"Louise Erdrich, whose story "The Years of My Birth" appears this week in the magazine, discusses her work with Deborah Treisman, the fiction editor of The New Yorker.
“The Years of My Birth” is the story of a white girl—abandoned at birth because the presence of her twin brother in utero left her slightly deformed—who is raised by an Ojibwe family. Was the story inspired by anything specific? Do you know of any white children who grew up on Ojibwe reservations?
In one sense, this is a very old story. Native people of all tribes have adopted non-Native people into their families since the beginning of contact. But I am familiar with this story as one I've heard time and again regarding Native families of my grandparents' generation, who simply took in children when they could, regardless of race. Many of these adoptions were not formal and occurred during the Great Depression. I also think of my grandmother, Mary Gourneau, who adopted children when she saw the need and was always generous.
Why do Albert and Betty, who presumably have enough of an economic burden raising their own children, take Linda on?
Another child, another potato in the pot. That's what my grandmother said. Of course, it is much more complicated."
Get the Story:Louise Erdrich on “The Years of My Birth” (The New Yorker 1/3)
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