The Night Watchman
In 1953, Chippewa Council member Thomas Wazhushk, night watchman at a factory near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, is angered by a bill floating through Congress that will effectively deprive Native Americans of their land, their rights, and their identity. Meanwhile, high school valedictorian Patrice Paranteau resists the idea of staying on the reservation and marrying, instead doing mind-numbing work at the factory to save money for a move to Minneapolis to find older sister Vera. Thomas is inspired by the multi-award-winning Erdrich's own grandfather.
