Fools Crow (James Welch)

Fools Crow sees the world as an always-harmonious whole. "Harmonious" in this sense does not mean the same as "happy" or "serene." "Integrated" might be the better synonym to describe Fools Crow's worldview. "Integrated," however, is a word that this analyst is reluctant to use: it is a word that bespeaks a technological orientation that is incompatible with the Native American conception of things as author Welch seeks to portray it. In the passage chosen here, from page 160 of the novel, virtually every sentence is harmoniously "integrated" into the Blackfoot way of thinking.

They had been in the mountains for eighteen sleeps, and now the moon was approaching the time of the first frost on the plains.

Time is considered in the most concrete of terms here: "eighteen sleeps" and "first frost." This spells out a very specific orientation. There is nothing abstract about Fools Crow's relationship with

. . .
example of the Blackfoot proclivity to combine the common sense with the mystical; it is also illustrative of the way the environment - and the Native American relationship to it - permeates every aspect of their lives. This is a world in which the glories and power of nature are accepted as everyday reality. It is never pitch-dark, for example, because this world is so clean that - even before the moon rises - there is the illumination of a starry night. Fools Crow's sacrifice to Cold Maker and his daughters is constantly aware of the specifics of their environment. It is not enough just to build a fire, it is started with "sweet grass." When Cold Maker shoots an icy wind on their backs to let them know that he has claimed their offerings, they are riding near a mountain named most specifically the "Backbone." Naming is the Blackfoot way of defining an existence, of coming to terms with it. Elsewhere in the novel, people and places are given names that have specific references. The passage here is no exception to that orientation. "Fast Horse," "Red Paint," "Fools Crow," "Eagle Ribs" and "Cold Maker" - these are not abstracts like "John," "Mary" and "Joseph." (Although, it should be remembered, that in pre-modern days
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cold Maker, Native American, Fools Crow, Red Paint, James Welch, Eagle Ribs, Mary Joseph, Winter Land, Western Europe, Medicine Line, cold maker, fools crow, winter land, eagle ribs, fools crow's, native american, fools crow eagle, maker soon, crow eagle, red paint, sweet grass, cold maker soon, crow eagle ribs, shivering birdskins winter, birdskins winter land,
Approximate Word count = 1564
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)