In this chapter, a flashback takes the reader back to LaPointe's ancestor, Comptia Koholowish, depicted in the third person. Comptia observes the construction of her new home, which she will share with her husband. The house is built in a permanent colonial style using wood. As Comptia reflects on the past, she recalls the days when her people would have salmon festivals and maintain a nomadic lifestyle, but those traditions have long been abandoned. Despite her deep knowledge and memories of indigenous ways of life, Comptia is forbidden from practicing them.

One day, Comptia accompanies her husband to court, where he faces charges for selling alcohol to a native man, an act deemed illegal in the colony. Although Comptia is aware of her husband's guilt, she chooses to remain silent. Meanwhile, the trial of a white man accused of killing an indigenous man...