Wandering Stars
By Tommy Orange
Published 2024
Read Feb 2025
Tommy Orange’s new book is presented in 4 parts: Prologue; Part One: Before; Part Two: Aftermath; Part Three: Futures.
The Prologue provides some historical perspective to the book that follows, first commenting on the Sand Creek massacre and then discussing two parts of history involving Richard Henry Pratt, a Brigadier-General in the US Army. Pratt supervised Native American prisoners of war held at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Fl. He later founded the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. He is known for using the phrase “kill the Indian, save the man” in reference to the ethos of the school and efforts to forcibly assimilate Native Americans into white American culture (1).
Part One: Before is the prequel to There, There. It is historical fiction that covers three generations of the Star/Bear Shield/Red Feather family that precedes characters in the remaining sections of the book. This section is great historical fiction, as defined by this reader, as it sets characters in the time and place of real events—Sand Creek massacre, Fort Marion, and the Carlisle Indian School. The stories of Jude Star, Victor Bear Shield, and Charles star directly interact with Richard Henry Pratt and give a picture of what Native Americans endured under the US Government’s active program to distinguish Native Americanism and replace it with Christian American beliefs and conduct. Charles’ daughter, Victoria, is raised by white foster parents and denied her history until her foster mother’s death. She has two daughters by different men who are the grandmother (Jacquie) and great-aunt/guardian (Opal) of Orvil who went to the Powwow in There, There. Her story is the connection to There, There’s sequel that follows in Part Two: Aftermath.
Part One: Before covers a very long period of time—from the Sand Creek massacre in 1864 to 2018 in only about one hundred pages so the reader gets only small but potent glimpses of the family’s history through a variety of voices. This reader left the section somewhat exhausted and very sad at what these family members endure through the various approaches to erase anything of their history and culture.
Part Two: Aftermath is a sequel to There, There. While some reviewers indicate the book stands on its own, which in many ways it does, this reader would advise reading There, There first to have a better understanding of the characters in this section and the events that transpire before and during the Powwow.
This section slows down dramatically compared with Part One: Before. In about one hundred pages we live with Orvil as he tries to recover from the gunshot wound that he suffered at the Powwow he attended in an attempt to connect with his Native American culture through dancing. He descends into drug addiction as he moves from the pain killers, prescribed to help him with the pain of his wound and surgery, to a drug mixture concocted by Sean’s dad. Sean is the adopted son of white parents. His mother previously died of a debilitating disease. Sean’s dad, a pharmacist, had tried to mitigate her pain and heal her through a variety of drug mixtures. He has since left his job and makes a living (of sorts) selling these drugs with the help of Sean, and eventually Orvil. Sean learns that his background includes Native American DNA in addition to the African DNA that his appearance has already made clear. This provides him even more confusion about who he is than he had prior to learning this.
This section also spends time with Orvil’s brothers Loother and Lony, their great aunt/guardian Opal, and their grandmother Jacquie. We watch as they all try to find their way through the aftermath of the Powwow, Opal’s (presumed) cancer diagnosis and treatment, and Jacquie’s reconnection to her family as she tries to stay sober. Their paths are wide and varied but it’s clear they are trying to forge connections with each other but are living solitary and lonely lives.
This section was also brutal to read for this reader as it’s occurring in essentially present day. Lives like these are not outliers Parts One and Two both include situations of adoption of non-white children by white parents. The difficulties commonly faced by adopted children of a longing to know their “real” parents and family are compounded by orders of magnitude when they are clearly “non-white” and trying to exist in “white” society with little or no acknowledgement that this is trauma inducing. Although Orvil and his brothers live with their great-aunt/guardian who is related by blood, they are struggling to understand how they fit into white society. There, There discussed that Opal discouraged them from trying to be “Native American” and we now understand part of the source of that. Opal had no connection to her Native American culture save knowledge that her mother was Native American but raised “white”.
Part Three: Futures consists of two chapters. The first chapter is narrated by Orvil and tells of his rehab and life since then. He survived! We also learn that Sean survives also. The second chapter is a letter from Lony, who had run away near the end of Part Two: Aftermath. While this reader was glad that the lives of all these characters took a turn for the better even if not fully wonderful, this reader also wondered if this was really part of Orange’s plan for the novel. Did his editors or publisher “kindly suggest” he end the book with some light in their lives? This reader has done research to learn the answer to that question, partly because maybe that’s a question best left unanswered.
Ultimately, this reader recommends reading this book (after reading There, There) and discussing it with others. It has a huge amount to say to all our society about many topics. It’s quite pertinent in this time as the US struggles with its response to the thousands of people who are trying to become Americans and who aren’t “white”.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Henry_Pratt; accessed Feb 28, 2025
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