Book review: The Birchbark House

Reviewed by Karl Hele

The Birchbark House, by Anishinaabeg author Louise Erdrich, follows eight-year-old Omakayas though the course of a single year near Sault Ste. Marie. It details Omakayas and her family’s hunting, gathering, trading, socializing, and relationships.

Throughout the year, the family and Omakayas experience great grief when small pox visits the community – carrying off her baby brother and a close friend. Omakayas and her Nokomis care for the ill, saved by previous exposure to the illness. Hunger also stalks the family over the course of the particularly harsh winter.  As she experiences the year, Omakayas begins to grow spiritually and mentally – learning to listen to the animals and plants on her path to becoming a healer. The novel begins with early summer and ends with late spring, a complete cycle of the year.

The novel, while a story of a little girl, highlights common activities the Anishinaabeg would be undertaking during particular seasons. The importance of wild rice, fishing, hunting, and all the other activities are presented from Omakayas’ perspective. For instance, while knowing that the process of fleshing and brain tanning is important, Omakayas detests the labour as it is smelly and boring for she would rather be playing with her friends. Also within the pages are lessons for the reader, via lessons presented to Omakayas by her older sister, mother, aunt and grandmother. Other knowledge of our lifeways is presented though the narrative as daily or seasonally specific tasks are undertaken.  All of this is set within an Anishinaabeg centric view.

The Birchbark House was a finalist for the National Book Award and Winner of the Young Adult Fiction Award in 2000.  It is also the first in a series of novels known as the Birchbark House Series. While the book is aimed at youth or young adult readers, it is an excellent read for anyone interested in an excellent story, learning more about our culture, or as a teaching tool in high school or post-secondary education. Erdrich’s writing and storytelling ability is superb, making the novel a pleasure to read.

Louise Erdrich, The Birchbark House. New York: Disney-Hyperion, 1999.