Eight department members gathered on Mon., May 13th for the fifth Pathology EDI Committee book club meeting in Duke South conference room 3114. The group gathered to discuss Pulitzer Prize-winning historical fiction novel, “The Night Watchman,” by Louise Erdrich. The story was inspired by letters written in the mid-20th century by her grandfather, Patrick Bourneau. He led fellow members of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians to resist the Indian termination policies of the 1940s-1960s, meant to assimilate Ojibwe people, whose homeland covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, into broader American society.
“I was eager to know more about the Native American community and this book was a great first step,” said Avani Pendse, MD, PhD, who co-hosted the meeting with Wen-Chi Foo, MD. “It addresses a hard-hitting topic of the centuries-long struggle of native tribes for existence on their own land. By doing so, it also highlights the sense of community, pride, and the respect for nature held by the people of the Turtle Mountain Reservation and Native Americans in general.”