Growing Up in Minnesota by Various authors
"Growing Up in Minnesota" is a compilation of autobiographical stories from various authors that share their childhood experiences in the state. This collection includes diverse voices, such as Meridel Le Sueur, Harrison E. Salisbury, Keith Gunderson, and Robert Bly, offering a rich tapestry of regional narratives. Notably, Native American author Gerald Vizenor contributes a poignant piece that delves into his mixed-blood Ojibwa-Chippewa heritage. Vizenor's story begins with the traumatic murder of his father and recounts his struggles with bullying, familial abuse, and societal challenges, all while highlighting the complexities of power dynamics between the strong and the weak.
In his narrative, Vizenor introduces the character of Erdupps MacChurbbs, a trickster figure that symbolizes resilience and creativity in the face of adversity. This woodland sprite serves as a metaphor for navigating the harsh realities of life, encouraging a balance between humor and survival. The collection as a whole reflects on the interplay of memory, identity, and the influence of environment, inviting readers to consider the various ways individuals cope with the challenges of growing up in Minnesota. Through these personal stories, the authors provide insights into the cultural and historical context of the region, making it an engaging read for those interested in autobiographical literature and the shared human experience.
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Growing Up in Minnesota by Various authors
Edited by Chester G. Anderson
First published: 1976
The Work
Growing Up in Minnesota: Ten Writers Remember Their Childhoods is a collection of regional autobiographical stories, including contributions by Meridel Le Sueur, Harrison E. Salisbury, Keith Gunderson, Robert Bly, and others. Native American author Gerald Vizenor’s story, “I Know What You Mean, Erdupps MacChurbbs: Autobiographical Myths and Metaphors,” roughly outlines this prominent writer’s life, beginning with his father’s brutal murder, at age twenty-six, in a downtown Minneapolis alley in 1936. Vizenor is a mixed-blood Ojibwa-Chippewa.
Vizenor’s story progresses through a series of vignettes that describe how powerful people take advantage of the weak. As a boy, he tangles with Mean Nettles, the local bully, gets caught shoplifting, is the victim of a demeaning practical joke, visits a house of prostitution for the first time, and goes squirrel hunting. After his mother leaves his stepfather, Vizenor is beaten by the abusive man. Vizenor leaves home and only returns after careful negotiations that establish him as his stepfather’s equal.
The title character of the story, Erdupps MacChurbbs, is a little woodland person the young Vizenor conjures in his imagination. Vizenor imagines this person in order to escape the violence of powerful people who are dominated by one vision of the world. Erdupps appears at key moments in Vizenor’s life. A trickster from Native American lore, Erdupps uses humor and stories to balance good and evil energies and reinvent the world. At a militant American Indian Movement protest, Erdupps encourages Vizenor to act more like a trickster: “You have given too much thought in your life to the violence of terminal believers! Show more humor and give yourself more time for the little people and compassionate trickery.” Terminal believers are victimizers who dominate others and believe in their own natural superiority.
Through the various pieces of Vizenor’s autobiography, the ironic spirit of the woodland sprite floats between words and dreams in its mission to subvert the logic of terminal believers. For Vizenor, who accepts Erdupps’ advice to act like a trickster, tricksters signal an end to the domination of terminal creeds, which cannot endure humor and play. The trickster imagination becomes a means of survival and control. Vizenor’s trickster autobiography is a way to evade victimization.
Bibliography
Coltelli, Laura, ed. Winged Words: American Indian Writers Speak. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990.
McCaffery, Larry, and Tom Marshall. “Head Water: An Interview with Gerald Vizenor.” Chicago Review 39, nos. 3-4 (Summer-Fall, 1993): 50-54.
Ruoff, A. LaVonne Brown. “Gerald Vizenor: Compassionate Trickster.” Studies in American Indian Literature 9 (1986): 52-63.
Vizenor, Gerald, ed. Narrative Chance: Postmodern Discourses on Native American Indian Literatures. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.