Previous
Ojibwe
Per cap refers to the yearly payments that enrolled tribal members receive; the money comes from casino profits. Minors are eligible for payments, but they receive less than adults. Daunis explains that per cap can be good and bad: it injects much-needed money into the community, but it also motivates some people to inappropriately seek legal custody of enrolled minors so as to claim that minor’s checks.
Per Cap Quotes in Firekeeper’s Daughter
The Firekeeper’s Daughter quotes below are all either spoken by Per Cap or refer to Per Cap. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 22
Quotes
“She used to be Heather Swanson,” I say. “Everyone knew her dad was Joey Nodin, but he denied it. Supposedly he threatened Heather’s mom when she asked for child support. But once the casino opened and the Tribe started paying per cap, Joey claimed paternity and enrolled Heather in the Tribe. People say Joey paid her mom’s shady boyfriend to set her up for a drug bust so she would lose custody. The custodial parent gets the kid’s minor money.”
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Firekeeper’s Daughter LitChart as a printable PDF.
Per Cap Term Timeline in Firekeeper’s Daughter
The timeline below shows where the term Per Cap appears in Firekeeper’s Daughter. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6
...event, and explains that the boys stopped selling the sweetgrass when the casino opened and per capita started. The per capita system seems to offend Jamie, but Daunis says it’s just like...
(full context)
Chapter 7
...Daunis hops into Jamie’s truck, fields raunchy texts from Lily, and answers Jamie’s questions about per cap . She says some people judge others for how they spend their money, but it...
(full context)
Chapter 20
...knows that both she and Stormy feel weirdly about money; Dana has been depositing Levi’s per-cap check into a savings account for him, something Stormy’s mom Shawna doesn’t do. Shawna is...
(full context)
Chapter 22
...suspicious. She also says that Heather used to be Heather Swanson—until the Tribe started paying per cap and Joey Nodin, her biological dad, claimed paternity and set Heather’s mom up for a...
(full context)
Chapter 23
...Heather has, for years, been checked-out and vacant. It got worse once the Tribe started per-cap payments. Still, she was the only girl Daunis didn’t envy at the Daddy-Daughter Dance—Uncle David...
(full context)
Chapter 26
...as part of his payment for helping Ryan enroll, he gets a percentage of Ryan’s per-cap earnings for a decade. Ron pats Daunis’s arm, and she realizes she’s clenching her fists....
(full context)
Chapter 31
...much money in there, now that he’s 18 and is getting $36,000 per year in per-cap payments. She’s ashamed for thinking the worst of him, just like she did with David....
(full context)
Chapter 49
...not just an “Indian thing.” Then, Daunis asks why Levi is involved when he gets per-cap money. Levi says that according to Dana, the casino will eventually go out of business....
(full context)
Chapter 57
...who are in recovery. Banished members are still members, but they can’t receive any benefits—including per-cap payments.
(full context)
