The Night Watchman

Use these links to supplement and complement students’ reading of the work and to increase their overall enjoyment of literature. Challenge them to discern parallel themes, engage through visual and aural stimuli, and delve deeper into the thematic possibilities presented by the title.

Recommended Texts for Pairing

“Turtle Mountain Reservation”

• a poem written by Louise Erdrich that is dedicated to her grandfather, who is the basis for Thomas’s character
• compare and contrast with Erdrich’s portrayal of the reservation in The Night Watchman

There, There

• a novel by Tommy Orange, a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma, that focuses on the urban Indigenous experience
• compare and contrast with Erdrich’s portrayal of Patrice’s experience in the Twin Cities

Custer Died for Your Sins

• a collection of essays from Vine Deloria, Jr., a well-known activist who advocated for Indigenous American rights and a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe
• Use these essays to expand students’ understanding of Indigenous history in the United States.
• Analyze Erdrich’s portrayal of termination in comparison with Deloria’s chapter “The Disastrous Policy of Termination.”

Other Student Resources

Louise Erdrich reading and discussing her book

• Louise Erdrich discusses her book at an event at Politics and Prose, a bookstore in Washington, D.C.
• This talks about Erdrich’s approach to writing about historical events.

The New York Times review of The Night Watchman

• review written by Luis Alberto Urrea that discusses Erdrich’s books
• This touches on themes of the Indigenous struggles to survive and the intersectional danger of being an Indigenous woman.

The Termination Era, the 1950s, Public Law 280

• resource about termination policies in the 1950s that also includes a specific video about House Concurrent Resolution 108
• touches on the motif of emancipation versus termination and the theme of Indigenous struggles to survive

Teacher Resources

American Indian Urban Relocation

• an additional resource from the National Archives that discusses relocation
• This can help students to better understand the relocation program through the Bureau of Indian Affairs that Vera takes part in.

Native Knowledge 360° Recorded Student Webinars

• video series from the National Museum of the American Indian discussing Indigenous history, activism, and experience
• discusses topics such as food sovereignty, the connection to the Earth and space on it, and retelling American history