Rez Life

I am not Native but as a public health professional focusing on rural health issues, I am constantly looking for resources that provide an honest and balanced view of rural life, particularly for the American Indian and Alaskan Native populations. Rez Life is such a book. It is a book that was delightful to read, that opened my eyes to the aspects of reservation life (both good and bad) and provided a substantial dose of history in a very palatable fashion. I've already recommended it to others and I do plan to send my $ 1.00 (probably more) to Helen (Bryan) Johnson to thank her for being a part of history. I challenge other readers to do the same. David Treuer is a wonderful writer and I will be reading more of his books. My thanks to him for such a significant contribution to the literary world.

Very informative and evocative perspective on life on Indian reservations today. I found David Treuer's book to be very eye-opening and surprising. He goes into the history of various aspects of Native American life, particularly in the Ojibwe tribe, including housing, poverty, the gaming industry, fishing and hunting rights, and family. A great look at what life is like for many Indians today, and how conditions evolved over the past centuries. He has a great explanation of the impact of the various treaties that the federal government made and broke, and the impact of the mismanagement by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A great read, especially for the portraits that Treuer paints of his family members and friends.

Finally a book on reservation life written from the inside. Well-researched historic overview and terrific narrative of the complicated reality of the Indian and white interactions. Community and family stories blend together with treaties, laws, rights, privileges and federal, state and tribal negotiations. Although primarily focused on the Ojibwa it portrays the pan-Indian dance within their colonized trap and opportunities. This amazing combination between a novel and historical facts gives the reader an accessible insight in what it was and is to be an American Indian. Treuer's depiction of rez life is harsh and beautiful at the same time. According to Peter Nabokov it is "a courageously intimate memoir of family life and community survival ... it deftly sashays between gritty everyday realities and their well-researched historical contexts and cultural resonances through the magically readable kind of nonfiction that perhaps only a novelist could pull off ... destined to be a classic." I cannot agree more.

I enjoyed this book very much. I love the author, but hadn't read this book. It's a sprawling memoir with quite a bit of history thrown in. If you're interested in what life is really like for the first Americans today, it'll do it. And, if you're interested in learning more about things you may think you already know - about the reserved rights that they've finally been allowed to use, about the history behind them, and AIM, and how some nations have been able to benefit from casinos - and others haven't - this is an eye-opener. The author writes beautifully, but in a natural voice, so it's an easy read. I believe you'll enjoy it, too.

This was a difficult read, but so is the history of the Native American’s among us. A bit more detail than I might have needed, but still an amazing history and true story.

This is a very interesting book about Reservation life, current life anywhere in America regarding Native Americans and learn a lot about the Ojibwe tribe of Northern Minnesota. There are maybe 310 Indian reservation and 564 federal recognized tribes in United States. That all tribes are similar with their culture in certain ways and areas. David Treuer did an excellent work and also for standing up for his tribe the Ojibwe plus the other tribes and for that we love you (P.133). This is a great big regarding land, gaming, taxes, schools, and etc. A great American history book.

This is about as far as one can get from a rose-colored view of Indian lives. David Treuer holds back none of the social pathologies that beset many reservations that he has known and studied. Yet he manages through an engaging style (which almost makes one forget the scholarly research that informs the chapters) to let the reader understand the chaotic chains of events that set the stage for the present conditions. The story literally comes alive as the author tells of his own family and friends. A special delight are lyrical descriptions of the Minnesota lake country. The book also educates us on the casino culture and some of the different ways that is playing out.

It has been a couple weeks since I finished this book, but many of the historical facts still stick in my head. I like Native American dances and pow wows, and I now regard them with an entirely different attitude. I very much enjoyed this book and read it right through, front to back, with no sense of boredom. I really appreciate having learned the history of treaties, the way the United States acted towards the Indians, and the stories about the folks who make up the culture.

Ce livre est la version originale de "Indian Roads", paru en français, mais son titre est plus parlant quant à son contenu que ce dernier. "Rez life": la vie dans les réserve indiennes. Mais le propos du livre, l'intention de David Treuer, vont plus loin, car il écrit: "Comprendre les Indiens américains, c'est comprendre l'Amérique" [car] "ceci est l'histoire de ce qui est paradoxalement le moins et le plus américain des endroits au 21e siècle." David Treuer, fils d'un Juif autrichien qui avait fui les persécutions nazies en 1938 et qui avait épousé une femme Ojibwe du Minnesota, a donc pris la route. Pour aller voir comment vivent ceux de sa tribu et ceux des autres. Un reportage captivant et émouvant dans cette minorité sociale oubliée et discriminée aujourd'hui encore par l'Amérique blanche. Il raconte a pauvreté, la misère, la drogue. Mais aussi la richesse incroyable apportée parfois par les casinos. Les efforts d'une partie des Indiens pour faire revivre leurs langues et leur culture. Treuer plonge aussi dans les livres pour disséquer, analyser et mettre en lumière la longue histoire des traités signés entre Washington et les 540 tribus du pays, longue litanie de promesses non tenues et de trahisons de la part des Blancs. Dans les années 1940, un humoriste célèbre (un Cherokee), Jim Rogers, avait déjà résumé cette triste histoire: "Les Etats-Unis n'ont jamais rompu un traité avec un gouvernement étranger, mais n'en ont jamais respecté un avec les Indiens." David Treuer s'implique aussi personnellement dans le portrait/analyse qu'il brosse de la vie dans les réserves. (Je me souviens au passage d'un autre écrivain indien,Sherman Alexie, qui disait:"Sur les réserves, la vie est violente et courte.") Il évoque ses souvenirs et amis d'enfance, sa famille, hier et aujourd'hui. Sa mère avait réussi à se hisser vers un statut social important en devenant juge. Ce "voyage d'un Indien à travers la vie des réserves" est un livre à la fois captivant et important qui touchera celles et ceux qui s'intéressent à la réalité que vivent les Amérindiens. (Florian Rochat est l'auteur de La légende de Little Eagle )

Non ancora finito di leggere, ma la rappresentazione della vita attuale nelle reserve indiane ed il riepilogo di fatti rilevanti della storia di alcune tribù di Indiani del Nord America e Canada è scevra da ogni sentimentalismo, libera da stereotipi e così interessante da generare una lettura vorace.