The Birchbark House

Erdrich, Louise. 1999. THE BIRCHBARK hOUSE. New York: Hyperion Books.
ISBN-10: 0786803002


PLOT SUMMARY
Omakayas lives with her family on the Island of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker. Their lives are controlled by the seasons. In this tale we follow Omakayas and her family as they prepare for each season by hunting, fishing, and preparing their home. Life seems to be moving along smoothly for the family until a stranger comes to the village and brings small pox. Many of the tribe members catch the illness including Omakayas’ mother, father, sister and younger brother. However, the most devastating is the illness of her baby brother. With the help of her grandmother they nurse the family back to health. All accept her baby brother. Devastated by the loss and the hard winter the family struggles not to starve and return to normal. It is during this time that Omakayas learns of her special powers to heal and her past that lead her to her family and the completion of the circle.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Endrich wrote this story almost accidentally. She was researching her family’s tribe the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa with several family members and decided to take what she learned and turn it into the first adventure of Omakayas. She spent much time listening to elders and visiting the island to make the story authentic. One example that helps to make her story authentic is her use of language. Native Americans spend much of there life guided by the seasons so it was nice to see that the book was divided up into sections that are named after the seasons in Ojibwa. There are many more examples of her use of the Ojibwa language through out the story such as the name she calls her father Deydey. Another example that helps with the authenticity is her description of the daily routine of the family. The way the hunted and gathered for the season helps to make this story more than a good read. Readers are learning about the culture of a specific Native American tribe. Endrich also contributed the illustrations to the book as well. The simple drawings help to give the reader a peak at what the author had in mind when creating the characters.
Overall this is a good story for upper grades to read. The author’s note and the glossary help to aid the reader and teacher in better understanding the story.



REVIEW EXCERPTS
Amazon.com
Readers will be riveted by the daily life of this Native American family, in which tanning moose hides, picking berries, and scaring crows from the cornfield are as commonplace as encounters with bear cubs and fireside ghost stories. Erdrich--a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa--spoke to Ojibwa elders about the spirit and significance of Madeline Island, read letters from travelers, and even spent time with her own children on the island, observing their reactions to woods, stones, crayfish, bear, and deer. The author's softly hewn pencil drawings infuse life and authenticity to her poetic, exquisitely wrought narrative. Omakayas is an intense, strong, likable character to whom young readers will fully relate--from her mixed emotions about her siblings, to her discovery of her unique talents, to her devotion to her pet crow Andeg, to her budding understanding of death, life, and her role in the natural world

From Publishers Weekly
Erdrich's (Grandmother's Pigeon) debut novel for children is the first in a projected cycle of books centering on an Ojibwa family on an island in Lake Superior. Opening in the summer of 1847, the story follows the family, in a third-person narrative, through four seasons; it focuses on young Omakayas, who turns "eight winters old" during the course of the novel. In fascinating, nearly step-by-step details, the author describes how they build a summer home out of birchbark, gather with extended family to harvest rice in the autumn, treat an attack of smallpox during the winter and make maple syrup in the spring to stock their own larder and to sell to others. Against the backdrop of Ojibwa cultural traditions, Omakayas also conveys the universal experiences of childhoodAa love of the outdoors, a reluctance to do chores, devotion to a petAas well as her ability to cope with the seemingly unbearable losses of the winter. The author hints at Omakayas's unusual background and her calling as a healer, as well as the imminent dangers of the "chimookoman" or white people, setting the stage for future episodes. Into her lyrical narrative, Erdrich weaves numerous Ojibwa words, effectively placing them in context to convey their meanings. Readers will want to follow this family for many seasons to come

Reviews accessed at:
http://www.amazon.com/Birchbark-House-Louise-Erdrich/dp/0786803002


CONNECTIONS
The second book in the series.
The Game of Silence
ISBN-10: 0064410293