Patrice eventually realizes that Vera was likely locked up there.

At one, she finds a dog chained up and near death. She also goes to a couple of addresses she’d been given for Vera. Coerced by the owner, Patrice takes the job. When Patrice arrives in Minneapolis, she is kidnapped and taken to Log Jam 26, a Paul Bunyan-themed bar that has a nightly “waterjack” show in which a woman dressed as Bunyan’s companion Babe (a blue ox) swims in a large tank. Aboard the train on the way to Minneapolis to search for Vera, Patrice runs into Wood Mountain, and their friendship begins to grow. He is also the coach for Wood Mountain, who has a fight with Joe “Wobble” Wobleszynski. Haunted by the memory of boarding school and his friend Roderick’s death, he sets to work to stop the bill.īarnes is Pokey’s math teacher and boxing coach. Watkins from Utah and that Watkins is a Mormon.

Thomas learns that the bill is sponsored by Senator Arthur V. This means ending the financial support that the government provides, which has been crucial in helping the community. In the early chapters of the novel, Thomas learns about House Concurrent Resolution 108, which seeks to “emancipate” the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa from the federal government. Patrice’s father, Pogo, is a person with alcoholism Pokey is her younger brother Zhaanat is her mother, who is seen as the keeper of knowledge for their community and Vera is her sister, who has disappeared after moving to the Twin Cities. She is the main income provider for her family. Patrice “Pixie” Paranteau also works for the plant she assembles jewel bearings. Roderick died of tuberculosis after a brutal punishment in the boarding school. At work, he periodically sees the ghost of Roderick, his former classmate at Fort Totten, a boarding school. Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman for the Turtle Mountain Jewel Bearing Plant and the tribal chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa (he is also based on Erdrich’s real grandfather). This study guide uses the 2020 edition of the book published by HarperCollins.

The night watchman louise erdrich