“Deadly conversions”: Louise Erdrich’s indictment of Catholicism inTracks,Love Medicine, andThe Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

Abstract

This article presents a refutation of Catherine Rainwater’s seminal essay on spirituality in Louise Erdrich, contending that while Rainwater is correct to argue that Ojibwe and Catholic spirituality are presented as “conflicting codes” in Erdrich, she is wrong to argue that Erdrich does not “endorse one theological view over the other.” I will argue that Erdrich does in fact endorse Ojibwe spirituality over Catholicism. By contrasting Pauline Puyat’s conversion to Catholicism first with Marie Lazarre’s rejection of Catholicism and then with Father Damien’s conversion to Ojibwe beliefs, this essay demonstrates that while Erdrich sees Native Americans’ conversion to Christianity as “deadly,” she represents the conversion of a Catholic priest to Native American spirituality as beneficial.