Wandering Stars: A Novel

The prologue to the novel situates the narrative within the historical setting, as well as the historical rhetoric, which sought to justify such brutality, abuse, and displacement of Indigenous people, highlighting the theme of The Impact of History, Generational Trauma, and Violence on Identity. Orange explicitly includes language that, for example, compares Indigenous children to nits to build a sense of white-settler perspectives that resulted in the Sand Creek Massacre. History can be misleading or outright false, as the Sand Creek Massacre is sometimes referred to as a battle, and the violence of the boarding schools in the US is frequently ignored, dismissed, or erased. Further, Orange explores the concept of forced assimilation through characters like Jude and his son, Charles, who are given no choice but to accept truths and beliefs that aren't their own, stripping them of their rights to identity. The prologue also shares the reality that many Indigenous children continue to face in the US: They bear the burden of violence in the form of erasure, which Lony reiterates in the final chapter of the novel.

Orange closes the prologue with two epitaphs, one a Cheyenne proverb, and the other a quote from Theodore Roosevelt, their juxtaposition representing the many conflicting narratives throughout Wandering Stars that are created by erasure and the violence inflicted by white men. The Cheyenne proverb, which reads “Beware of the man who does not talk and the dog who does not bark” (xii), warns of trusting things that do not behave as they appear, as their true feelings, motivations, and selves are unknown. The Sand Creek Massacre, for example, occurred when the people who were camped along the banks of Sand Creek were promised land that they never received. The quote from Roosevelt reads, “The so-called Chivington or Sand Creek Massacre, in spite of certain most objectionable details, was on the whole as righteous and beneficial a deed as ever took place on the frontier” (xii). Roosevelt's praise of the slaughter of hundreds of people, most of whom were women, children, and the elderly, reveals the ignorance and violence of a history that continues to shape the present, as represented by the characters in the novel. This sharp juxtaposition also demonstrates differences in rhetorical style, as the Cheyenne proverb uses metaphor to warn of things in disguise; its concise style also emphasizes a history that is often oral, which contrasts with Roosevelt’s lengthy statement, which includes several clauses and descriptors. The Cheyenne proverb is simple and precise, whereas Roosevelt’s embellishments suggest that, within the context of the text, the more complex the language, the more is hidden within it.

As Jude is forced by Pratt to assimilate, he holds within him both death and hope, feelings each character faces throughout the course of the narrative. For example, when Jude performs for white people while he is in Florida, he realizes that the white people don’t care what the performers are doing, just that they are doing it, with Jude “pretending to know something [he] didn't” (17). While Jude is forced to perform in a spectacle of what appears as an Indigenous performance, his realization of this truth both protects and injures him: Knowing what is expected of him allows him to satisfy this exterior desire and remain safe, but it also represses his true identity and connections to his heritage, serving as the antithesis of Art and Its Transformative Power. Rather than transform, in these moments, he merely performs the act of art. He feels this, too, when he's forced to pick a name that is more “civilized,” forcing his performance of assimilation. However, Jude also finds hope in reading, including the Bible, which he comes to love. Books, Jude says, were themselves “[t]heir own lives, separate from the bodies and minds that created them” (23). This inspires Jude to write his own book, which finds its way to his descendants and represents the reclamation of the theme of Art and Its Transformative Power, as well as the power of storytelling. Jude's life events alter his understanding of himself and his surroundings, changing his hopes for the future. This exploration of Jude's identity is the beginning of the broader theme of The Impact of History, Generational Trauma, and Violence on Identity throughout Wandering Stars.

Wandering Stars further examines Art and its Transformative Power through Jude and the intersection of substance use disorder and creativity, as Jude finds relief and healing through stories. Jude's struggle with substance use disorder is also passed on to those in his family tree, but like many who will come after him, the act of storytelling holds the power to save him from losing himself entirely. Jude struggles with substance use disorder, accidentally coming upon alcohol in part because he feels it helps him find his voice as a person who is non-verbal. This demonstrates the powerlessness within substance use disorder, and by framing it as an accident, the lack of choice is emphasized. However, once Jude has a family and begins telling stories about his life to his son, he leaves alcohol behind. Jude says:

I'd been telling my son, Charles, stories about my life, all that had happened to me before I became his father […] I felt good talking to my son and eating the bread I made, there in our kitchen, on our land, in our home. I had a family now and the drinking was behind me (34-35).

Though writing does not explicitly pull Jude from the depths of substance use disorder, this scene reveals the power of both family and stories to transform the people who own, tell, and listen to them. It also demonstrates the power of Land, Place, and Belonging, as Jude emphasizes that it is their kitchen, land, and home, offering a powerful reclamation of place. Because Jude believes that stories can “bring you back better made” (35), so too do his descendants begin to understand this power in the same way.

At the end of this section, however, Jude is forced to flee the area because the Tribal Police agents, for whom he works, place him in the difficult position of arresting those who practice Indigenous American rituals. As he leaves, he reflects that he will never be able to return, but he feels he is protecting Bear Shield and his family. This violent severance from home after reflections on its restorative power speaks to the cycle of displacement experienced by Jude and his descendants.