Epilogue: Restitution that Doubles the Loss

Louise Erdrich’s book LaRose (2016) tells the story of two families belonging to an Ojibwe tribe in North Dakota, whose lives are shattered by the accidental shooting of a child, Dusty, by the neighbour, Landreaux Iron, while hunting for deer.1 The profound rift that the child’s killing causes in the families’ coexistence and in the local Ojibwe community at large can be repaired only through a compensatory ritual, whereby Landreaux’s family performs an act of restitution to their neighbours by ‘replacing’ the killed child with their own son, LaRose. Adopted by Dusty’s parents, Peter and Nola, LaRose becomes a substitutive presence in Ravich’s family, filling the void caused by the killing; he stands in the place of another child, and, assuming a new name, personal objects and identity, ...