Marie Lazarre Kashpaw and Lulu Lamartine: Matriarchs of the Chippewa Tribe

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As Mother’s Day approaches, writer Penny Rudge salutes “Matriarchs [who] come in different guises but are instantly recognizable: forceful women, some well-intentioned, others less so, but all exerting an unstoppable authority over their clan” (Penny Rudge), thereby revealing the immense presence of women in the American family unit. A powerful example of a mother’s influence is illustrated in Native American society whereby women are called upon to confront daily problems associated with reservation life. The instinct for survival occurs almost at birth resulting in the development of women who transcend a culture predicated on gender bias. In Love Medicine, a twentieth century novel about two families who reside on the Indian reservation, Louise Erdrich tells the story of Marie Lazarre and Lulu Lamartine, two female characters quite different in nature, who are connected by their love and lust for Nector Kashpaw, head of the Chippewa tribe. Marie is a member of a family shunned by the residents of the reservation, and copes with the problems that arise as a result of a “childhood, / the antithesis of a Norman Rockwell-style Anglo-American idyll”(Susan Castillo), prompting her to search for stability and adopt a life of piety. Marie marries Nector Kashpaw, a one-time love interest of Lulu Lamartine, who relies on her sexual prowess to persevere, resulting in many liaisons with tribal council members that lead to the birth of her sons. Although each female character possibly hates and resents the other, Erdrich avoids the inevitable storyline by focusing on the different attributes of these characters, who unite and form a force that evidences the significance of survival, and the power of the feminine bond in Native Americ... ... middle of paper ... ... Louise. Love Medicine. New York: Harper, 2009. Moreau, Nichole E. "Erdrich's Love Medicine." The Explicator 61.4 (2003): 248+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 Apr. 2010, http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA108550994&v=2.1&u=sain62671&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w Rudge, Penny. “Great Literary Matriarchs.” Times Online. 12 March 2010. Accessed 11 April 2010. ment/books/article7059659.ece>. Stokes, Karah. "What about the Sweetheart?: The 'Different Shape' of Anishinabe Two Sisters Stories in Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine and Tales of Burning Love." MELUS 24.2 (Summer 1999): 89-105. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 Apr. 2010. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CH1100051243&v=2.1&u=sain62671&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

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