The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions

coyote, an ant, but who in any case counsels the seeker in certain
crucial situations that have bearing on the seeker’s “path.” Until
he has a vision the youth is not an adult, that is, a ritually
acknowledged member of his community. He has no adult name,
a circumstance that marks him as a “child” who cannot take on
his adult responsibilities in the community.
I n Winter in the Blood, the Blackfeet protagonist, in
accordance with the dictates of the vision quest, is seeking his
adult identity. Until he finds it he will be required to live in his
mother’s house, work for her, and in general take the part of a
child. In his mid-thirties, he is not a youth but neither is he yet an
adult.
He brings a Cree woman home to his mother’s house, saying
she is his wife, but she leaves when he is out on a drinking
spree, taking his gun and razor with her. His grandmother is
distressed by the Cree woman’s presence because the Cree are
the traditional enemy of the Blackfeet. The nameless protagonist
spends the rest of the story driving between his mother’s home
and nearby Havre, Montana, trying to locate the woman and get
his gun and razor back. During his wanderings he meets a
mysterious white man who talks about good fishing in the river,
which has been bereft of fish for some time. He joins forces with
the white man, a trickster figure who offers him a new car and
who exhibits uncanny skill at gambling. He also engages in a
number of sexual escapades. He does find his “wife,” but her
brother beats him, preventing him from finding out where his gun
and razor are as well as from connecting with the Cree woman
again.
In the course of the novel the protagonist follows the vision
quest ritual: he is mutilated and he seeks an older man who can
serve as his guide. He wanders the “surrealistic” streets of
Havre, encountering a number of strange beings; he is connected
to animal guides throughout the story—a spinster cow, a horse