The Painted Drum

Bernard Shaawano works at the hospital on his Ojibwe reservation. Kind-hearted and obliging, he always answers Chook’s calls for help, even though the old woman’s neediness and self-pity annoy everyone. When she asks Bernard to dig up the grave of her dead husband, he refuses. Her explanation, however, taps into his deepest family secrets: buried with Chook’s husband are the songs of the missing drum that Bernard’s grandfather made.

Bernard drives to the judge’s house, where, according to Chook, two women from the East have delivered the drum. The women are apparently “related to the Pillagers, who have mainly died out” (103). Geraldine, the judge’s wife, greets Bernard at the door; he is “relieved to see that they have kept the drum covered” (103). Geraldine introduces Elsie and Faye Travers, who have travelled from New Hampshire to North Dakota with the drum.

Chook arrives with her son John and quickly commandeers the conversation. She says the drum must be treated with respect and has the power to heal sorrows by setting them free through song.

Faye tells the group that she acquired the drum from the estate of John

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