Tommy Orange discussed his latest novel, Wandering Stars, on CBS Saturday Morning.
Orange’s novel, published last month by Knopf, is a follow-up to his celebrated 2018 book, There There, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Wandering Stars takes place in two timelines: one following a survivor of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre who is sent to a boarding school for Native Americans, and one in the 21st century, after the shooting of a Native American man at a powwow in California. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus praised the novel as “a searing study of the consequences of a genocide.”
Orange talked about the 19th-century boarding schools, which were marked by the abuse of Native American students, with CBS correspondent Jeff Glor.
“When I first learned about the boarding schools, I was working in a Native community in Oakland, and it was something I didn’t know,” Orange said. “It was not something that you’re taught in schools; it’s not something that my family ever taught me.”
Glor asked Orange if he was “comfortable being the spokesperson for Native people.”
“Not at all,” Orange replied. “You know, I’m from one tribe.…I have this position of attention, and I get asked questions on a big stage. I don’t feel comfortable assuming that’s what I’m doing.”
Glor mentioned Orange’s childhood hobby of roller hockey, asking him how he went from a young athlete to a celebrated writer.
“I don’t know,” Orange said, smiling and shaking his head. “There were real dreams that died, and I sort of had to rebuild a few different times. I’m happy that I found writing.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
