"I felt expansion, as if the world was branching out in shoots. I felt smallness, how the Earth divided into bits and kept dividing" writes Louise Erdrich in "Love Medicine." This seemingly paradoxical epiphany, as experienced by Lipsha Morrissey, captures the emotional traumas faced by those who are on the quest for self-identity. During our lifetimes, we all undergo spiritual discovery and development that shape our beliefs and values. Erdrich reveals the burden of this daunting task on multiethnic individuals, such as the Chippewa people who are "heavily mixed with French and Cree" (Coltelli). Because they are heavily influenced by the American government to assimilate, the Chippewa people face extreme obstacles in maintaining their own distinct culture while living at the mercy of the American culture.

Erdrich's fusion of her European and Native-American ancestry into a powerfully poetic prose celebrates her mixed culture upbringing and shows the diverse...