James Welch, The Indian Lawyer

Louise Barnett (Rutgers University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.6: Indigenous Writing and Culture of North America - United States.
Vol. editors: Joshua Bartlett (High Point University), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Sarah Henzi (Simon Fraser University), Padraig Kirwan (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1990

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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The Indian Lawyer

is James Welch’s fourth and penultimate novel. This time, rather than writing about the Blackfeet territory of northern Montana where his previous three novels take place, Welch immerses a Blackfeet Indian in the mainstream professional world of Helena, the state capital. Sylvester Yellow Calf is a former high school basketball star who has left behind the usual reservation poverty and dysfunctionality by getting an education and becoming a valued member of a prestigious law firm. At the novel’s beginning he has a white establishment girlfriend, Shelley Hatton, and an enthusiastic mentor in the elderly lawyer, Buster Harrington. He is poised to be named partner and to run for Congress.

This picture of success will soon be challenged from an unexpected quarter.

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934 words

Citation: Barnett, Louise. "The Indian Lawyer". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 February 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24943, accessed 21 November 2024.]

James Welch, The Indian Lawyer

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