Fools Crow is the novel’s central character and develops into a celebrated warrior and well-respected member of the Lone Eater community over the course of the book. At the beginning, Fools Crow– known at the time as White Man’s Dog–is eighteen years old and has yet to distinguish him as a Pikuni man. Because he does not show promise as a warrior, he has earned a reputation for unluckiness. He has also never been with a woman and to his shame, finds himself attracted to his father’s youngest wife, Kills-close-to-the-lake.

When Fast Horse invites White Man’s Dog to join the raid on the Crow horses, he sees it as an opportunity to gain some wealth and status but fears his unluckiness could jeopardize the raid. Consequently, before setting out on the expedition, he visits the village “many faces man,” Mik-api, who performs a ceremony to banish the bad spirit from White Man’s Dog’s body. During the raid, White Man’s Dog fortunes begins to turn around. Although Yellow Kidney worries that White Man’s Dog will bring bad luck on their mission, White Man’s Dog shows a steadiness that his rash and arrogant friend Fast Horse lacks. Consequently, he tasks White Man’s Dog with a leading a group of the men in taking the horses.