LaRose

“Landreaux was a devout Catholic who also followed the traditional ways, a man who would kill a deer, thank one god in English, and put down tobacco for another god in Ojibwe. […] His neighbor, Peter Ravich, had a big farm cobbled together out of what used to be Indian allotments. […] He and Landreaux and their wives, who were half sisters, traded: eggs for ammo. […] Their children played together although they went to different schools.” 

The author demonstrates the boundaries within the lives of these characters, many of whom are both white and Ojibwe and seem to follow the traditions of both cultures. Even though both cultures coexist, the author asserts that they are not the same. However, the Ojibwe characters easily cross between the two cultures, suggesting that even though that boundary exists, it does not limit those characters who identify as Ojibwe. The Ojibwe way represents tradition, rendering whiteness as new and not connected to tradition or history. 

They had resisted using the name LaRose until their last child was born. It was a name both innocent and powerful, and had belonged to the family’s healers. They had decided not to use it, but it was as though LaRose had come into the world with that name. There had been a LaRose in each generation of Emmaline’s family for over a hundred years […They] knew the stories, the histories.” 

The author discusses the familial name LaRose, which has been passed down through the women in Emmaline’s family for generations. There is a certain fate associated with the name itself; even though Emmaline and Landreaux try not to use it, their last child seems fated to possess the familial name, foreshadowing his work as a healer within his family. LaRose’s fate becomes inextricably linked to the pain and trauma his family will suffer; however, the author also associates this impending trauma with the historical trauma of his people, suggesting that the Ojibwe life is synonymous with pain itself. Only through the palliative powers of stories and the knowledge of history can the LaRoses heal their families.