Mooshum Character Analysis in The Round House

Mooshum (which is the word in Anishinaabe for “grandfather”) is Joe's grandfather, who lives with Joe’s aunt and uncle Clemence and Edward in their house. Although Mooshum is quite elderly, he still enjoys some youthful pursuits, such as drinking whiskey when Clemence will allow him and receiving a lap dance from Sonja on his birthday. Mooshum, who was brought to the Chippewa reservation with his Métis family after the Battle of Batoche in the late 1800s, has a wealth of knowledge about Chippewa culture and religion, and younger members of the tribe often consult him for advice. It is Mooshum who tells Joe the story of Nanapush, the buffalo mother, and explains to him wiindigoo justice. Mooshum shows the value of elders on the reservation. He represents a body of knowledge about Chippewa culture that, although diminishing, is being kept alive by members of the younger generation.

Mooshum Quotes in The Round House

The The Round House quotes below are all either spoken by Mooshum or refer to Mooshum. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Women, Bigotry, and Sexual Violence Theme Icon

I was parsing out the idea, established in other cases and reinforced in this one, that our treaties with the government were like treaties with foreign nations. That the grandeur and power my Mooshum talked about wasn’t entirely lost, as it was, at least to some degree I meant to know, still protected by the law.

Related Characters: Joe Coutts (speaker), Mooshum

Page Number and Citation: 2

Explanation and Analysis:

In this quote, Joe is reading through Bazil’s handbook of Native American case law, as he sometimes likes to do for fun. At this point in the novel, Joe does not yet know that Geraldine has been raped. In this early quote, Joe is still quite optimistic about the state of Native law. He expresses this idealism here as he states that “the grandeur and power [his] Mooshum talked about wasn’t entirely lost, as it was…still protected by the law.” Clearly, Joe thinks about the history of his people as one of “grandeur and power,” expressing a romantic view of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollit

As he dragged himself along … Nanapush sang the buffalo song although it made him cry. It broke his heart. He remembered how when he was a small boy the buffalo had filled the world. Once, when he was little, the hunters came down to the river. Nanapush climbed a tree to look back where the buffalo came from. They covered the earth at that time. They were endless. He had seen that glory. Where had they gone? … people had seen white men shoot thousands off a train car, and leave them to rot.

Related Characters: Mooshum (speaker), Nanapush, Joe Coutts

Page Number and Citation: 184-185

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote is excerpted from the second part of the story that Mooshum tells Joe in his sleep about Akii, Nanapush, and their search for buffalo. In the quote, Nanapush, who has left his mother to go pursue the buffalo, becomes upset as he sings the buffalo song, crying and reminiscing about the buffalo he remembers from his childhood. While Nanapush walks, he thinks about the how plentiful the buffalo were when he was young, so many that they “covered the earth” and “were endless.” As Nanapush wonders where this “glory” went, his wistfulness resembles Joe’s own sadness about outgrowing Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error

It was true, however, that Mooshum had still been a child when his family left behind their neat cabin, their lands, their barn and sweet water well, and fled Batoche after Louis Riel was caught and sentenced to be hanged. They came down over the border, where they were not exactly welcomed with open arms. Still, they were taken in by an unusually kind-hearted chief who told the U.S. government that maybe it threw away its half-breed children and gave them no land, but that the Indians would take these children into their hearts.

Related Characters: Joe Coutts (speaker), Mooshum

Page Number and Citation: 201

Explanation and Analysis:

Here Joe relays Mooshum’s story of his childhood. Joe tells the reader how Mooshum, who is not actually Chippewa by birth, but rather is Métis, traveled with his family from Canada to the Chippewa reservation as refugees after a failed Métis rebellion. The Métis rebellion that Joe refers to, like so many standoffs between Native people and the governments of the United States and Canada, was started because of a land dispute when white settlers began to encroach on Native land. Mooshum’s family was among the people displaced in this skirmish. By drawing attention to Mooshum’s family’s displacement, Joe once Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque.

I lay awake thinking of the place on the hill, the holy wind in the grass, and how the structure had cried out to me. I could see a part of something larger, an idea, a truth, but just a fragment. I could not see the whole, but just a shadow of that way of life.

Related Characters: Joe Coutts (speaker), Mooshum

Related Symbols: The Round House

Page Number and Citation: 215

Explanation and Analysis:

Joe, who has just finished listening to the end of Mooshum’s story about how Nanapush based the construction of the round house on the buffalo, meditates on the structure and what it represents. Joe sees the round house as a sacred place, describing “holy wind in the grass” and the structure’s magnetic energy. Obviously the round house, which is a central meeting place for religious ceremonies, is extremely important to Chippewa religion. As Joe thinks about the culture, religion, and history that the round house represents, he thinks that he can see “something larger, an idea, a truth,” but he Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Volupta

Behind them in the next room the shelves of old books stood… Meditations. Plato. The Iliad. Shakespeare… There was William Warren, Basil Johnston, The Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner, and everything by Vine Deloria Jr… I looked at the books as if they could help us. But we had moved way far past books now into the stories Mooshum told in his sleep. There were no quotations in my father’s repertoire for where we were, and it was beyond me at the time to think of Mooshum’s sleeptalking as a reading of traditional case law.

Related Characters: Joe Coutts (speaker), Mooshum, Bazil, Geraldine

Page Number and Citation: 307

Explanation and Analysis:

Just before this quote, Bazil, alluding to the fact that he suspects that Joe killed Linden, tells Joe that he would not tell law enforcement anything about who killed Linden if he knew. Bazil then goes on to imagine that, if that person were convicted, he may be able to argue that they were acting according to old but valid Chippewa law. Bazil’s comment about arguing that Linden’s murder is wiindigoo justice makes Joe think about all the books, including the handbook on case law, that are on Bazil’s bookshelf. After listing the many titles there (which are primarily written Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inven

Mooshum Character Timeline in The Round House

The timeline below shows where the character Mooshum appears in The Round House. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...reads and thinks that the “grandeur and power” of the Chippewa people that his grandfather, Mooshum, talks about has not been totally lost because it was legally protected. (full context)

...judge. Joe walks with his father to his aunt Clemence and Edward’s house. Joe’s grandfather Mooshum, who is very elderly, also lives with them. Joe and Bazil borrow Clemence’s car and... (full context)

...dinner. Joe goes to get a pie from Clemence for dessert. At Clemence’s house, Whitey, Mooshum, and Clemence are sitting around drinking iced tea. Clemence, who is caring for Mooshum in... (full context)

The men return to discussing the rape, but quickly stop when they remember Joe’s presence. Mooshum asks Whitey to tell him about “Red Sonja,” referring to Sonja’s old stripping persona, which... (full context)

Chippewa Tradition vs. Catholicism Theme Icon

...Joe asks what he should do about it, and Randall tells him to talk to Mooshum, because he had a bad feeling about the vision. (full context)

...religious ceremonies, and people would pretend they were going to Bible study there. According to Mooshum, there was actually one Catholic priest at the time who partook in the Chippewa religious... (full context)

One morning, Joe rides to Edward and Clemence’s house. When Joe arrives, he finds Mooshum outside, tangled in netting for the garden. Joe frees him and they go inside, where... (full context)

...instead of with Geraldine. Joe asks if he can sleep in the extra bed in Mooshum’s room, and Clemence says yes, but warns Joe that Mooshum talks in his sleep. Joe... (full context)

Mooshum’s story is offset from the rest of the narrative by a title, “Akii.” The story... (full context)

Mooshum suddenly stops talking, and Joe is upset that he has not heard the story’s ending.... (full context)

Mooshum returns to Nanapush, who had just begun his journey to look for the buffalo. Nanapush... (full context)

With the story finished, Mooshum goes back to sleep. Joe also falls asleep and forgets the story until the next... (full context)

Joe describes Mooshum’s childhood, beginning with his conception during a berry-picking camp and his birth during the 1885... (full context)

This year, at his annual party, Mooshum sits outside with Grandma Ignatia and Joe. Mooshum and Grandma Ignatia banter raunchily about sex... (full context)

...Clemence and Edward take pictures as Joe’s cousins Joseph and Evey carry the cake to Mooshum. Mooshum tries to blow out the candles, but cake catches fire, which then catches onto... (full context)

Joe sits with Mooshum, who is smiling widely at the excitement. Joe knows that the party will go on... (full context)

Joe sleeps in the same room as Mooshum. He wakes up in the middle of the night to Mooshum telling a new story.... (full context)

...and uncle take a trip to get a new freezer. When Joe wakes up, only Mooshum is in the house. Joe asks Mooshum what he wants to do that day, and... (full context)

...hid. Sonja is shocked and then becomes extremely sad. She asks Joe “really?” Joe grabs Mooshum’s whiskey bottle and takes a swig. Sonja tells Joe that if he says anything about... (full context)

Mooshum, thrilled and overwhelmed, stops breathing. Sonja lifts him onto his cot and checks for his... (full context)

...but now knows he is just another bad man. Sonja leaves and Joe sits with Mooshum for a long time. Joe feels guilty about his choice to blackmail Sonja and watch... (full context)

...her hometown. Cappy then divulges that they did “everything” in the graveyard the night of Mooshum’s birthday, and now he is heartbroken that she is gone. Cappy tells Joe that he... (full context)

...Joe says he could have talked to his dad or to Randall, but Cappy grins. Mooshum, having heard the story, compliments Father Travis’s running abilities as he eats lunch. (full context)

Mooshum then tells the boys about when he outran a wiindigoo named Liver-Eating Johnson. Some Blackfeet... (full context)

When Mooshum finishes his story, he changes the subject to Sonja. Clemence tells Joe that Sonja left... (full context)

...Out loud, Joe says that he needs Ojibwe medicine. Joe would like to talk to Mooshum about it, but Mooshum is now so old that he’s hardly conscious. Joe thinks he... (full context)

Mooshum Character Analysis

Mooshum Quotes in The Round House

Chapter 1 Quotes

Chapter 8 Quotes

Chapter 9 Quotes

Chapter 11 Quotes

Mooshum Character Timeline in The Round House