Previous
Red Paint
A Pikuni warrior and member of the Many Chiefs band. A violent outcast, Owl Child is rejected by many in his own band and by the Pikunis as a whole. He forms a gang of fellow isolated outcasts, including Fast Horse, and vows to “make the Napikwans cry” for invading their lands and way of life. When Owl Child is caught stealing horses from Malcolm Clark, an important rancher among the Napikwans, Clark slaps Owl Child in front of his gang, humiliating him. Owl Child exacts revenge and kills Malcolm Clark, and act for which the United States government intends to make Owl Child’s chief, Mountain Chief, pay. Owl Child’s killing of the Napikwans—and his repeated stealing of their horses—worsens the already strained relationship between the Pikunis and the United States government. While Owl Child claims that he doesn’t intend any harm to come to the Pikunis, his actions lead directly to the massacre at Heavy Runner’s camp by the blue-coat seizers. Owl Child becomes ill during the white-scabs outbreak and presumably dies of the virus.
Owl Child Quotes in Fools Crow
The Fools Crow quotes below are all either spoken by Owl Child or refer to Owl Child. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
Yellow Kidney watched the young men as they chopped down some small spear-leaf trees. These are good human beings, he thought, not like Owl Child and his bunch. His face grew dark as he thought this. He had been hearing around the Pikunis that Owl Child and his gang had been causing trouble with the Napikwans, driving away horses and cattle, and had recently killed a party of woodcutters near Many Houses fort. It would be only a matter of time before the Napikwans sent their seizers to make war on the Pikunis. The people would suffer greatly.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7
Quotes
Three Bears turned to Fast Horse. “We do not want trouble with the whites. Now that the great war in that place where Sun Chief rises is over, the blue-coat seizers come out to our country. Their chiefs have warned us more than once that if we make life tough for their people, they will ride against us.” He pointed his pipe in the direction of Owl Child. “If these foolish young men continue their raiding and killing of the Napikwans, we will all suffer. The seizers will kill us, and the Pikuni people will be as the shadows on the land. This must not happen.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18
Quotes
The thought came into [Fools Crow’s] mind without warning, the sudden understanding of what Fast Horse found so attractive in running with Owl Child. It was this freedom from responsibility, from accountability to the group, that was so alluring. As long as one thought himself as part of the group, he would be responsible to and for that group. If one cut ties, he had the freedom to roam, to think only of himself and not worry about the consequences of his actions. So it was for Owl Child and Fast Horse to roam. And so it was for the Pikunis to suffer.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Fools Crow LitChart as a printable PDF.
Owl Child Quotes in Fools Crow
The Fools Crow quotes below are all either spoken by Owl Child or refer to Owl Child. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 3
Quotes
Yellow Kidney watched the young men as they chopped down some small spear-leaf trees. These are good human beings, he thought, not like Owl Child and his bunch. His face grew dark as he thought this. He had been hearing around the Pikunis that Owl Child and his gang had been causing trouble with the Napikwans, driving away horses and cattle, and had recently killed a party of woodcutters near Many Houses fort. It would be only a matter of time before the Napikwans sent their seizers to make war on the Pikunis. The people would suffer greatly.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7
Quotes
Three Bears turned to Fast Horse. “We do not want trouble with the whites. Now that the great war in that place where Sun Chief rises is over, the blue-coat seizers come out to our country. Their chiefs have warned us more than once that if we make life tough for their people, they will ride against us.” He pointed his pipe in the direction of Owl Child. “If these foolish young men continue their raiding and killing of the Napikwans, we will all suffer. The seizers will kill us, and the Pikuni people will be as the shadows on the land. This must not happen.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18
Quotes
The thought came into [Fools Crow’s] mind without warning, the sudden understanding of what Fast Horse found so attractive in running with Owl Child. It was this freedom from responsibility, from accountability to the group, that was so alluring. As long as one thought himself as part of the group, he would be responsible to and for that group. If one cut ties, he had the freedom to roam, to think only of himself and not worry about the consequences of his actions. So it was for Owl Child and Fast Horse to roam. And so it was for the Pikunis to suffer.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
