Frazier’s remarkably thorough and thoroughly eclectic study of one people in one place at a particular moment in time reveals as much about its author as its subject, and as much about “us” as “them.” (Photos, maps, not seen)Įlie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children. As Frazier ponders the history of Indian bars locally and nationwide, or considers the treaty violation that allowed the US government to steal the Black Hills from the Sioux, he also finds resilience in the great-granddaughter of medicine man Black Elk, and hope in the remarkable story of SuAnne Big Crow, a teenage basketball hero who reunited her bitterly divided people by her example, and whose spirit still lives even after her death in a car crash in 1992. Elements of tragedy (the girlfriend of Le’s brother is killed by a drunk driver) mingle with near-misses (a hose breaks at the distributor, enveloping the family in a cloud of propane gas), but all this is the normal state of affairs at Pine Ridge.

Over time, Le introduces his brother and sisters, uncle and aunt, even the graves of his parents and other brothers, endlessly spinning wild yarns that Frazier reproduces without judgment. Since Frazier’s own wanderlust has brought him and his family to Missoula, Montana, he often goes to visit Le. A raconteur of the first rank as well as an alcoholic, Le has roamed from Hollywood to upper Manhattan, but is finally back home on the rez.

Reintroducing a figure from Great Plains (1989)-Le War Lance, with whom the author has been friends for 20 years-Frazier explores his own affinity for the Sioux by relating the curious twists and turns of their friendship. Acme, 1996, etc.) returns to Indian country for an astute, personal, and disarmingly frank assessment of life and conflict among the Oglala Sioux on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation. I sympathize with the people who are victimized by Frazier's backhanded compliments (he 'likes' and 'admires' Indians, after all, and that's why he lavished his attention on them) however, as a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, a tribe that is unworthy of Frazier's attention, I say this in response to his comment that 'The Oglala is my tribe': Thank goodness.Humorist and chronicler Frazier (Coyote v. Frazier has put together a manuscript that in large part features real names along with accounts of their unattractive physical attributes, personality deficiencies and drunken escapades. What he does with his enviable talent in this particular work is.

That Frazier is a talented writer who likes Indians is not an issue. Here is yet another white man who has written a damaging book about American Indians and because of his reputation as a respected writer it will sell thousands of copies. Ian Frazier's 'On the Rez' has drawn bouquets and a couple of arrows from The Chronicle Book Club, few more vehement than this one:

On the Rez by Ian Frazier