Part 4 (Thomas Frank, Loother and Lony, Daniel Gonzales, Blue, Dene Oxendene, Orvil Red Feather, Calvin Johnson, Thomas Frank, Bill Davis, Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, Jacquie Red Feather, Blue, Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, Tony Loneman) Summary

Noticing a few “thuggish-looking guys” near the safe, Blue is irritated at her own unease.

Then shots are fired. Dene is saved from being hit by the post of his storytelling booth. Orvil is shot trying to run away and struggles to stay alive.

Calvin sees Tony walk away from the safe. Octavio takes the gift cards from the safe and opens fire on Charles. Carlos fires at Octavio and then drops. Daniel’s drone hits Calvin’s head. Calvin dies in a spray of gunfire as Charles shoots at Tony. Thomas, confused, is shot and dies. Bill is shot and dies while speaking to Karen on the phone.

Jacquie bravely walks into the massacre to find Orvil. She finds him lying on the ground, barely alive, and carries him out. Opal arrives in her car and drives away with Jacquie, Orvil, Harvey, Lony and Loother.

Edwin, shot in the stomach, loses consciousness while Blue drives him to the hospital. They arrive at the same moment as Opal, Harvey, Jacquie and the three boys. Sitting in the waiting room with Jacquie and Harvey, Blue thinks Harvey is her father but says nothing. Opal is praying fervently for Orvil when the doctor comes out to speak.

An injured Tony uses his last bit of strength to run and tackle Charles, shooting him in the head and killing him. Lying on the grass, Tony suddenly sees himself as a four-year-old boy again, speaking with his grandmother and playing with his Transformers toys. He is then back on the field, dying, with a “bird for every hole in him. Singing… Keeping him from going.”

Part 4 (Thomas Frank, Loother and Lony, Daniel Gonzales, Blue, Dene Oxendene, Orvil Red Feather, Calvin Johnson, Thomas Frank, Bill Davis, Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, Jacquie Red Feather, Blue, Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, Tony Loneman) Analysis

Several characters intimately narrate their experiences as their lives slip away. Readers see the characters as dignified, individual subjects. The narrative is a sharp contrast to the stereotyped, objectifying accounts of Native lives written by non-Natives since their first contact centuries ago.

These highly individual deaths occur in the packed space of a massacre. Characters who have been on the move throughout their lives now come to rest together on the same grassy field. History has taken yet another violent turn in the massacre at the Oakland Powwow.

Telling their stories in the storytelling booth cannot save or heal any of the doomed characters. Yet the material of the booth does save Dene. Orange’s symbolic use of the booth juxtaposes the emotional value of reclaiming identity through story with the chilling reality of physical violence.