Non-Indian literature.

Desperately searching for information on Indians, a young reader in a library somewhere in the Midwest navigates between the rows of histories, documentaries, and narratives about this unknown and intriguing culture. But as he dives into the shelves, he begins to realize that he can find waves of literature written by non-Indians, but none written the Indians themselves. The boy thinks, How can these people really give me an accurate description of the culture without …

…Native American oral narrative provides us more insight into Indian culture, but not much in the way of factual information. That so many non-Indian writers have completely ignored this giant chunk of information about the Indian society should baffle anyone. Erdrich, obviously different from her non-Indian peers, actually employs the traditional Indian storytelling style in Tracks, and truly gives that boy from the Midwest a deep impression of the character of the Native American culture.