Customer Reviews

On the Rez

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I always enjoy Ian Frazier's writing and On the Rez has him at the top of his form. This is a long, ruminative essay, really, on Mr Frazier's relationship with the Oglala Sioux and Le War Lance in particular. Along the way, he highlights some of the sorrowful history of Native Americans since contact with Europeans. By turns this book is informative, funny, tragic, and hopeful.

Mr Frazier makes you care about the people in this book. As he comes to know them better, so do you, the reader. I was sorry when the story stopped, which appears to happen largely because Mr Frazier had to stop writing sooner or later. But I do need to know: what happened to Le War Lance after the last page?

If you are a fan of Ian Frazier, or if you are interested in Native American issues, or history, or just like reading about interesting folks, you'll enjoy this book.

...this book focuses on the many contemporary problems facing Native Americans on the Pine Ridge rez: alcoholism, suicide, unemployment and apathy, as well as short histories of both Wounded Knee conflicts. Frazier approaches these topics in a non-judgmental way, providing observations rather than solutions. The book happens to read more like a novel at times, rather than a textbook. The chapters centering on SuAnne Big Crow are worth the price of the book alone. Highly recommended!

It's true this book has witty remarks, but humor is a very small part of this brilliant work. This book is very difficult to read without being deeply affected by Mr. Frazier's words.

Mr. Frazier accomplishes what I find remarkable. He clearly is a great admirer of the tribes and individual members he writes of, but he also is brutally candid about these people who are his friends. The remarkable part is that you never sense he is judging their behavior, nor is he an apologist. He deftly mixes the history of this Country with a variety of Tribal Nations, and shows you the results. He destroys many misconceptions that exist, and makes very intuitive remarks about the future they may await these people.

If you have not already done so, I believe this book will act as a catalyst to read more about the history of these remarkable people, the opportunities that were lost, the crimes that were committed and are being addressed in Congress right now.

I live in the state that has the largest of the Casinos that many feel are providing all manner of solutions to a variety of tribes. The facts about these Casinos are a far cry from the perceptions that many people hold.

Wounded Knee and The Trail of Tears are not just words that make up titles of books. These places and events, the Presidents that governed at the time, and the President who sanctioned the largest mass execution in this Country's History will, in at least one instance shock you. I say, at least one, as one President's attitude is in keeping with his life-long conduct.

These Peoples were not exterminated, or to use the official Federal Government's word, "Terminated". They survived, and their numbers continue to grow, which alone is astonishing.

Enjoy reading about what a hero/heroine really is? Mr. Frazier brings the story of SuAnne Marie Big Crow to the reader, and when he is finished, you will be emotionally drained. You will be challenged to read the story through to its end. The Author does not discuss this young woman until page 200 of a 279-page book, why? The answer is I don't know, my opinion is, the story was that difficult for him to relate to his readers. The story is powerful enough to have been it's own book, and it some day may be. He introduces the subject as follows "Reader, books are long, and I know that even the faithful reader tires. But I hope a few of you are still with me here. As much as I have wanted to tell anything, I wanted to tell you about SueAnne". The Author need not worry, I would imagine the few who do not complete this book would be small, and if they do cease, they will have denied themselves something very special.

One of the most powerful books I have read.

I admit I came to Ian Frazier's "On the Rez" hoping it would be more like "On the Road," that is, a 300-page story of drunken chaos and ripe descriptions of decadence. But Frazier's respectful historical review of how Indians have shaped our lives and their continued desecration at the hands of a well-meaning but ineffectual government gave me a renewed sense of wonder about these people. Like Frazier did as a child, we all share the belief of Indians as these mystical, spiritual folks saying things like "You are very wise, Little Flower." What Frazier does instead is take us inside the Oglala Sioux reservation--really an internment camp--and shares his journey amongh the families and stories and daily life he encounters there.

Now, one wonders what Frazier was looking for when he set out on this years-long journey. Friendship? Kinship? Closeness with other men? I was confounded by his repeated attempts to ally himself with his Indian friends, particularly Le War Lance (a/k/a Leonard Thomas Walks Out--some Indians really do have cool last names just like we imagined as children). Le provides a narrative focus for the book, and we see him at his drifting, alcoholic worst throughout. He and his brother, Floyd John, spend their days doing things like travelling a hundred miles to find a spare part for their car, then spending the rest of the day tinkering with it and drinking Budweiser. One of the funniest scenes in the book is when Frazier, driving Le and Floyd John to a propane storage facility on some godforsaken errand, almost gets blown to bits when something goes wrong near one of the immense tanks. Le and Floyd John get so joyfully wrapped up in this--chattering endlessly on the long drive home--that Frazier is moved to note that he's never seen them so happy.

Although Frazier is careful to avoid the stereotypes propagated by the media that modern Indian life is bleak, one can't help but feel the bleakness, boredom and sense of hopelessness reservations can inflict on their young. The rez is just a ghetto in the great outdoors, with all the problems facing urban ghettos today--high crime, drug use, alocoholism, unemployment, and the horrific sense of lazy entitlement that comes when generations of people depend on government intervention and provision.

After spending days and countless dollars on the likes of Le and Floyd John--Frazier readily hands the fellas money like a cuddly, human ATM--the book finds its hero. Her name is Sue Ann Big Crow, a high school freshman who's the shining star for the Oglala tribe. She's bright, articulate, funny, a friend to all and a brilliant, daring athlete. In other words, you know she's doomed from the moment you meet her. Frazier takes us through her short, strong life and wonderfully wrenches every emotion from the story of this hopeful girl and her supportive family. Thanks to Frazier, Sue Ann is a hero for the ages. And when we finally re-hookup with Le, the man seems bitter and irrelevant, going so far as to telling Frazier that Sue Ann is a phony. We don't believe a word of this. (In fact, Le's own niece disclaims the story as bull.)

I liked Frazier's style of writing--it's clear, thoughtful, funny when the situation calls for it--and I can say that, beyond learning about Le, Sue Ann, Floyd John and the rest, Frazier excellently shed light on the permeating influence of Indian culture on our society. Frazier even goes so far as to expose himself as a fussbudget, when Le drops by his home for the first and only time, unnanounced, and sets Frazier and his cute kids into a dazed tizzy. Le's drunken, sloppy intrusion into Frazier's neat world is palpable and memorable. Like the book itself.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Native Americans, their culture, history, and present day reservation life in general. He skillfully jumps from journalistic reporting to historical analysis; from personal reflections to objective discussion of present reservation issues; and from inspiring stories of pride and heroism to depressing looks at the plight of present-day Native society. He takes inspiration from the bravery of old and new Sioux heroes, some famous like Crazy Horse, and others who should be more famous like high school basketball star SuAnne Big Crow. Intertwined with this is a frank and gritty description of the death, poverty, alcoholism, despair, and political division which characterizes reservation life today. He uses both obvious and minute details of Pine Ridge Reservation to accurately convey these realities to the reader. I recently visited many of the places Frazier described last summer, but not until reading his book did I get real feel for the significance of what I was looking at. In other words, I looked at places like Wounded Knee, White Clay, NE, and Downtown Pine Ridge as I passed through with mixed emotions. Frazier SAW these same places with similar emotions, but added tremendously to the scope and magnitude of my emotions after I was back home. The mark of a truly great author if you asked me! I fully intend to go back to Pine Ridge with a more balanced, informed, and broader perspective thanks to Mr. Frazier, and I'm sure most other readers will be inspired to go there as well.

I gave the book 4 stars because I liked the fact that Frazier apparently wrote what he
saw without remarking on whether what he saw, was in his opinion, good for the betterment
of the Oglala and the Pine Ridge Reservation.
I grew up very near a Sioux Reservation, but there was total separation between the Native
Americans and the 'town-folk.' I saw them walking along the road as Frazier descibes,
I saw them in town buying "fast-food" and liquor at the first of every month. I saw the abandoned
cars sitting along the highway - left where they quit- sometimes sitting there for many weeks before
they mysteriously disappeared. I saw the little children sitting on the curb on my small town Main Street
waiting for their parents to come out of the bars - (one full block at the end of Main Street was bars -
at least two of these catered mainly to the Native American population.)
I heard on a daily basis the negative remarks made by my community members - (my father
amongst the worst) about the people of the Reservation across the river.
Frazier gave me some insight as to what happens on
a daily basis on the reservation which was so close to me but might has well have been a foreign land.
However, contrary to his belief that life on the Reservations is not bleak, I found the book to show
a very bleak future for a group of people who seems to be waiting for someone or something
to fix their situation. They somehow seemed to see SuAnn as able to pull them up --
and when she died, they memorialized her and went back to waiting for someone or something
else.

Certainly an informative book -- but I read that last page, closed the book and wondered, "Will
the situation at Pine Ridge and other South Dakota Reservations change in my lifetime, and if so,
what will it take to make that change?" Frazier did not set out to answer this question and he doesn't.
Who will?

ON THE REZ will touch your heart with getting to know some of the Oglala Sioux who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. It will also make you angry with the cold, hard facts of what the U.S. Government did to an indigenous people and their lands, and open your eyes to what day-to-day life is really like for some of our Native American brothers. Ian Frazier's smooth writing style belies some of the stories that he relates, but, at the same time, he pulls you into Pine Ridge until you can taste the dust and feel its desolation. But so too can you learn about a proud people, and no amount of hard truth can erase their inherent dignity. A suggestion to all of our Junior and Senior High School teachers: buy Frazier's book, and read the story of SuAnne Big Crow to your students. Show them the likes of a true American hero, one who is their own age. We could, and should, all learn from her. Mitakuye Oyasin.

This book centers in large part on the life and experiences of the author's friend Le War Lance. But I direct your attention to the story of SuAnne Big Crow, whose astonishingly creative act of heroism did better than defeat racism: it dissolved racism without a fight. You need to read this story; it more than justifies the book all by itself.

Chick Big Crow called me a few years back and asked me if I would speak to someone interested in doing a book on SuAnne. I'm constantly apprehensive of how authors portray the reservation, but decided to at least meet Mr. Frazier & visit with him. He came up to my Elementary Library and we began the first of many enjoyable conversations about SuAnne. Ian was so very interested in all of our experiences and stories about SuAnne. Most of the people in South Dakota were aware of her but I am so happy that her story is being revived for others to discover, through this book. One of the local sports writers gave me a 13x20 black & white photograph of her getting ready to make a free throw. I had it mounted & framed in the school colors and it hangs over the door in the library. Each February, I show the SuAnne video to all the classes so that she will not be forgotten by the younger students who were too little to know her. As Char Zimiga has said, "You don't know which of these little ones will be the next SuAnne." I was quite impressed with the research done and learned things about the area that I didn't know. Reading the book brought back all the happy times for a bit. Thank you, Ian, for a job well done.

I find it hard to add anything new to what other reviewers have already posted. I bought the book because I visited Pine Ridge and Wounded Knee in 1974 and was curious what this author would have to say. The more I read the book the more enjoyable it became. Indians are often neglected when the subject of poverty comes up, but Ian Frazier brings it realistically to life in his book On The Rez. Also, we often don't think of Indians when the subject of racism comes up, but the story of SuAnne Big Crow prior to a high school basketball game in Lead, South Dakota, was very inspiring. It's too bad her life was cut short. She had so much to offer this country and she planned on using her talents home at Pine Ridge. This is a book I plan on donating to our high school library so other girls her age can benefit from her experiences. I know SuAnne would appreciate it.