I've never read Jack Keroac who wrote On The Road, but the cover of Frazier's book is of a gravel road going away from you into the Pine Ridge reservation horizon. It is appropriate for Frazier is constantly moving in this book. A personal account of a white man's journey into Native Americana, On the Rez gives his impressions of the poor people and how they live and their turbulent history garnered through interviews with ancestors of famous Lakota leaders, research at their library and people he meets while checking the reservation out.

The book wanders around, but one thing is a constant throughout. He has an on again-off again relationship with an aging Pine Ridge resident, Le War Lance, that hinges on whether Frazier is able to give him money or pay for more Budweiser. He can get stinking drunk frequently and it is surprising he hasn't been run down on the road as many Lakotans are. Once Le calls him at his home and asks to come over, but Frazier feels ashamed of his rudeness when Le comes over drunk. He really does care for the guy and so did I.

Frazier has a line on page 162 that made me laugh out loud in delight. All of his description is so detailed and unique that it's a joy to read, but this one line really got to me, which comes during an entire chapter devoted to driving through a blizzard and crashing with his seat belt as Lakotans do not do: The white pickup stopped by the side of the road and its driver, an onion-headed man in a brown corduroy baseball cap, was standing in the snow looking at me with an expression an alien might meet on someone watching him climb from his spaceship.

I must mention that Frazier is a "wannabe" Indian from the beginning and he is impressed with their naturalness, having no airs or need to impress you. He observes that they drink too much Budweiser, don't keep many commitments, lie and steal, but he also sees good people trying to make a difference, like an accidentally killed high school basketball star who led their Lady Thorpes to the championship and ended a lot of racism/intolerance by doing the shawl dance before a game when the hosting team's audience was jeering them wildly for their race. It was a magical moment. Frazier goes into detail for a few chapters on her, her mother and her legacy which is that of a much-needed hero.

In conclusion I recommend this to anyone who wants to know a white person's impressions of everything from a pow wow/rodeo to why Indian bars have disappeared everywhere. It was fascinating to me for the most part, except Frazier could get hung up on the history of some dead reservation residents and I already knew about the American Indian Movement and Wounded Knee. To those of you unfamiliar with Native American history, it will probably be more interesting. For me it was his thorough description and passion for the subject that made me love the book.



Recommended: Yes