Motorcycles and Sweetgrass

Why does Lillian not want Maggie to be chief of the Otter Lake First Nation Band? What does Lillian mean when she says that “there should be more magic in this world” (180)?

Consider the concept of transformation in the novel. Why do its characters resist change? Why do incomprehensible phenomena like Nanabush inspire anxiety?

How does the novel compare and contrast Nanabush and Jesus? How do the novel’s versions of these figures see themselves and each other?

The demigod Nanabush is limited: He is not omniscient, and he has regrets and makes mistakes. Does this make him a flawed deity? Why or why not?

Nanabush functions best when filled with purpose. What is his purpose in the novel and how does he achieve it? Does he succeed or fail?

Research trickster figures in other religious traditions, such as Anansi in West African folklore, Loki in Norse mythology, the scheming Satan in Biblical Judaism (particularly in the Book of Job), the North American Indigenous Coyote, and Hermes in ancient Greek mythology. How do these deities compare with the novel’s Nanabush? Why does Christianity not include a trickster figure?

Is Nanabush’s bone-stealing scheme to preserve the band’s new 300 acres from development morally wrong? Why or why not?

The novel features several isolated and disconnected characters: Sammy, Wayne, and Virgil. Consider the role generational trauma plays in their lives and how the cycle is or is not disrupted.