The Game of Silence

In The Game of Silence, Erdrich highlights the tragic history of the Indigenous American experience under the control of the white American government. The Ojibwe tribe, of which Erdrich herself is a descendant, is used as a narrative exemplar of what happened to countless tribes throughout the country when the American government expanded its power and removed Indigenous Americans from their lands through war, death, and forcible expulsion.

The Ojibwe people lived in various locations throughout the northeastern part of what is now known as the United States of America. Due to the effects of tribal warfare over the span of 1,500 years, the Ojibwes relocated and settled in the Great Lakes area in the 1600s. When French colonists arrived, the Ojibwes were forced to move again, settling mostly in what is today known as Minnesota. Today, there are seven Ojibwe reservations in Minnesota.

The Ojibwes were able to establish positive relationships with various settlers through the generations because their fur trade was important to the local economy and the building of community. However, the Ojibwe people’s lives were turned upside down in the 19th century when the American government began the process of official land dispossession. Land dispossession refers to the taking or using of Indigenous American land without consent. As the American government expanded, taking over lands to the west and south of the original 13 colonies, war between Indigenous peoples and the white government ended in disastrous loss of land and life for Indigenous American tribes. Additionally, European settlers brought diseases that were foreign to Indigenous American communities. In The Game of Silence, Omakayas’s family has been deeply impacted by smallpox, which was not present in North America until the arrival of the Europeans. The disease killed many Indigenous Americans.

In The Game of Silence, Erdrich emphasizes the history and treatment of Indigenous American people under a totalitarian and dehumanizing campaign inflicted by the American government. However, Erdrich’s novel is more deeply focused on celebrating the Ojibwe culture and history of resilience. To this day, the Ojibwe people are one of the most populous Indigenous American and First Nation tribes in the USA and Canada, respectively. Omakayas’s commitment to the future reflects the communal spirit of her tribe and their deep capacity for love, emphasizing Erdrich’s message that nothing—not even the genocide of the Indigenous American people—can truly defeat the Ojibwes.