Chapter 7: Landscapes of Memory and Erasure
Spoiler Notice
This analysis covers events in Chapter 7. It reveals character backstory and thematic elements essential to understanding the chapter. Proceed only if you are reading the book concurrently.
Summary
Chapter 7 opens with a Tohono O’odham telling of the youngest of four sons who, taking his turn to watch the earth, brings spring—green leaves, birdsong, gentle weather, and the cooling presence of Rain Man, Cloud Man, and Wind Man. The story links the season Shonkam to the youngest brother’s gentle nature.
The narrative shifts to Dan Pardee leaving Tucson in his aging Tahoe, driving toward Cochise County on MIP business. As the interstate unspools through desert once belonging to free-ranging Apaches, Dan reflects on the irony of a landscape that bears no trace of Cochise, Geronimo, or the Chiricahua Apaches now housed on the San Carlos reservation. He likewise notes his own disconnection: raised by his grandparents in an English-speaking household, he knows the Tohono O’odham names for ocotillo, mesquite, buzzard, and jackrabbit from his years working with the Desert People, yet he regrets knowing no Apache words. Memories of his mother’s brutal death at his father’s hands resurface as he nears the Mule Mountain Pass. Entering Bisbee through the tunnel and past enormous copper tailings, Dan finally approaches the Cochise County Justice Center to begin his investigation.
Key Events
- Dan Pardee refuels his personal Tahoe, weighing the practical advantages of an older vehicle for reservation work.
- He drives from Tucson toward Cochise County, mentally mapping erased Apache history onto the visible landscape.
- Dan reflects on his acceptance among the Tohono O’odham—from being called Ohb (enemy) to Nawoj Ohb (Friendly Apache)—largely due to his marriage to Lani, a doctor and traditional medicine woman.
- He recalls the tragic details of his mother Rebecca’s murder by his father Adam Pardee and a true-crime book that provided him a single glamorous photo of her.
- Dan names passing wildlife and plants in Tohono O’odham, acutely feeling the loss of Apache language.
- He arrives in Bisbee, navigating the tunnel, open-pit mine, and tailings mesa before reaching the Cochise County Justice Center.
Character Development
Dan Pardee’s internal landscape dominates the chapter. His mixed Anglo-Apache heritage surfaces as a wound: he does not fully belong to either world. Raised without Apache language or stories, he has instead absorbed Tohono O’odham culture through his wife Lani and her community. The chapter deepens his guilt over not having ancestral stories to pass to his own children. His choice to drive a battered SUV is not merely frugal but strategic—an attempt to render himself less conspicuous on reservations, revealing his awareness of the distrust Indigenous communities hold toward outsiders. The memory of his mother’s murder and the absent father who committed it reinforces Dan’s rootlessness.
Lani Walker Pardee is developed off-page through Dan’s reflections. Her dual role as chief medical officer and traditional medicine woman anchors Dan’s acceptance on the TO reservation. The chain of knowledge transmission—Dancing Quail, Understanding Woman, Looks at Nothing, Fat Crack Ortiz—underscores cultural continuity.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Cultural Erasure and Landscape: The chapter explicitly notes that Cochise County bears no visible traces of the Apache leader it was named after. Dan describes this as an erasure mirrored in his own life—an Apache identity nearly alien to him.
Language as Belonging: Dan catalogs the Tohono O’odham names for birds, plants, and seasons. Each word represents a connection he has made, while the absence of Apache vocabulary marks a corresponding loss. The opening myth itself is told in TO, with embedded translations, symbolizing the living language Dan has learned.
Inheritance and Storytelling: From the Winter Telling Tales Lani shares with their children to the line of medicine women who passed down sacred knowledge, the chapter contrasts vibrant oral tradition with Dan’s own narrative poverty. He has no Apache stories, only a true-crime book about his father.
Violence and Memory: Dan’s childhood trauma—cowering under a bed while his mother was shot—is recalled with controlled pain. The chapter treats memory as landscape: what is visible and what has been bulldozed away.
Spring and Renewal: The opening myth of Shonkam introduces a seasonal frame of gentle renewal, subtly contrasting with Dan’s harsh personal history and the desolate mining terrain he drives through.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 7 functions as a reflective pause that deepens the protagonist before the investigation gains momentum. By placing Dan physically on the road and mentally in the past, Jance layers personal identity onto the procedural framework. The chapter establishes that solving MIP cases for Dan is not merely a job—it is bound up with his own unresolved sense of belonging among Indigenous communities. The arrival at the Justice Center marks a threshold: Dan, who carries both Apache blood and outsider status, must now navigate official systems in a county that erases the very history he embodies.
Study Questions and Answers
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How does the opening Tohono O’odham myth about the seasons relate to Dan Pardee’s journey in this chapter? The myth describes the youngest son bringing gentle, life-giving conditions. Dan, as a figure caught between cultures, seeks his own form of renewal—driving through a landscape where his ancestors’ presence has been erased, hoping to do meaningful work that connects him to Indigenous communities. The spring story contrasts with the harsh mining-scarred terrain and Dan’s violent family history.
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Why does Dan know Tohono O’odham words but no Apache vocabulary, and what does this signify? Dan was raised by his Anglo and assimilated Apache grandparents in an English-speaking household with no Apache cultural instruction. He later learned Tohono O’odham through immersion while working with the Desert People. This signifies cultural discontinuity and the historical pressures that stripped Apache language from his family line, leaving him to find belonging in a different tribal nation.
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What does Dan’s choice of vehicle reveal about his approach to his work? Dan deliberately keeps an older, ragtag Tahoe because a battered SUV draws less attention on reservations than a new, official-looking car. This choice shows his strategic awareness of how he is perceived by the communities he serves and his desire to minimize barriers of distrust rooted in historical tensions between Indigenous people and law enforcement.