
Sacred Stories
“Although the wazhashkag were numerous and ordinary, they were also crucial. In the beginning, after the great flood, it was a muskrat who had helped remake the earth.” (p. 4)
Sports
“Lloyd Barnes’s brightest math student fought under the name Wood Mountain. He had graduated last year, but still trained at the gym Barnes had set up in the community center garage. It was said the young man would be famous if he could keep away from spirits.” (p. 29)
Fiction, Podcasts, and More
Additional resources that might interest you.