Not First in Nobody's Heart: The Life Story of a Contemporary Chippewa

Paquin presents through his own life an unvarnished account of the bleak existence of many Native Americans today. An extremely deprived childhood, in which his family often had only potatoes to eat, made him more aware of his poverty than of his Indianness. He was beaten at home and turned to petty thievery. A teenage alcoholic, he was in and out of reform school, prison and mental hospitals, winding up on skid row, one of the working poor of economically depressed Michigan. Radicalized in his 30s, Paquin became an advocate of Native fishing rights. Only this, and the love of his wife (whom he eventually lost to a massive coronary) helped turn him around. The book is told in plain, earthy, at times only semi-literate English. It reflects no longing for the ``good ole days'' or for traditional ways. As Doherty ( Disputed Waters ) points out in his afterword, because he did not consider himself Indian when growing up, his account is atypical of much Native American autobiography. This makes it all the more indispensable for anyone interested in real Indians and not stereotypes. (July)