Bearheart: Analysis of Major Characters
"Bearheart: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complexities of a diverse group of characters in a narrative that intertwines themes of identity, culture, and the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. Central to the story is Proude Cedarfair, a mixed-blood shaman facing the devastation of his community, who leads a motley crew on a transformative journey to the vision window at Pueblo Bonito. His wife, Rosina, embodies transformative power and is aligned with Changing Woman, while Benito Saint Plumero, a trickster figure, challenges traditional notions of masculinity and sanctity.
The pilgrims’ diverse backgrounds create a rich tapestry—ranging from Pio Wissakodewinini, whose complex relationship with gender adds depth to the narrative, to Inawa Biwide, a young shaman-in-training. Characters like Bishop Omax Parasimo and Belladonna Darwin-Winter Catcher critique and reflect on the romanticized imagery of Indigenous identity, often revealing the complexities and contradictions of cultural representation. Little Big Mouse and Sun Bear Sun symbolize the struggle against societal expectations and the consequences of viewing oneself as a victim. Ultimately, the characters navigate a world filled with challenges, from the manipulative Sir Cecil Staples, the Evil Gambler, to individuals like Justice Pardone Cozener and Doctor Wilde Coxwaine, who grapple with ethical dilemmas within their communities. This intricate character analysis highlights the intersections of race, identity, and spirituality in a contemporary Indigenous context.
Bearheart: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Gerald R. Vizenor
First published: Darkness in Saint Louis Bearheart, 1978; 2d edition titled Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles, 1990
Genre: Novel
Locale: The central and western United States
Plot: Dystopian
Time: Future
Proude Cedarfair, the fourth of the Proude Cedarfairs, a shaman of mixed white and Chippewa ( anishinaabe) blood. the nation's economy has been destroyed, and the reservation agents and corrupt tribal officials are cutting the last of the Cedar Circus Reservation cedar trees. Proude leads a group of unusual pilgrims on a trek toward the vision window at Pueblo Bonito, where he believes he can lead his troupe into the fourth world.
Rosina, Proude's wife. At the end of the journey, she comes over the desert with the sun and is identified with Changing Woman. She is one of three people who enter the fourth world.
Benito Saint Plumero, or Bigfoot, one of the pilgrims. He is a mixed-blood clown/trickster whose major source of pride is a gigantic and very active penis, dubbed President Jackson. He is canonized and made a “double saint” on the journey.
Pio Wissakodewinini, another pilgrim, who has been charged erroneously with rape and was sentenced to a sex change, which was not entirely successful. He/she shifts identities and gender often during the journey.
Inawa Biwide, a sixteen-year-old pilgrim rescued by the church from federal reservation housing. Inawa quickly becomes an apprentice shaman and eventually will follow Proude Cedarfair into the fourth world.
Bishop Omax Parasimo, who rescued Inawa. He wears metamasks that allow him to become Sister Eternal Flame and other characters of all genders. He is obsessed with the romantic image of Indianness of the type propagated by Hollywood.
Belladonna Darwin-Winter Catcher, a pilgrim, the daughter of a Lakota shaman and a white anthropologist. She was conceived and born at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and has very rigid views. She holds what the author calls “terminal creeds.” In the walled city of Orion, inhabited by the descendants of hunters and bucking horse breeders, she is asked about Indian values. She responds to a hunter's question about what an Indian “is” with a diatribe that reinforces all the clichés about Indian culture and behavior. She is identified as an “invented Indian,” and as a result, she gets her “just desserts,” a cookie laced with poison.
Little Big Mouse, a “small whitewoman with fresh water blue eyes” who rides in foot holsters at the waist of the giant Sun Bear Sun. She is attacked and torn apart by a mob of victims of chemical and cosmetic poisons because she insists on seeing them as victims.
Sun Bear Sun, the largest pilgrim, weighing three hundred pounds and standing seven feet tall. He is the son of a utopian tribal organizer by the name of Sun Bear.
Lillith Mae Farrier, a white woman and pilgrim who travels with her two boxers. She began her sexual ménage with the two dogs while teaching on an Indian reservation. She is the first to gamble with the Evil Gambler, and because she does not know the rituals of balance and power, she loses and destroys herself.
Bearheart, a mixed-blood shaman who, as a child, achieved a vision of a bear while imprisoned in a Bureau of Indian Affairs closet while the offices were being ransacked by radical members of the American Indian Movement (AIM). He is ill-tempered, especially toward “terminal creeds” and American culture. He tells a young AIM member wearing “chicken feathers and plastic beads” to read the novel in the closet, a novel of “tribal futures, futures without oil and governments to blame for personal failures.” She asks what it is about, and he responds, “Sex and violence….Travelsthrough terminal creeds and social deeds escaping from evil into the fourth world where bears speak the secret languages of saints.” the novel she finds is Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles.
Sir Cecil Staples, called The Evil Gambler, the proprietor of the What Cheer Trailer Ruins. He gambles with passersby. He bets gasoline, a necessity for the pilgrims' purloined postal truck, against the life of the bettor. He believes in chance, which Proude does not, and when Proude plays with him and wins, the Evil Gambler is destroyed. Kidnapped from a shopping mall and reared in a big-rig trailer on the road, he is pale and hairless as the result of prolonged exposure to insecticides.
Justice Pardone Cozener, a pilgrim and illiterate law school graduate, one of the “bigbellies” who are fleecing the tribes and the government. He is in love with Doctor Wilde Coxwaine.
Doctor Wilde Coxwaine, a pilgrim and bisexual tribal historian. He and Justice Pardone Cozener are entranced by the Bioavaricious Word Hospital and leave the remaining pilgrims to remain there.
Matchi Makwa, a minor pilgrim who complains about the loss of Indian racial purity.