Pulitzer Book Club Inclusion Guide
"Laughing Boy"
by Oliver LaFarge
INCLUSION MILESTONES
1930
• Salvatierra fights in Texas to end segregation of children of Mexican descent
• Supremes end prohibition
• Department of Veteran Affairs founded
AUTHOR INSPIRATIONS
La Farge’s father was NYer who spent time with Native Americans; his grandfather was stained glass artist. Oliver La Farge’s first of three visits to Navajo territory was as an anthropology major on a dig in Arizona ruins. He published articles about his work in anthropology journals and was a contributor to and editor of The Harvard Advocate and the Harvard Lampoon.
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– Share your key take-away about inclusion in this book in a sentence or two.
– Write a paragraph or two (up to 250 words) to describe your thoughts on exclusion/inclusion in the book, why you related or did not connect with the book, and why you think reading, inclusion and dialog about inclusion matter.
– Identify the name and website address of a cause you support with an inclusive mission.
Besotted Navajo silversmith horseman marries tragic-past, double-life beauty.
First whiskey sour served by bride is part of entrapment strategy.
Native American love story told by white cultural anthropologist.
Quick: 302 pages
Forgive – especially someone who experienced trauma and has good intentions.
Child stolen from reservation as part of campaign suppress Native culture
Land stolen from Native Americans
White men with Native American mistresses
Plague of alcoholism affecting Native Americans
Racism: toward Native Americans, toward Native Americans influenced by Americans (culture, values, attitudes, behaviors, clothing, religion), toward Americans (white people)
Tribal religion versus Mormonism
Tribal conflicts
Marriage, polygamy and prostitution
Communing with nature
Age and gender roles and differences
Jewelry and clothing as class signals
Erosion of tradition and erasure of heritage
Introduction of cars and telephones
Options: 1.Backbone of yearling calf boiled with corn, served with loaf of rubbery bread. 2.Roasted ears of corn, broiled goat’s ribs, cornbread. 3.Catch & cook a prairie dog. 4. American: “impressive” canned goods and sweet food, including a stash of candy.
“The track of an evil thought is crooked and has no end; I do not want it around me; I do not keep it going. I have only good thoughts about you.”
Gather round an enormous bonfire, ideally with an entire tree lit upright in the center of the fire. If that’s not warm enough, wrap yourself in a blanket. Get comfy and recline on a sheepskin. After, sing, pray, smoke, gamble.
Should a person to write a novel about people from a different culture? Why/why not?
Describe impact of government assimilation via boarding schools and forced adoptions.
How, when, and why did the Indigenous lose their American homelands?
How do the people in the novel connect with each other through the land?
Discuss tribal and American/Indigenous conflicts and vengeance.
How did singing, dance, weaving, silversmithing, and animals and connect people? What other traditions and taboos bound and guided The People?
What American (white people) badness occurred? Talk about what went on in the trading post.
What were age and gender roles/stereotypes? What forms did poverty and wealth take?
Describe challenges and advantages of a partner from another culture and/or with a traumatic past.
Talk about the prostitution, polygamy, funeral/remembrance traditions.
Discuss the impact of medicine, alcohol, magic, alone time, time with partner, group gatherings, and overnights on the road with strangers.
Get a camping, hiking, or backcountry permit from Navajo Parks and Recreation Department or delegated tribal authority and visit The Navajo Nation. Ideally, go to a place like Antelope Canyon with a guide who can share legends and identify rock formations as you hike or ride. Rent a Navajo hogan or stay in a campsite or Navajo Nation hotel, such as the one in Monument Valley Tribal Park.
If that trip is not feasible, go to the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian) in DC or NYC and/or take an online class in silversmithing and/or weaving on a loom.
Laughing Boy (1929).
La Farge’s debut novel Laughing Boy was followed Sparks Fly Upward (1931), The Enemy Gods (1937), Long Pennant (1933, The Copper Pot (1942); short story collections All the Young Men (1935) and A Pause in the Desert (1957); and non-fiction including Introduction to American Indian Art (1931), A Pictorial History Of the American Indian (1956), Raw Material (1945 autobiography) and Santa Fe: The Autobiography of a Southwestern Town (1959).