Five Little Indians: Chapter 16: Howie Summary & Analysis

Five years to the day after Sagastis’s death, Howie and his relatives finally place a headstone on her grave. Afterwards, Howie plants tiger lilies next to the headstone while he thinks about her. He turned down her last offer to visit him in prison, feeling guilty about the toll the long trip took on her health. Now he wishes he’d taken her up on it. When he’s done with the flowers, Howie drives back to his mother’s place, which he has been fixing up. He sorts through a box of her memorabilia, finding pictures from his sixth birthday celebration at Auntie Mae’s and a tiny red car left over from the set she gave him. He also finds a thick folder containing carbon copies of all the letters his mother sent to the RCMP, the Indian Agency, and the mission school itself, begging for them to give him back.

Finding the letters reignites the rage that has burned in Howie’s chest since Kenny’s funeral. It was that rage that drove him to join the survivors’ lawsuit lawyers. At the time, he told Clara that he was doing it less for himself than for those like Kenny—and Lily—whose stories would otherwise remain untold. Now he thinks of Clara wistfully. To distract himself, he gets back to work on tending the garden and building his corral. As soon as possible, he plans to get himself some Appaloosa horses, his favorites since childhood.

In town the next day, Howie finds a letter from Clara waiting for him at the post office. She says she will be in Saskatchewan to visit Mariah in the fall and that she hopes she can see him, too. Over the rest of the summer, as they write letters back and forth, Howie works double time to fix up Sagastis’s place, using some of her $6,000 life savings. Her neighbor Maggie tells Howie that she bought little and leaned on what she could grow, hunt, or trap so that she could save as much as possible of her small government pension. Before Howie knows it, the bright leaves of fall are beginning to grace the trees.

One bright fall morning, Howie packs up and drives south to the city of Regina to meet Clara—and to give his statement in the survivors’ lawsuit to a judge. His reunion with Clara is peaceful and joyous. She catches him up on news of Lucy and Kendra. He tells her about fixing up his mom’s place and invites her to come and see it. She agrees. She also agrees to attend his testimony as a support person. Much to his surprise, the hearing happens in a hotel conference room. He tells his story in detail, and he speaks at length about his friend Kenny. Afterward, he feels almost euphoric with relief. Clara drives him back to George and Vera’s new place and presents him with a dog, one of John Lennon’s grandchildren.