The land, the mother, and the crisis of identity in Louise Erdrich's tracks

Abstract EN

The research discusses the relationship between the loss of the native land of the native Americans and the loss of the values of motherhood represented by the character of Fleur, the heroine of Tracks .The loss of her rich land of timber and other valuable herbs which is considered as a source of personal pride as well as a source of food as a result of the unjust laws of the government of the United States, forces Fleur to abandon her only child believing that her loss of home\land is a loss of all the other values especially ,motherhood which is connected with the land.

The fracture which happens in the relationship of mother\child results in a cultural alienation especially on the part of the child who begins to scorn and hate her mother and refuses to call her “mother”.

A lot of native children become like this child because they have lost the natural connections with their mothers which results in a great change in the real, traditional meaning of “motherhood”, as a result this generation have lost part of its cultural and social heritage and begun to live in a state of alienation or no belonging.