Angels

Angels structure the whole poem, and symbolize whiteness in America and the impositions of Christianity on indigenous peoples. They are presented as better off being distant from native American people, for whom angels can only augur “no good” (17). Towards the end of the poem, they are aligned more explicitly with white people, staying “rich and fat and ugly” (23).

Pastor John’s family

This family, continuing to organize pageants year after year, symbolizes the persistent existence of whiteness and Christianity in American public life, and the way that these continue to infiltrate indigenous existence. Pastor John’s “wife” (15) and “son” (16) are mentioned in relation to the “Christmas pageant” (13) organized in the “Nazarene church” each year in “December” (14). Strangely enough, Pastor John himself is not mentioned directly; only his family members are. His family members, too, seem to lack any existence beyond their relationship to this absent pastor...