MPR’s Greta Cunningham interviews Minnesota author Louise Erdrich about her book “The Painted Drum.” The story is of a New Hampshire woman, an Ojibwe Indian and a Native American drum.

The first part of The Painted Drum" is told through the character of Faye Travers. She and her mother operate an estate sale business in New Hampshire. Faye is cleaning out an old man's closet when she stumbles upon a painted drum--a sacred object for Native Americans. Erdrich says Faye considers herself perfectly assimilated into ‘white culture.’ But when she hears the quiet beatings of the drum it awakens her desire to reconnect with her heritage.