Chapter 2: Prologue – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The prologue opens with the Sand Creek Massacre, where Colonel Chivington described Indian children as “nits” to justify killing them, and references a similar massacre at Washita River four years later. The author notes that the United States has been at war with Native peoples for over three hundred years. After the buffalo population was decimated, the assimilation slogan “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” emerged. In 1875, seventy-one Indian men and one woman were taken as prisoners of war to Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida. Their jailer, Richard Henry Pratt, ordered their hair cut and gave them military uniforms. Pratt provided ledger books for drawing, which a Southern Cheyenne man named Howling Wolf used to create bird’s-eye-view narratives, a perspective new to his traditional hide drawings. White visitors bought these drawings as curios. Pratt later used his experience at Fort Marion as a blueprint for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, which opened in 1879. Parents were coerced into sending their children; some Hopi resisters were imprisoned on Alcatraz. At Carlisle, children had their hair cut, received new names and uniforms, performed military drills, and were punished for speaking Native languages. Many died from disease or starvation. The chapter concludes by tracing the evolution of terminology from “Indian” to “Native American” and notes that the dropout rate for Native students remains twice the national average today.

Key Events

The Sand Creek Massacre and the Washita River Massacre are invoked as examples of genocidal violence.
The near-extermination of buffalo is presented as a deliberate strategy to force Native peoples onto reservations.
Seventy-one Indian men and one woman are taken as prisoners of war and transported by train to Fort Marion in 1875.
Richard Henry Pratt becomes their jailer, cuts their hair, gives them military uniforms, and provides ledger books for drawing.
Howling Wolf adapts his traditional buffalo-hide storytelling to the ledger format, creating bird’s-eye-view drawings.
White tourists buy the drawings and other items as curios at the prison.
Pratt’s experience at Fort Marion becomes a blueprint for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, which opens in 1879.
Hopi parents who refuse to send their children to school are imprisoned on Alcatraz.
At Carlisle, children are stripped of their identities, given military drills, and punished for speaking Native languages.
The chapter documents the high death rate among boarding school children and the long-term impact on Native communities.

Character Development

Howling Wolf: A Southern Cheyenne man who adapts his traditional narrative art to ledger books, developing a bird’s-eye perspective that becomes a distinctive style. He represents Indigenous resilience and creative survival.
Richard Henry Pratt: The jailer at Fort Marion and later founder of Carlisle. He acts as the architect of forced assimilation, viewing the prison as a successful model for “civilizing” Native children.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Forced Assimilation and Erasure: The systematic stripping of Native identity through hair cutting, new names, uniforms, and language punishment.
Survival Through Art: Howling Wolf’s ledger drawings illustrate how Indigenous people maintained cultural expression under oppressive conditions.
Bird’s-Eye View: A symbol of new perspective and spiritual connection; birds are considered sacred messengers, and this viewpoint allows Howling Wolf to tell stories in a way previously impossible on hides.
The Star Fort / Castle: Represents centuries of colonial violence, built by enslaved Indigenous labor and later used to imprison their descendants.
“Nits Make Lice”: A brutal dehumanizing metaphor used to justify the murder of Indian children.
Generational Trauma: The chapter emphasizes that the effects of boarding schools persist today, including high dropout rates and fractured cultural identity.

Why This Chapter Matters

This prologue establishes the historical foundation for the entire novel. It provides the real-world violence and assimilation policies that will shape the characters’ lives across generations. By detailing events from Sand Creek through Carlisle, the chapter roots the personal stories of Wandering Stars in a specific, documented history of Indigenous survival and loss. It also introduces the idea that art—specifically ledger drawing—can be a form of resistance and continuity.

Study Questions

What does Richard Henry Pratt mean by “Kill the Indian, Save the Man,” and how is this philosophy enacted in the chapter?
Answer: Pratt’s slogan meant that Native children must be completely stripped of their Indigenous identity to become “civilized.” At Carlisle, children were given new names, military uniforms, and punishments for speaking Native languages; they were taught that everything about being Indian was wrong.
How did Howling Wolf’s ledger drawings differ from his previous art on buffalo hides?
Answer: Howling Wolf began drawing from a bird’s-eye view, a perspective he had not used on buffalo hides. This shift was influenced by the long train ride to Florida and the sacred role of birds as messengers to God.
Why were Hopi parents sent to Alcatraz, and what does this reveal about the enforcement of boarding school attendance?
Answer: Hopi parents who refused to send their children to boarding school were imprisoned on Alcatraz for nine months as punishment. This shows that Native parents were not merely pressured but actively coerced and jailed, and that resistance continued even after release.