Motorcycles & Sweetgrass
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Prologue Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Chapter 5  Chapter 6  Chapter 7  Chapter 8  Chapter 9  Chapter 10  Chapter 11  Chapter 12  Chapter 13  Chapter 14  Chapter 15  Chapter 16  Chapter 17 Chapter 18  Chapter 19  Chapter 20  Chapter 21  Chapter 22  Chapter 23  Chapter 24  Chapter 25  Chapter 26  Epilogue
Themes
All Themes Cultural Maintenance vs. Loss Grief and Trauma Colonialism and Land Use Stories and Religion Humor
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Virgil Second John/Nanabush/The Man Maggie Second Lillian Benojee Wayne Benojee Dakota Sammy Aandeg Crystal Park
Symbols
All Symbols John’s Motorcycle
Download PDF
Download Teacher Edition
The LitCharts.com logo.
Sign In Sign up for A+
The LitCharts.com logo.
AI Tools
  • Ask LitCharts AI
  • Discussion Question Generator
  • Essay Prompt Generator
  • Quiz Question Generator
Guides Guides
  • Literature Guides
  • Poetry Guides
  • Shakespeare Translations
  • Literary Terms
Sign In Sign up for A+ Sign up

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass

by Drew Hayden Taylor
Upgrade to A+
Introduction Intro
Plot Summary Plot
Summary & Analysis Summary
  • Prologue
  • Chapter 1 
  • Chapter 2 
  • Chapter 3 
  • Chapter 4 
  • Chapter 5 
  • Chapter 6 
  • Chapter 7 
  • Chapter 8 
  • Chapter 9 
  • Chapter 10 
  • Chapter 11 
  • Chapter 12 
  • Chapter 13 
  • Chapter 14 
  • Chapter 15 
  • Chapter 16 
  • Chapter 17
  • Chapter 18 
  • Chapter 19 
  • Chapter 20 
  • Chapter 21 
  • Chapter 22 
  • Chapter 23 
  • Chapter 24 
  • Chapter 25 
  • Chapter 26 
  • Epilogue
Themes
  • All Themes
  • Cultural Maintenance vs. Loss Theme Icon
    Cultural Maintenance vs. Loss
  • Grief and Trauma Theme Icon
    Grief and Trauma
  • Colonialism and Land Use Theme Icon
    Colonialism and Land Use
  • Stories and Religion Theme Icon
    Stories and Religion
  • Humor Theme Icon
    Humor
Quotes
Characters
  • All Characters
  • Virgil Second
  • John/Nanabush/The Man
  • Maggie Second
  • Lillian Benojee
  • Wayne Benojee
  • Dakota
  • Sammy Aandeg
  • Crystal Park
Symbols
  • All Symbols
  • John’s Motorcycle Symbol Icon
    John’s Motorcycle
Theme Wheel Theme Viz
Download this Chart (PDF)
Download the Teacher Edition
Download this Chart (PDF)
Previous
Crystal Park

Motorcycles & Sweetgrass Symbols

Next
John’s Motorcycle

John’s Motorcycle

John’s motorcycle represents the interaction of the modern, colonized world with ancient myth and tradition. The motorcycle is an Indian Motorcycle, a brand that is named after an outdated term for the Indigenous peoples…

read analysis of John’s Motorcycle

John’s Motorcycle Symbol Icon
Previous
Crystal Park
Previous
Crystal Park
Next
John’s Motorcycle
Next
John’s Motorcycle

Company
About Us Our Story
Support
Help Center Contact Us
Connect
Facebook Twitter
Legal
Terms of Service Privacy Policy Privacy Request
Home About Contact Help
LitCharts, a Learneo, Inc. business
Copyright © 2026 All Rights Reserved
Terms Privacy Privacy Request
The LitCharts.com logo.
Save time. Stress less.
Sign up!
  • AI Tools for on-demand study help and teaching prep.
  • Quote explanations, with page numbers, for over 50,488 quotes.
  • PDF downloads of all 2,263 LitCharts guides.
  • Expert analysis to take your reading to the next level.
  • Advanced search to help you find exactly what you're looking for.
  • Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.
  • Expert analysis to take your reading to the next level.
  • Advanced search to help you find exactly what you're looking for.
  • Quizzes, saving guides, requests, plus so much more.
The LitCharts.com logo.
The LitCharts.com logo.
The LitCharts.com logo.
The LitCharts.com logo.