“Thomas thought about all the dreams that were murdered here, and the bones buried quickly just inches below the surface, all waiting to break through the foundations of those government houses built by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

The sadness of life on the reservation is introduced early on. This quote also refers to the government agencies on which the reservation’s inhabitants depend for basic life necessities.

“That colt fell to the grass of the clearing, to the sidewalk outside a reservation tavern, to the cold, hard coroner’s table in a Veterans Hospital.”

This sentence describes the slaughter of Indian horses that Big Mom witnessed, the event that will reappear with the repetition of the phrase “the horses screamed.” The death of the horse parallels the death of many Indians.

“Big Mom played a new flute song every morning to remind everybody that music created and recreated the world daily.”

To cope with these deaths, Big Mom turns to the healing power of music.