2. Louise Erdrich Born on June 7th, 1954 Was raised in a small town called Wahpeton, North Dakota Family was all about Native American living and rituals Mother was French Chippewa Both parents worked for the bureau of Indian Affairs. Grandmother was tribal chairman on the Turtle Mountain Reservation.
3. Schooling 1972 she entered Dartmouth College, taking part in a Native American studies program. Michael Dorris ran the program and he eventually became her husband. Their marriage end with a divorce and he later committed suicide in 1997. She also Earned a M.F.A degree from John Hopkins.
4. Erdrich’s work Erdrich is a Native American Author of novels, poetry, and children's books. Erdrich’s poetry sometimes offered realistic accounts of small-town life and sometimes retells mythical stories. Famous Poems: Dear John Wayne I Was Sleeping Where the Black Oaks Move Grief
5. Erdrich’s Work Known as one of the most significant Native American writers. Love Medicine, her most famous work won the National Book Critics Circle award in 1984.
6. Today Erdrich is currently living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She owns a book store with her sister Heidi called Birchbark Books. Released a book called Shadow Tag in February of 2010.
7. Plot What was the plot of the story? The story takes place in a town called Argus near Lake Turcot, which is located in Native American reservation in North Dakota
8. Theme What is the theme of this story? Female power is a very important theme in this story. Daring and fearless Fleur is the most overt wielder of female power, as Pauline tells throughout the story. Sexuality is also another part of the theme as Erdrich refers to Fleur’s sexuality and good looks.
9. Theme: Continued Lastly, Racism and Sexism is apart of the theme. Tor calls Fleur a “squaw,” of a Native American woman, as an insult, and the men believe that they should superior to her intellectually and physically simply because of their male gender. Racism and sexism was common in the 1920s which resulted in severe abuse and injustice.
10. Fleur: Characters Fleur Pillager – A girl that drowned in Lake Turcot, located in Native American Reservation in North Dakota, a Chippewa women with magical powers George Many Women – He was at Lake Turcot when Fleur Pillager fell into the lake the next time Pete Kozka – Owned the butcher shop “Kozka’s Meats” Lily Veddar – Employee at the butcher shop Tor Grunewald – Employee at the butcher shop
11. Fleur: Characters Dutch James – Pauline’s stepfather and employee at the butcher shop Fritzie – the butcher shops owner’s wife, skinny blonde who chain smokes Jean Hat – is run over by a cart after saving Fleur from drowning in Lake Turcot Misshepeshu – the “waterman, the monster” , a devil that lives in Lake Turcot Pauline – Dutch’s stepdaughter and the narrator of the story
12. Fleur Story How did the story being? The story begins with Fleur Pillager, a girl who drowned in Lake Turcot, located in a Native American reservation in North Dakota. Two men dive in to save her and shortly after this happened the men were never seen again. Fleur falls into the lake again when she is 20 but no one goes near to touch her.
13. Fleur: Story Continued One man bends towards her when she washes onshore and is cursed by Fleur telling him he will die instead of her. Shortly after this happening the man drowns in a bathtub. Many stay away from Fleur believing that she is dangerous and that the water monster Misshepeshu wants her for himself.
14. Fleur: Story Continued Fleur is unpopular on the reservation and practices “evil” ways forcing others to gather and throw her out. In 1920, Fleur leaves the town of Argus. She walks straight to the church and asks the priest for work. She is sent to work at the butcher shop to work with the owners’ wife Fritzie, hauling packages of meat to a locker.
15. Fleur: Story Continued Fleur begins to play cards with the men that work at the butcher shop. Come to find out Fleur was very good at playing cards and won $1 every night she played and then she would leave. Finally, the men got sick of her playing till she won a dollar and decided to put all of their money in to see who would win.
16. Fleur: Story Continued They wanted to break her streak of luck and after pooling in all of their money Fleur ended up winning again! The men begin drinking whiskey after Fleur leaves with her winnings. The men wait outside for Fleur, they try to grab her and Fleur calls out Pauline’s name, Pauline cannot bring herself to help.
17. Fleur: Story Continued The next morning the weather begins to turn into a violent storm and the men take shelter in the meat locker. Pauline slams down the iron bar to lock them inside, the town of Argus is wrecked by the storm. Days pass before the townspeople notice that three men are missing. They dig out the meat locker to discover the three men and Lily’s dog frozen to death.
18. Fleur: Story Continued Pauline says: “Power travels in bloodlines, handed out before birth,” which implies that Fleur was responsible for the deaths of the men. Pauline is now about the only one that visits Fleur, and Fleur has had a child but no one knows who the father is. Lastly, Pauline emphasizes that old men talk about the story over and over but, in the end, “only know that they don’t know anything.”
