Roofwalker (Milkweed National Fiction Prize)

Description

In Roofwalker, Native American writer Susan Power explores the complexities of contemporary Native American life. Featuring both fiction and nonfiction -- "stories" and "histories" -- the book shows the ways that native traditions and beliefs work for characters who live physically and spiritually far from the reservation. The first seven pieces are "stories," such as the title tale in which a young girl believes in the power of the "roofwalker" spirit to make her dreams come true; or "Beaded Souls," in which Maxine Bullhead, living in Chicago, is cursed by the sin of her great-grandfather, an Indian policeman sent to arrest Sitting Bull. The last five pieces are "histories" that repeat subjects and themes found in the earlier section, making Roofwalker a book in which spirits and the living commingle and Sioux culture and modern life collide with disarming power, humor, and joy.