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John’s motorcycle represents the interaction of the modern, colonized world with ancient myth and tradition. The motorcycle is an Indian Motorcycle, a brand that is named after an outdated term for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and which has used stereotypical imagery of those peoples in its branding. Despite this, the motorcycle also allows John to travel freely across his ancestral lands, and it is this freedom of movement that enables his return to Otter Lake. In this way, John reclaims the symbol of the Indian Motorcycle, changing it from something with an offensive name marketed towards white people to a tool that assists his efforts to help the Anishnawbe community of Otter Lake.
At the end of the story, John also learns from Jesus how to drive his motorcycle across water. The tension between the motorcycle’s significance as both John’s vehicle to spread magic and a symbol of an industrial and colonized world mirrors the conflicting feelings that Anishnawbe characters hold about Christianity. Jesus teaching John to drive across water marks the end of John’s resentment for Jesus, as he accepts that they can coexist. In the same way, the motorcycle represents the coexistence of traditional Anishnawbe culture and practices and those introduced by colonization. It symbolizes one way in which Indigenous people can come reconcile their traditions with colonial inventions.
John’s Motorcycle Quotes in Motorcycles & Sweetgrass
The Motorcycles & Sweetgrass quotes below all refer to the symbol of John’s Motorcycle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
Even though the rider’s eyes were hidden, the crow could feel its piercing gaze. The rider lifted its helmet a few inches until only its mouth was visible. And from that mouth came a loud caw. Not a human imitating a crow, but what seemed to the crow an authentic crow caw. The crow had been around for a few years and knew the difference. Crows do communicate, in their own way, and “I'm back” is what the crow heard.
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Chapter 21
Quotes
Anishnawbe legends told of ancient and immense thunderbirds, their actions responsible for the kind of storm he currently found himself driving through. […] They, like the man on the motorcycle, had been born in an age when gods, monsters, humans and animals ate at the same table. Now man ate alone, while animals begged for scraps. The others were unable to survive in the new times and had disappeared into the folds of time. Who knew gods and monsters could and did fall victim to evolution?
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Chapter 23
Quotes
It has been said that the land does not forget; it is in fact the memory of all who live on it. In today’s world, raccoons live closer to the earth than most people, so their memory too is longer.
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John’s Motorcycle Symbol Timeline in Motorcycles & Sweetgrass
The timeline below shows where the symbol John’s Motorcycle appears in Motorcycles & Sweetgrass. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
Elsewhere, Canadians on various roads witness a man speeding by on a motorcycle, until he finally stops in Otter Lake. Not all of these Canadians are human––the driver...
(full context)
Chapter 4
Outside, Virgil sees a man drive a motorcycle up Lillian’s driveway. The Indian-brand motorcycle is decorated with feathers, and the man’s helmet is...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...flat tire, and when she gets out to replace it, John rides up on his motorcycle. He offers to help, and when she reluctantly agrees, he introduces himself as John Richardson....
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Chapter 10
Elsewhere, John tries to run over a raccoon with his motorcycle, but the racoon escapes and he only catches the tip of her tail. He sees...
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Chapter 13
...her friends about John, and they tease her, charmed by her descriptions of the handsome motorcycle-riding stranger. When she mentions her frustrations dealing with the new parcel of land, they reassure...
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Chapter 15
John invites Maggie for another ride on his motorcycle, and he gives her a helmet that he has decorated with a beaver to pair...
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Chapter 17
...Wayne set out to find John and Maggie, only to find them riding on John’s motorcycle. They follow the motorcycle, encountering two racoons on their way. John drops Maggie off at...
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Chapter 19
...Otter Lake. A group of men enter the diner, making fun of John and his motorcycle. He calmly punches one of them in the face, apologizes to the waitress, and leaves....
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Chapter 21
...to the horrors of residential school. John emerges from the museum, successful. He rides his motorcycle through the rain and visits Lillian’s grave, finally fulfilling the promise he made her as...
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Chapter 23
...his dream feeling better than he has in decades. He goes outside and discovers his motorcycle covered in raccoon excrement. Furious, John calls out that he didn’t eat the raccoons’ ancestor,...
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...Virgil pushes his uncle to act, so Wayne discreetly breaks the headlight off of John’s motorcycle. He then approaches John (whose eyes are now yellow), addresses him as Nanabush, and shows...
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Chapter 24
...serial killers, “ancient Indian burial grounds,” and practices of First Nations religions. John rides his motorcycle through the crowd, and Maggie gets on it and rides away with him.
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Chapter 25
John gives Virgil a ride home on his motorcycle. When they reach the Seconds’ house, Virgil is stunned to see that John has shed...
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Epilogue
...Otter Lake community dies insisting that he once saw a man driving an Indian brand motorcycle across the waters of the lake. Only Wayne, Dakota, and Virgil ever believe him. The...
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