Future Home of the Living God

The protagonist and first-person narrator of the story, Cedar at birth was given up by her Native American birth mother, Mary Potts the Almost Senior, and adopted by wealthy white liberals, Alan and Sera Songmaker. It was Alan and Sera who gave Cedar, originally named Mary Potts like the rest of her female relatives, the overtly indigenous-sounding name “Cedar Hawk Songmaker.” Torn between her indigenous roots and the affluent white culture of her adoptive parents, Cedar seems to fit into neither cultural group. She mentions several times that she has disappointed her adoptive parents—she seems to run in a dangerous circle of friends, who are all “dead or in jail,” and the story centers around her presumably unexpected pregnancy (she never mentions a partner or anyone to support her through the process). Cedar seems to be ashamed of her choices and, consequently, isolates herself from her family. Although she feels negatively about the circumstances of her life, she views her pregnancy with a sort of reverence, and she is dedicated to being the best mother possible to her unborn child. This determination is what leads her to enter into contact with her previously estranged birth mother to learn about genetic diseases that may affect her child. Though Erdrich initially characterizes Cedar as misguided and unsuccessful, over the course of the story she gradually reveals Cedar’s responsibility and willingness to learn. By the end of the story, Cedar seems terrified but ready to let both families—biological and adopted—back into her life.