These are outlines of the answers given in class.  If the group offered specific page numbers as examples, those pages are noted in each answer.

1.  Discuss the ending of the novel and Lulu’s return.  Is the final image positive, negative, or somewhere in-between?  Does the tone of this final image influence the rest of the novel—so that, for example, if you see the ending as negative, does that mean the overall message of the book is negative? Entire group

The last line of the novel, which compares Margaret, Nanapush, and Lulu to creaking oaks (226) suggests a link to the trees around Fleur's cabin, which might mean that even though the small family group is still standing at the end of the novel, they may soon fall, just like the trees.  This would mean that the novel's conclusion is negative.  But at the same time, Lulu has been reunited with her family, which is a positive image.

The negative aspect of the conclusion is that these three are all that is left of the Fleur-Eli-Margaret-Nanapush-Nector-Lulu group, and even these three aren't completely okay because Nanapush doesn't fully trust Margaret after her betrayal.   But Lulu is happy to be there--she is "up on her toes" to see them (226).

Being at the government school has damaged Lulu--her hair has been cut, she's been punished for trying to run away--which is why she has lost her sense of history and tradition, symbolized by the shoes that Nanapush teases her about--her pointy-toed shoes with heels like tiny knives.

Lulu is a sign of hope; she is the new generation who might be able to resist the power of the Anglo government.  The ending of the novel thus suggests that we must be careful not to repeat the past.

The novel's ambiguous ending is connected to the overall gradual downward spiral that begins with Nanapush's description of seeing the last buffalo shot, and so on.
 

2.  What enables members of the Ojibwa to resist the dominant culture, in this novel?  Does resistance to the dominant culture seem possible at all?  Explain your answer in detail.  Dave Paganetti and Henry Placencia

The family structure enables resistance but ultimately they only delay resistance; they cannot completely resist the Anglo culture, which is too powerful.  The Anglo culture turns individual family and tribe members against one another, thus weakening the group.  The resistance is temporary--similar to the image of the trees falling around Fleur's cabin: at first everything seems fine, and then slowly one tree falls, then another and then another.

Examples:
The family working together to pay taxes on the land (176)
Eli's new clothes when he works for the lumber company (221), which shows that he has assimilated
Nanapush feeling hopeless (175)
 

3.  Explain the idea that “the personal is political” as it applies to the novel as a whole, using specific examples. Rich Emond and Frank Greco

The political problems facing the tribe--the loss of the land, the lumber company deal, etc--create such pressures on individuals that the external pressures become internal pressures.  Political problems become personal problems, which connects to the idea that powerlessness leads to violence: when an individual feels powerless for too long, she or he will explode and do something violent or destructive.

Examples:
Nanapush gets involved with tribal politics to save Lulu
The "ugly design of bruises..." (113)
Eli's involvement with the lumber company
Father Damien asking Nanapush to become a leader (185)
 

4.  What does Tracks tell us about American culture?  Keep in mind that the novel was written in 1988, although it is set much earlier.  How does the novel reflect both the problem and promise of U.S. culture? Lesley Spinelli and Kevin Redmond

The Anglos erased the tracks of the Chippewa and forced the Native Americans to become "Anglocized."  The Native Americans were tricked by the government into doing things that were not their traditional ways... The promises of American culture--defined in the Constitution--did not apply to the Chippewa; they had no way to protest what was happening to them.
 

5.  Explain the significance of the novel’s title.  Why might the author have used such an ambiguous title?  Amy Estro and Ben Spooner

Each character has his or her own tracks that tell a separate story: Pauline's mismatched shoes, Eli's moccasins and then his work boots, Lulu's pointy shoes, Fleur's moccasins.  The tracks are part of the overall narrative that tells the story about how the tracks of the Native cultures are slowly being erased--or are in danger of being erased.  Lulu's shoes in particular show that she is in danger of losing her sense of self, which is why Nanapush is telling her all these stories.