Part 3 (Blue, Thomas Frank) Summary

Raised as “Crystal” by white parents in the Oakland suburbs, Blue learned on her 18th birthday that she is the daughter of Jacquie Red Feather, a Cheyenne woman. After moving to Oklahoma to work with the Cheyenne tribe, Blue marries her boss, Paul, a Native medicine man who leads traditional peyote ceremonies. After Paul becomes physically abusive, Blue takes a job in Oakland as an events coordinator for the upcoming powwow. Paul tries to intercept Blue as she flees, but Blue’s coworker Geraldine and an older woman help Blue make it safely to her Oakland-bound bus.

Thomas Frank, a half-white and half-Native man from Oakland, has a passion for drumming. After having received an invitation to drum at the powwow, he eagerly heads toward the Oakland Coliseum.

Part 3 (Blue, Thomas Frank) Analysis

Throughout the novel, various characters are described as being “medicine men” or “medicine women.” This term from traditional Native culture denotes a person gifted with healing powers. In this part of the text, the idea of the medicine person as healer is connected to the problem of violence against women in the Native community. Blue’s husband is a medicine man but also beats her. Instead of romanticizing traditional Native ways, Orange unflinchingly depicts Natives as full of contradictions and often deeply flawed. Blue’s journeys—to Oklahoma to try to reclaim her Indian heritage and then to Oakland to flee Paul’s violence—also contribute to the theme that modern Indians are constantly on the move.

Thomas Frank provides the novel’s only example of second-person narration. The character not only addresses himself but speaks directly to a contemporary Native readership. In choosing this narrative style for Thomas’ section, Orange elevates Thomas—who is half-Native and half-white, addicted to alcohol, and a deeply spiritual, underemployed and talented artist—to represent the modern Urban Indian.