James Welch's "Fools Crow": Parallel characterization and a myth for today

James Welch draws parallels between characters of Blackfeet mythology and those of his novel to express the interwoven relationship between the spiritual realm and the camp circle's daily life, a relationship grounded in the tribe's myths and continuously renewed through its ceremonial practices. Fools Crow becomes an extension of the mythic cultural hero Scarface; Yellow Kidney amplifies the cautionary tale of Seco-mo-muckon, the young fire tender whose dreams of power divert him from his duty to the camp circle; Fast Horse becomes a reflection of Nopatsis, who, in the story of the Beaver Medicine, turns against his brother. It was through the retelling of these myths that the Blackfeet sought to pass to successive generations cultural values and spiritual beliefs that would assure what emerges as the novel's fundamental concern--survival in the face of great loss. Welch extends the myth of Feather Woman and in the tradition of the tribe's mythic cultural heroes, Fools Crow gains from her knowledge important to the survival and restoration of future generations of Blackfeet.