How History Haunts the Present in Louise Erdrich’s Plague of Doves and Love Medicine Eileen Mills College

Louise Erdrich’s novels Love Medicine and Plague of Doves are filled with a multitude of characters. These characters are different from one another with their own struggles and problems but are connected, not just by blood but by their shared cultural history. This cultural history is filled with oppression and hardships which undoubtedly affect all generations, including the current generations. Some of these issues include acculturation and assimilation, poor mental health, alcoholism and domestic violence which are all major issues that Native Americans face today and they’re all issues that Louise Erdrich touches on in her novels Love Medicine and The Plague of Doves. By looking at the history of these issues, there can be a better, fuller understanding of the source of these issues and the harmful effects Europeans had on Native Americans, namely the Chippewa tribe. Exploring the history of Europeans and Native Americans starting with their first encounters is important because it is the beginning of the Chippewa’s complicated relationship with Europeans and therefore, the complicated relationship with themselves.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica “The Ojibwa constituted one of the largest indigenous North American...