The Porcupine House [Review] by Louise Erdrich

The Porcupine Year is a historical fiction text and the third novel Louise Erdrich has produced through The Birchbark House Series. Readers, who have never read the first two books or aren’t familiar with the series, do not have to worry about getting caught up. However, if readers have read the first two books, Erdich picks up right where she left off, without a single hitch in her story. Omakayas and her family have led an adventurous life which is constantly being uprooted and disheveled by the white settlers. The Porcupine Year does not disappoint and keeps the series alive, giving Omakayas an ending worthy of any woman.

Right from the beginning, Omakayas and Pinch travel into danger. Thankfully, the Gods have spared their lives, and Pinch receives a medicine animal, a porcupine. From the first chapter on, Pinch is now named Quill because of his medicine animal. Omakayas and Quill reunite with their family and together they begin traveling north towards Aunt Muskrat’s camp because of the white expansion slowly suffocating in around them. Deydey (Omakayas’ father) knew the journey was going to be rough, but the events hindering their progress are numerous. The family encounters another tribe, a short adoption of two orphaned children, a fiery escape, and traitor whose wild actions result in the death of a truly beloved character. Throughout all the circumstances thrown at Omakayas’ family, they remain strong and motivated. Rather than continue writing Omakayas’ life in seasons, The Porcupine House, concentrates on winter. Within all the chapters, Erdrich uses subtitles to grab attention to important events. Erdrich has an Author’s note at the end, which supplies information on the Ojibwe language and it’s dialects. A glossary also offers pronunciations and definitions of Ojibwe terms. The book also illustrates the book with black and white pictures throughout.