Louise Erdrich was born in Little Falls, Minnesota in 1954. She grew up in Wahpeton, North Dakota. Her father was German American and her mother was half French and half Ojibwe (Chippewa), a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe. Erdrich is the oldest of seven children. Her parents taught at the Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools while she was growing up.
Erdrich attended Dartmouth and was a member of the first co-ed class admitted by the college. She studied English there and met her future husband Michael Dorris, who was the founder of Dartmouth's then-new Native American Studies program. After graduating in 1976, Erdrich went on to receive an advanced degree in creative...
