Chapter 22 Summary: The Great Gambler’s Warning
This summary contains spoilers for Chapter 22 of Badlands. Read on to learn about Corrie and Benally’s interview with a Navajo medicine man and the ancient legend that may hold clues to the murders.
Summary
Corrie rides with Detective Sergeant Benally in his Navajo Nation squad truck as they bounce across rough reservation roads toward the home of Jack Bia. Benally explains that Bia is a young man studying to be a hataałii (medicine man) and learning the Enemy Way ceremony, a multi-night ritual that uses chants, sand paintings, and a battle reenactment to restore harmony for soldiers scarred by war—what Western medicine calls PTSD. When Corrie asks if the ceremony works, she immediately regrets the insensitive question, her old trauma over Horace Driver flaring.
At Bia’s home, the young man serves coffee and welcomes them. He hasn’t visited his grazing allotment near Betonnie Wash in over a decade. He mentions that rockhounds and oil-company workers sometimes wander the area. Corrie presses about the black rock formation where the victim was found. Bia’s demeanor shifts. Reluctantly, he recites the Navajo creation story of the Noqoìlpi, the Great Gambler, a powerful medicine man who enslaved the ancient Anasazi until the gods cast him out. Bia’s grandmother taught that black spires like the one on his land are “witch’s fingers”—remnants of the Gambler’s lingering evil. He will say no more.
Key Events
- Benally describes the Enemy Way ceremony and its purpose in treating war-related trauma.
- Corrie makes a thoughtless remark and briefly wrestles with her own painful history.
- Jack Bia reveals he hasn’t set foot on his allotment for ten years and receives no money from the oil leases; the land is Navajo Trust Land, and royalties go to the Nation, state, and federal government.
- Bia confirms the victim, Mandy Driver, was an archaeologist for the fracking company Geo but never contacted him.
- Corrie connects the death site to a similar black formation where the first body was found, prompting Bia to share the Great Gambler legend.
- Bia labels the formation a “witch’s finger” and cuts off any further discussion about it.
Character Development
Corrie Swanson
Still haunted by memories of Horace Driver, Corrie struggles to keep her foot out of her mouth. Her immediate apology after questioning the Enemy Way’s efficacy shows growth in self-awareness, but the lapse reveals how easily stress and old wounds erode her filter. She respects Benally and Bia enough to backtrack gracefully.
Detective Sergeant Benally
Benally proves himself a patient cultural ambassador. He defends the Enemy Way without condescension, explaining the ceremony in terms Corrie can grasp while firmly asserting its validity. His calm handling of Corrie’s blunder and his quiet encouragement of Bia to speak demonstrate trust built across cultural lines.
Jack Bia
Bia is energetic and hospitable, but the legend of the Great Gambler visibly weights him. He distinguishes between the mistranslation of Anasazi and its true meaning, then delivers the story with the gravity of one who believes it literally. His refusal to go near the witch’s finger signals genuine fear, not just respect for tradition.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Cultural Healing vs. Western Medicine
Benally equates the Enemy Way to a cure for PTSD, challenging Corrie’s reflexive doubt. The chapter frames Navajo ceremony not as folklore but as a parallel medical system that addresses spiritual wounds.
Land as Scripture
Bia describes the Diné Bikéyah as an Old Testament told through landforms. The black spire is a physical verse in a sacred narrative—a marker of ancestral warning that modern industry (fracking) and violence (the murders) are trespassing upon.
The Misuse of Power
The Great Gambler’s story is explicitly a caution against arrogance. He enslaved his people with corrupted ceremonies, and the ruins of Chaco Canyon stand as a monument to that fall. The witch’s finger left behind suggests that the evil he embodied hasn’t vanished.
The Checkerboard and Economic Injustice
The legal patchwork of land ownership means a Navajo allotment holder like Bia sees no profit from the oil extracted under his feet, while the fracking company and multiple governments collect royalties. This quiet detail underscores a system stacked against the people whose sacred land is being disturbed.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 22 pivots the investigation from a forensic puzzle to a spiritual one. Jack Bia’s story gives a name and a mythic weight to the black rocks that keep drawing victims. It moves the possible motive beyond greed or madness into the realm of an ancient, lingering curse. The chapter also deepens the reader’s understanding of the Navajo world, showing that the Enemy Way and the Great Gambler legend are not decorative backdrops but living forces that shape how the characters interpret death and evil. Corrie’s stumble reminds us she is still healing, and Benally’s bridge-building shows that solving the case may depend on trusting—not just analyzing—the Navajo worldview.
Study Questions and Answers
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How does Jack Bia’s version of the “Anasazi” story differ from the non-Navajo archaeological narrative, and why is that distinction important in the novel?
Bia clarifies that Anasazi means “stranger” or “outsider,” not “ancient enemy.” The distinction matters because it reframes the ancestral Puebloans not as hostile foes but as predecessors whose fate holds a warning. The novel uses this corrected translation to suggest that modern outsiders—like the oil workers and the killer—are repeating the Gambler’s pattern of exploitation. -
Why does Bia refuse to speak further about the witch’s finger, and what does his silence imply about the danger?
Bia’s refusal signals a taboo that crosses from folklore into real fear. In Navajo belief, speaking of evil can invite it in. His silence implies that the formation is not a mere landmark but an active, malevolent presence. For the investigation, it means whatever is happening at the black spires may not be fully explainable by physical evidence alone. -
How does the chapter use Corrie’s personal history to highlight the theme of trauma and healing?
Corrie’s flash of memory about Horace Driver, triggered by her own insensitive question, parallels the soldiers’ PTSD that the Enemy Way addresses. It shows that trauma is universal, but healing systems differ. Corrie’s embarrassment underscores the gap between her outsider skepticism and the insider knowledge Benally and Bia hold—a gap she must bridge to progress.