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however, she does succeed at creating distinct voices for her many characters. The Roads of My Relations reads more like a series of compelling personal essays with dialogue than literary fiction. But what is particularly refreshing about Mihesuah's lushly detailed work is that it eschews both contemporary New Age renderings of Native American culture and nineteenth-century romanticism (which one can still see occasionally when native cultures are documented in the name of journalism). Billie and her family take trips to ishtaboli (ball games), act out sibling rivalries, sulk or lash out when angry, and play pranks. Billie's Mama refuses to leave for Oklahoma without her wedding china, underscoring the universal need to have something of "home" to keep us connected with who we are, wherever we end up. With these commonplaces, Mihesuah creates fascinating characters and robust histories. The importance of preserving family history shines through Mihesuah's stories, but they are not one-dimensional lessons with cardboard figures. Mihesuah drives home the point that we keep tragedy close to us and relive it for the sake of our descendents only at a high personal cost. The tension between needing to preserve memory and longing for some salve of forgetfulness
The American Indian Quarterly – University of Nebraska Press
Published: Aug 1, 2000
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