Cork returns to Sam’s Place and waxes his cross-country skis. He can hear the snowmobiles racing across Iron Lake nearby. The lake itself is split between the Anishinaabe Iron Lake reservation and public waters. Although legally the Anishinaabe people have the right to spearfish the entire lake, previous generations spearfished only in their half of the lake and were compensated by the state for doing so.

The narrative flashes back to explain the events surrounding Sam Winter Moon’s death. This fishing arrangement existed until the previous spring, when casino manager Russell Blackwater announced that the Iron Lake tribe would spearfish the entire lake that year. In response, white fishermen and resort owners took the tribe to court, but the tribe, represented by Jo O’Connor, won.

The community became tense and polarized, and a white supremacy group called the Minnesota Civilian Brigade published a letter in the local newspaper threatening violence if the tribe went through with their spearfishing plans. Russell Blackwater received death threats and responded by saying that “if the whites wanted to wage war, the Anishinaabe were more than ready” (81). Russell and Wanda met with Cork, who was then sheriff. They accused Cork of upholding the white man’s law at the expense of his Anishinaabe community.