Rez life, by David Treuer

Novelist David Treuer, son of a German father and Native American mother, grew up on the Ojibwe reservation of Leech Lake, the eastern border of which is a mere couple of miles from the cabin in northern Minnesota that we have visited all my life. The book mixes history with contemporary stories of his own family and acquaintances on “the Rez.” Much of this history, particularly of how reservations developed and the treaties that were made and often broken, was unfamiliar to me, which is pretty sad considering how much of my summer life has been spent in the area. Although the book is quite well-written, the mix of rather dry history with livelier personal reminiscences makes for a rather odd reading experience. 368 pp.