Shadow of a Nation - my reaction

Having spent time on reservations doing missions work, this story really spoke to me because it verbalizes so much of what I was thinking.  Many Native Americans who live on the reservation are living in a vicious cycle, a generational curse that is almost impossible to escape.  It is so hard because when someone does try to escape, they are not only looked upon with jaded eyes in the "white man's" world, but because they are almost shunned by their own people as being native on the outside and white on the inside.  Imagine that kind of alienation from ALL parts of the world?  It is so unfair.  And so the curse just continues.  Even I do a double take if I see a Native American in the "white" world who is dressed up or is a professional.  It is so unexpected.  And that is very sad.
I love the way he wrote this story.  It was very sad, but so encouraging in the end.  It shows you how this family comes together, and with the support of almost nobody but eachother, they are able to begin overcoming the cycle of failure that is always threatening to pull them in if dad takes just one drink.  It's like climbing the highest mountain, whereas the typical middle-class white person has just a hill to climb.
I also liked the style of the writer.  He really brought to light so many of the issues using really creative language, poetry, and real-life situations.  I was hooked through the whole thing...I didn't even skip through it reading just the first and last sentence of the paragraph, which I am very guilty of doing from time to time.