When January Pretty Weasel shoots and kills her husband, then writes a suicide note to make it look otherwise, the community bonds together. Everyone knows that Jake physically abused January on more than one occasion. Will recalled a time that Jake hit January after a basketball game, right in the face with his fist. It was the only time I ever saw Jake hit January, but Betty down at the hospital said that January was a regular in the emergency ward. Greg Sarris asserts that storytelling is a fundamental aspect of culture, and stories are used in a number of ways and for a multitude of purposes.
Stories can work as cultural indexes for appropriate or inappropriate behavior.
They can work to oppress or to liberate, to confuse or enlighten. Medicine River is an example of stories being used to liberate. The community provides him with this liberation through its stories not only of Will s father, but of his past, of Harlen s past, of feuding friends brought together again, of the basketball championships. By contrast, Will finds his vocation in life and in the process finds the sustenance and enrichment that he needs in the community of Medicine River, in the shadow of Ninastiko. He is home.