What are the motifs in The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich?

Confronting fear is a recurring idea in this book. Throughout the narrative, characters confront their fears, tell stories of how they confronted their fears, and are portrayed as transcending their fears to great benefit and reward. Again, the primary example is Omakayas, who transcends her fear of the bears and comes to greater understanding of her place in and relationship with nature.