There There

In the 2018 novel by Arapahoe and Cheyenne author Tommy Orange, There There, 12 characters collectively recount the events leading up to a shooting at the Big Oakland Powwow. Throughout the novel, each character reflects on their relationship with Indigenous identity and connection to Oakland, California. Underneath the larger story about the powwow is a narrative thread that binds several of the characters together through family lineage.

Plot Summary

The novel begins with an essay in which Orange decries the violent genocide carried out by white settlers against Indigenous Americans since the 15th century. Thereafter, the novel is divided into four parts, with the first part delivering critical backstories for several of the main characters. Tony Loneman explains his relationship with “the Drome” (16), the fetal alcohol syndrome he was born with. Tony’s narrative foreshadows the eventual shooting at the Big Oakland Powwow as he describes how Octavio Gomez directs him to procure and hide the bullets in some bushes beyond the Oakland Coliseum’s metal detectors. Part 1 also introduces Dene Oxendene, whose dying uncle gives him a camera and a project; thanks to an arts grant, Dene plans to conduct a series of interviews with Indigenous Americans in Oakland. In the section on Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, she describes a childhood visit to Alcatraz Island to attend a protest with her mom and her sister, Jacquie Red Feather; during the trip, Opal finds Jacquie after she has been raped. The final character introduced in Part 1 is Edwin Black, who has an internet addiction and almost never leaves his room. Edwin researches his father, a Cheyenne man named Harvey, and eventually talks to him via Facebook.

Part 2 introduces more characters, all of whom will come together at the powwow. Bill Davis is dating Karen, Edwin’s mother. Bill works at the Coliseum as a custodian and gets frustrated when a drone flies too close to him overhead. Calvin Johnson, who lives with his sister, owes a large sum of money to his brother Charles, who works for Octavio. Octavio leverages this debt to convince Calvin and Charles to help rob the Big Oakland Powwow. Around the same time, Jacquie, struggling to stay sober, attends an AA meeting where she encounters the man, Harvey, who raped her at Alcatraz. This is the same Harvey who is Edwin’s father. As a result of the rape, Jacquie gave birth to a daughter named Blue whom she gave up for adoption as a baby. Blue now works at the Indian Center in Oakland which is helping to put on the powwow. Jacquie accepts a ride to Oakland with Harvey so that she can see her sister, Opal, and her three grandsons, Orvil, Loother, and Lony. The three boys are trying to raise money to buy Lony a new bike. Orvil completes an interview for Dene’s storytelling project. The three boys head to the Coliseum for the powwow. 

Parts 3 and 4 of There There build a rising tension that climaxes in a large shooting at the Big Oakland Powwow. All the key characters are present except for Daniel Gonzales, who observes the event via his drone. Orvil has just danced for the first time in his regalia, while Opal and Jacquie look on from different vantage points in the coliseum. Calvin, Charles, Carlos, and Octavio carry out a robbery of a large bag of gift cards from Blue and Edwin. When Carlos and Charles turn on Octavio, all the men fire their 3D-printed guns at one another. Stray bullets hit Dene, Bill, Thomas, Orvil, and Edwin. Bill, Thomas, and Calvin each have a chance to describe their feelings before they presumably die. Tony prevents further bloodshed by rushing at Charles and shooting him in the head, but Tony himself is mortally wounded in the process. Orvil and Edwin are both taken to the hospital. Blue realizes that Jacquie is probably her mother, while the group waits to hear whether Orvil has survived the shooting. The novel ends as Tony lies on the ground dying. He imagines that birds are inside him singing.

Content Warning: This guide references the source material’s depictions of sexual assault, abuse, violence, alcohol and drug addiction, and suicide.