61 pages • 2 hours read
James WelchA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
White Man’s Dog returns from his journey and tells Three Bears and the rest of the Lone Eaters that the other bands approve of Heavy Shield Woman’s vow to serve as the Sacred Vow Woman at the summer ceremony. Three Bears tells Heavy Shield Woman, “Only the strongest of our women have made such a vow, because one needs great strength to prepare for and carry out her duties […] Do you accept the role of the Sacred Vow Woman?” (104).
Heavy Shield Woman replies that her promise has already brought her husband back and that she is “strong and glad in [her] heart to be the Sacred Vow Woman” (105). Soon after, Mik-api tells White Man’s Dog that Yellow Kidney fears that no one will marry Red Paint because of his own misfortunes. White Man’s Dog eagerly asks Mik-api if he will speak to Yellow Kidney about him marrying Red Paint, but Mik-api tells him that he must first tell his parents of his intentions. When he tells his parents, Double Strike Woman tries to persuade him that marrying Little Bird Woman would be a more advantageous alliance, but Rides-at-the-door declares that White Man’s Dog has the right to choose the wife he wants. Four days later, the families exchange gifts to celebrate the marriage, and Red Paint moves into the “the small tipi beside the big lodge of Rides-at-the-door” (109).
In summer, the Pikuni bands all journey to Four Persons Butte, where Sacred Vow Woman and her helpers will build a lodge for the Sun Chief. At the camp, the Sacred Vow Woman’s lodge is erected, and Heavy Shield Woman begins her fast. On the fifth day of her fast, the warrior and scout Low Horn is sent to choose a tree to be chopped down by the warriors. The helpers dress Heavy Shield Woman in the sacred garments contained within the bundle. During the ceremony, a man named Ambush Chief serves as the ceremonial master and tells the story of the origins of the Sun ceremony while the helpers build an altar near the lodge door. Ambush Chief then prays to Sun Chief to grant them “abundance in summer and health in winter” (114).
As it gets dark, the men erect “the center pole of the Medicine Lodge” with the wood from the tree that was cut down earlier in the day (115). Heavy Shield Woman is escorted back inside and allowed to break her fast. For the next four days, the Pikuni dance, sing, play games, and tell stories of their exploits from years past. Near the end of the ceremony, White Man’s Dog gets up early to participate in the traditional torture dance. After covering his body in paint, Mik-api and two other elders pierce his breasts with bear claws and attach rawhide lines from skewers in his chest to the top of the Medicine Pole. They take him outside, where he prays to Sun Chief to thank him for the successful raid, his safety, and his new wife. He asks forgiveness for desiring his father’s wife, Kills-close-to-the-lake, and asks for “strength and courage to endure his torture” (118). He then begins to dance as blood drips from the wounds in his chest. Eventually, the skewers pull free from his chest, and he faints. Mik-api shows the bloody skewers to the people and declares, “Here is the offering of White Man’s Dog […] Now he is for certain a man, and Sun Chief will light his way” (119).
That night, White Man’s Dog sleeps alone outside the camp and dreams of a river where he sees the wolverine that he once rescued. The wolverine gives him a white stone and tells him that as long as he carries the stone with him into battle and sings a song honoring the wolverine he will “never want for power” (120). After leaving the wolverine, White Man’s Dog sees a young woman dressed in white furs. She takes off her clothes and dives into the water. He is filled with desire for her, and when he gets close to her, he realizes that it is Kills-close-to-the-lake. She tells him that they are free to desire each other here in “the place of dreams” (121). When White Man’s Dog wakes up, he tells Red Paint, “You are my woman, Red Paint, and I will always be your man” (122). He realizes he still has the white stone from the wolverine.
After the Sun Ceremony, Mountain Chief addresses all the Pikunis before the bands go their separate ways. During the chief’s address, Owl Child and Fast Horse, along with some other men, appear on horseback. Mountain Chief says that although he scorns the Napikwans, he will meet with them to make a new treaty. Owl Child and his followers ride away in anger. As the Lone Eaters prepare to leave, White Man’s Dog sees Kills-close-to-the-lake and notices that she has sacrificed a finger. When he asks her if she made a vow, she replies that she had a dream in which he was watching her bathe in the river. When she turned to look at him, he was gone. Instead, “an animal with long claws and sharp teeth” appeared; the animal raped her and bit off a finger as punishment for her wickedness in desiring her stepson. The finger turned into a white stone, which she carried to White Man’s Dog and placed inside his robe while he was sleeping. After she leaves, White Man’s Dog realizes that “Wolverine had cleansed both him and Kills-close-to-the-lake” (127).
Red Paint sits outside her lodge thinking about how White Man’s Dog will soon “ride with the war party against the Crows” (131). She has just realized that she is expecting a child. Soon, young warriors from Crow Foot’s band arrive at the Lone Eaters’ camp to join the party against the Crows. Before setting off for the Crow camps, the Pikunis sing celebration songs in preparation for the battle. That night, Red Paint asks White Man’s Dog if he is afraid of going to war as they are preparing to sleep. White Man’s Dog replies that he is not afraid of death but fears what will happen to her, the infant she is carrying, and the rest of her family if he is killed. Red Paint asks that if they have a son he is named Sleep-Bringer; when she first thought of having a son, she saw a butterfly that brought her dreams “of a proud young man” who looked like White Man’s Dog (139).
The head war chief of the Pikunis, Fox Eyes, leads the attack on the Crows. Before setting off, he explains, “Our brother, Yellow Kidney of the Lone Eaters, is not among us, for the Crows have mutilated him and shamed us all. In his place, White Man’s Dog, son of the war chief and leader Rides-at-the-door, will count the first honor against our enemy” (141). After four days, an eclipse occurs, which the men interpret as a bad omen. However, they decide that they have come too far to turn back and resolve to continue with the raid.
The Pikuni warriors attack Bull Shield’s village the next day at dawn. As the warrior riding in Yellow Kidney’s place, White Man’s Dog is given the honor of attacking the enemy first. During the battle, White Man’s Dog is shot and falls to the ground. As he falls, he sees Fox Eyes die attempting to kill Bull Shield. From the ground, White Man’s Dog manages to grab his gun and shoot Bull Shield in the chest, killing the great Crow chief. His father, who witnesses the killing, tells him to take Bull Shield’s hair so they will have the scalp as a trophy. As he rides away holding Bull Shield’s scalp, White Man’s Dog vomits.
These chapters mark a clear turning point in White Man’s Dog’s transformation into a hero. Chapter 10 shows White Man’s Dog marrying Red Paint and participating in the torture dance at the Sun Ceremony. After his torture, he has a dream in which he once again rescues Wolverine; this time, Wolverine speaks to him and gives him a stone and a song that will bring him success in battle. White Man’s Dog is soon given a chance to test out the power promised to him by his animal-helper when he goes into battle against the Crows and kills Bull Shield. This victory as a warrior is a key moment for White Man’s Dog’s development into a prominent member of the Lone Eaters band.
In his dream after the torture dance, White Man’s Dog is also able to have sex with Kills-close-to-the-lake without guilt, and thus free himself from his desire for her. He later learns that she has also dreamed about him. In her dream, Wolverine bites off her finger as punishment for her desire for her husband’s son. White Man’s Dog sees his dream as cleansing them both of their lust for one another. He can now focus on his love for Red Paint and their new life together. Soon after their marriage, moreover, Red Paint learns she is pregnant, another sign of White Man’s Dog’s entry into manhood.
Chapter 10 also introduces a traditional Blackfeet legend that is highly significant for the Pikuni people and becomes thematically important to Welch’s novel. Ambush Chief explains the ceremony’s origins by telling the story of Poia (Scarface) and So-at-sa-ki (Feather Woman). According to the legend, Feather Woman was married to Morning Star, the sun of Sun Chief and Night Red Light. One day, while digging turnips, she dug up the sacred turnip and created a hole in the sky; through the hole, she saw her family and her people and became homesick.
Since Feather Woman had been warned not to touch the sacred turnip, her husband and his parents became angry and sent her and her infant son, Star Boy, back to earth. Back on earth, Feather Woman died of a broken heart because Morning Star would not take her back. As Star Boy grew up, he developed a scar on his face and became known as Poia, Scar Face: “His friends taunted him […] and the girls shunned him” (114). Poia eventually went to a many-faces man for help who gave him directions to Sun Chief’s home. Sun Chief was angry at Poia for entering his home, but Night Red Light interceded on his behalf, and he was eventually accepted into their home.
After Poia saved Morning Star’s life by defending him from seven large birds that were attacking him, Sun Chief repaid Poia by removing the scar. He sent him back to his people and told him to have the Pikunis “honor him every summer and he would restore their sick to health and cause the growing things and those that fed upon them to grow abundantly” (114). After instructing his people in a manner deemed correct, Poia returned to the sky with a bride and is turned into a star by Sun Chief.
For the Pikunis, Poia represents a prophetic figure who is both one of them and part of the spirit world. Significantly, he shares some key similarities with White Man’s Dog. Like Poia, White Man’s Dog begins as an outcast in his community and is taunted by his friends and shunned by girls. As he begins to learn about healing from Mik-api and prove himself as a warrior, White Man’s Dog gradually begins to step into the role of a hero.