Millie Cloud Character Analysis in The Night Watchman

Millie Cloud is ’s daughter and a graduate student who returns to the reservation at ’s invitation. Her white mother raised her away from the Turtle Mountain Reservation, but, as a student at the University of Minnesota, she recently completed a study of the economic conditions of the reservation. Because of her work, she eventually becomes integral in the effort to strike down the Termination Bill. She is a member of the delegation that travels to Washington, D.C. to testify before congress, and, in some respects, her economic survey is the backbone of their testimony. Millie finds patterns pleasing and often dresses in them. Her ambivalence toward romance is somewhat reminiscent of ’s, and she says that men are not interested in her. At one point, Millie seems to harbor romantic feelings for Patrice, but near the end of the novel, she decides to go out with after he asks her out using an equation, which she finds irresistible. At the end of the novel, she is planning to study with and is in the process of securing funding that would allow Zhaanat to be paid for her teaching.

Millie Cloud Character Timeline in The Night Watchman

The timeline below shows where the character Millie Cloud appears in The Night Watchman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Power, Solidarity, and Community Action Theme Icon

Thomas writes a letter to Millie Cloud. Because she recently conducted a study on economic conditions on the reservation, Thomas requests... (full context)

Millie Cloud spends her days studying at her favorite table at the Walter Library of the... (full context)

As she enters the train station, someone bumps into Millie. She strongly dislikes being jostled by strangers. She only has one onionskin copy of the... (full context)

As Thomas reads Millie’s report, he thinks the good news is that they’re poor enough to require continued government... (full context)

...is making Bannock bread. And there’s one person Patrice doesn’t know, who introduces herself as Millie Cloud. Patrice would have much rather buried her father with no one else around. Wood... (full context)

The congressional hearings for the Termination Bill are scheduled for the first week in March. Millie had never been to a funeral like that of Paranteau before. And as the proceedings... (full context)

Oppression and Supposed Good Intentions Theme Icon

...medicine in secret at her job, afraid that if someone finds out, she’ll lose it. Millie enters words into her notebook. The same word is used for both ejaculation and shooting... (full context)

They’ve made 35 copies of Millie’s economic survey and four more from a photocopier in the office of Superintendent Tosk. The... (full context)

Millie goes with Grace to look for new clothes in the mission bundles. She finds a... (full context)

...are reluctant and need coaxing. At first, the group is only Juggie Blue, Thomas, and Millie Cloud. They drive to the jewel bearing plant and eventually convince Patrice to come too.... (full context)

...about the jewel bearing plant. Senator Watkins ignores Patrice and addresses his questions to Thomas. Millie then testifies by reading her report about the economic conditions of the Turtle Mountain Reservation.... (full context)

Millie had been the one to call the ambulance and make sure Thomas went to the... (full context)

In Millie’s studio, Patrice asks her what she would have to do to become a lawyer. She... (full context)

Millie prepares a report for Thomas about the trip to Washington, adding her own details as... (full context)

...of two. Though Wood Mountain had recently gotten a federal job driving school buses. And Millie had decided to become an anthropologist. She wanted to study with Zhaanat and had applied... (full context)