Although “The Shawl” focuses ostensibly on one Anishinaabeg family, Erdrich grounds her story firmly within the shared lived experiences of many Anishinaabeg communities during the 20th century. Through her depictions of the character of Aanakwad and her descendants, Erdrich’s story speaks to broader issues of generational trauma and healing within Indigenous American communities, the role of oral traditions such as storytelling, the recovery of lost culture, and the migration from rural areas and reservations into towns and cities. “The Shawl” thus bridges the gap between individual and group and paints a portrait of Anishinaabeg life in transition.

Perhaps the most overt theme in “The Shawl” is The Impact of Generational Trauma on Indigenous American communities. The story’s inciting incident, Aanakwad’s act of familial abandonment and the death of her daughter in a wolf attack, impacts not only her husband and remaining child, but each successive generation of her family. Her husband initially believes that Aanakwad sacrificed her own daughter so that she and her infant child might live, and that knowledge becomes too difficult for him to bear. Due to the emotional weight of their family trauma, the men in “The Shawl” develop alcohol addictions and violent behavioral patterns that in turn affect their children.