James Welch, Fools Crow Chapter Summaries

20. Fools Crow continues his search for Fast Horse. He finds an abandoned ranch where he senses Napikwan ghosts all around him. Meanwhile, Yellow Kidney decides he is useless and will leave the Lone Eaters and try to connect with the Spotted Horse People. When Fools Crow finally catches up to Fast Horse, Owl Child, and the others, he tries to talk Fast Horse into returning to the tribe so that Boss Ribs can teach him the Beaver Medicine. Fast Horse refuses. As Fools Crow begins his return journey home he decides that it would be better to tell Boss Ribs that he simply could not find his son. 21. After leaving the Lone Eaters, Yellow Kidney arrives at the secluded war lodge where he stays for two days, waiting out a blizzard. In contemplating his circumstances he suddenly feels better about himself. He has managed to teach himself to shoot and build a fire without his fingers. He decides he will steal some horses and return to his family, and he lays down to get some sleep. Nearby a rancher and his son are making their way through the blizzard when the older man notices smoke coming from the lodge. He had learned of the recent killings of whites in the vicinity and decides he had better investigate and prepare himself to kill an Indian should he find one. Peeking into the lodge he spies Yellow Kidney asleep and shoots him. 22. Red Paint feels bad that she didn’t tell her father, Yellow Kidney, that she was expecting. She thinks her father would have stayed in the camp. Joe Kipp, a half breed scout, arrives at the Lone Eaters’ camp and delivers a message that the Seizer chiefs desire to meet with all Pikuni chiefs concerning the recent deaths of whites in the area, no doubt at the hands of Owl Child. Rides-at-the-door and Three Bears are suspicious. Could this be a trap? They decide to wait and hear what both the most militant and most docile elders, Mountain Chief and Heavy Runner, have to say about the Seizers’ proposal. Rides-at-thedoor fears either way that the future does not look like bright for their grandchildren. Either they will be wiped out or they will become Napikwans. Three Bears vows that they will not become like the white-horns that the white people herd from place to place. 23. One Spot, the young son of Yellow Kidney and Heavy Shield Woman and sister of Red Paint, is bitten by a rabid wolf. He becomes quite ill, with fevers and hallucinations. With Mik-Api the medicine man away visiting another band, Fools Crow takes it upon himself to try to heal the ailing boy, wrapping him in a fresh buffalo skin, burning medicinal grasses, and chanting songs throughout the night. 29. Red Paint awakens to discover Fools Crow preparing to leave. He has had a dream. Nitsokan, the dream maker, has commanded him to make a journey and he feels compelled to obey. After three days and nights of constant traveling without food, Fools Crow comes upon a canyon he’s never seen before. He worries that he might be ambushed by Napikwans at any moment, but when he reaches a small cabin he is greeted by a mysterious but friendly woman. After he rests, he eats and explores outside. His old friend the Wolverine shows him a secret way to a lush, warm valley where he bathes in a stream and sees the mysterious woman again. The whole experience feels like a dream. 30. A day-rider from the Lone Eaters spots a travois (a sledlike platform dragged by a horse). On it, he finds the body of Yellow Kidney, left there by a remorseful, bitter Fast Horse who watches from a distance. Fast Horse now accepts the blame for the disastrous raid that led to Yellow Kidney’s capture and amputations. He wishes he could somehow ask for forgiveness and rejoin his people but he realizes he has caused them too much suffering. He turns away and heads north to Canada where he hopes he can start anew. 31. Fools Crow continues his enchanted stay in his dreamlike world. A short conversation with the mysterious woman does little to explain why he is there. Could this all be a trick of Nitsokan and the Wolverine? Has he simply come there to die? Later he hears the woman singing a song about Poia and Morning Star as she digs turnips. 33. Fools Crow finally figures out the mysterious figure is Feather Woman, wife of Morning Star and mother of Star Boy (Poia). She was sent to this mystical nether world to mourn for eternity. Her in-laws were Sun Chief and Night Red Light (Sun and Moon). According to the legend, she disobeyed her motherin-law and dug the sacred turnip. She was banished, returned to her people, and brought misery to her tribe. It was no wonder, she says, that they did not mourn her passing. Feather Woman paints a canvas before disappearing. As Fools Crow looks over the canvas the designs slowly come to life. The pictures tell a tragic story for the Pikunis. Their lives are filled with disease and poverty. Death is everywhere. The animals are gone, and Napikwans ride in long columns to hunt down the Lone Eaters. He sees Pikuni children dressed like Napikwans, unhappy and without their parents. He realizes that he has been brought to this strange lodge to see the tragic future of his people.