The Night Watchman

Millie and Grace are out shopping, and Millie is running out of patterned clothing. Ultimately, she finds a shirt she feels matches her whirling mind.

Thomas reads the Book of Mormon before going back to study the bill. Watkins is constantly on his mind; he recently refused funding for the Navajo. To Watkins, Mormonism meant that Mormons were owed all land they wanted and that Indigenous peoples were cursed. Ultimately, Thomas thinks about how crazy the book is, comparing it to others he was familiar with such as the Sky Woman and the Nanabozho stories.

All Betty and Norbert do is have sex. One day, as they do it in the car, the door opens and someone asks, “Could I have a minute of your time to tell you about the Lord’s plan for your soul?” (383).

The delegation to Washington consists of Thomas, Juggie, Moses, and Millie (who is particularly worried about saying the wrong thing). She suggests adding Patrice to the crew just in case she is unable to speak and needs someone to speak instead of her. Patrice agrees.

After the tribal council meet to officially affirm who is going, Thomas brings Patrice home. Millie comes too, and Patrice helps her identify some of Zhaanat’s plants. Millie also explains her survey and her background.

Valentine won’t have sex with Barnes unless they are engaged. Feeling sexually frustrated, Barnes has been exercising more, and Valentine calls him “scrawny” (391).

The delegation takes the train to Washington, DC. When they arrive, they are overwhelmed by its size. At the hotel, they split into two rooms, Thomas and Moses in one and Juggie, Patrice, and Millie in the other. When Patrice finally falls asleep, she misses Wood Mountain.

They go to the Capitol Building to scout out where the hearing will be the next day. While they are there, Patrice sees a woman yell “Viva Puerto Rico libre!” and hears gunshots (394). Then, the woman is tackled to the ground and pulled out of the gallery. All visitors are questioned, including Patrice, who is silently thrilled by the woman’s actions. She is also shocked that, for the first time, she’d seen people shot, which she never witnessed on the reservation, “a place considered savage by the rest of the country” (396). She goes back to the hotel.

This chapter begins as though it is the formal congressional record detailing the events of the hearing on House Concurrent Resolution 108.

Once the hearing starts, Senator Young explains how the state can’t take over the federal government’s responsibilities for supporting the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Thomas introduces himself and makes his statement, explaining how the reservation can’t sustain itself without government support and noting that a five-year plan is not enough time for it to become self-sustaining.

Then, Roderick appears and sees Senator Watkins, thinking that he looks like a teacher from the boarding school, one who had asked if Thomas wanted to join Roderick in the cellar.

Watkins says that Indigenous people, in his experience, “just didn’t want to farm” (401). Thomas points out that most farmable land is overseen by members of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa. Thomas also notes that the relocation plan doesn’t solve their problems, and Watkins argues that the government can’t do that, saying, “No government, no matter how benevolent, can put ambition into people. That has to be developed by themselves. You can’t legislate morality, character, or any of those fine virtues into people” (402-03).

Thomas thinks about how he said “no” when asked about joining Roderick, believing he could help him escape by staying above ground.

Watkins asks Thomas about himself, which segues into his work at the jewel bearing plant. Patrice explains how it works. Eventually, Millie comes to the stand and testifies about her study.

During the recess, Thomas thanks Watkins again for his time.

The next day, the group testifies again and then leaves.

Thomas reflects on the testimony, noting how everyone had been asked about how much Indigenous blood they had, which is not something they knew. He thinks that Watkins’ interest in this could be dangerous.

Patrice thinks about Lolita Lebrón, the woman outside the Capitol, whose name she learned in the newspaper. She wonders what she would do to save herself and her family, what she would do if Senator Watkins’s life was in her hands.

Moses misses his wife. During their layover in Minneapolis, they go to a tobacco shop, and, on their way, Thomas has a stroke and thinks of the muskrat struggling to do what he must to hold up his world. He wakes up in the hospital.

Wood Mountain and Zhaanat finish the cradle board, and Vera appears in the doorway. Wood Mountain is a little heartbroken to know that the baby, which he has still been calling Archille, will not need him anymore.