I think that The Roundhouse is extremely important and topical for what is going on. Louise Erdrich comments on several issues that Indegenous people (indigenous women in particular) through the lens of Geraldine. She was sexually assaulted and it becomes apparent throughout the story that the location of where it happened matters. Apparently this matters because of the jurisdiction of each area. In different areas, there are different rights people have. This completely complicates things. Geraldine had to deal with reliving her trauma attempting to get this situation figured out. Not only is she dealing with the oppression coming from the criminal justice system, she is also facing oppression coming from the fact that she is a woman and indigenous.
This is a real problem that indegenous women face. They are not fully supported by anyone and many of these women become forgotten instead of getting the justice they deserve. There is a current crisis surrounding missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. It is extremely unfortunate that these women become forgotten. Erdrich does a good job at showing that laws are a huge part of the oppressive problem. Many laws and rights are shaped to benefit one part of the population and not others which becomes apparent in this story.
Clearly something needs to change. It is not okay for anyone to be forgotten like this because of reasons like legislation, laws, jurisdiction, etc. These are human lives (like our own) and need to be treated as such. The oppressive system of the justice system needs to change in order to support all people, not solely benefit one type of person.
The states that have legislation and legislated investigations into the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indegenous Women and Girls are Arizona, California, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington.
Goforth-Ward, Meg. “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Legislation.” Urban Indian Health Institute (blog), May 17, 2019. https://www.uihi.org/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-legislation/ “MMIW Crisis,” September 13, 2019. https://www.doi.gov/ocl/mmiw-crisis
