What is the depiction of familial relationships in Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich?

In the novel, Love Medicine, by
Louise Erdrich, the depiction of familial relationships seem to mirror everything about
the lives of the two families in the story, the Kashpaws and the Lamartines. The
struggles these families face in a "white man's world" are similar to the frustrations
they bring upon each other simply by trying to survive in their often times harsh
environment.

There is no question that the ties within
these families are very strong. These people love their "kin" without ceasing—much the
way they are with those they fall in love with: caring passionately, even if these
husbands or lovers are the worst thing that could happen to them. Within the family,
regardless of how it is defined, devotion and loyalty for each other, even when paired
with anger or disappointment, are cherished.

The
connections with regard to family is seen in how the characters define themselves in
terms of "who" they have come from. At the front of Erdrich's novel (printed in 2009)
there is a family tree. The "legend" helps distinguish how these many family members are
related, and is defined in terms of relationships (marriage or affairs) and
children. There is a distinction between children of biological
birth and adoption, but these are not necessarily in place to show the separation
between the "kinds" of children as much as to illustrate the how far the
arms of the family spread through the
children.

Some of these family relationships are functional
and some are not. Lulu describes her relationship with her
boys:

Some did
me grief, though I was proud of
them.

Her pain and pride go
hand-in-hand. Gerry was "in and out of prison," but was able to speak to their people,
moving their hearts and spirits. Tragically, Henry, Jr., went off to war, but came back
so changed and broken, and he eventually took his own life, though his brother Lyman
tried to lie to make Lulu believe it was an accident. Lyman wanted to protect his
mother, but in losing his brother, he was never the
same.

"Family ties" is one of the novel's major
themes.

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...very strong ties exist among all the
characters—the ties to their common families and
heritage.

The ties that bind
in this novel are those of family, which transcend poverty, abandonment, loss, and
tragedy. While historically much has been done to subjugate the Native American and
dismantle his cultural heritage, this book demonstrates that love is often the
"strongest medicine" of all.