The Night Watchman: The Lamanites Summary & Analysis

Thomas reads the Book of Mormon, which describes the Lamanites as “wild and ferocious, a bloodthirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness.” “It’s us,” Thomas says to Rose. Joe Garry, the president of the National Congress of American Indians, writes to Thomas about Senator Watkins and says that Watkins doesn’t have a sense of humor. Thomas thinks that’s even more frightening than the Mormon bible. Thomas tries to understand Watkins’s reasoning and why he’s targeting Native people. According to his religion, Mormon people have been gifted all the land they wanted. “Indians weren’t lightsome and delightsome, but cursed with dark skin.” Thomas likes the exploits of the figure Nanabozho better, who created everything valuable and a lot of things that were vital, like laughter.