The White Rancher Character Analysis

The white rancher intercepts Silva and Yellow Woman as they head to the town to sell Silva’s butchered beef. The narrator describes the white rancher as having “thick rolls of belly fat” and smelling “rancid.” Her description suggests a criticism of the gluttony of the white people who stole native land and used tit to feed themselves and line their pockets. The white rancher addresses Silva gruffly as “Indian,” immediately accuses him of being the cattle thief, and expects him to willingly turn himself in to state police. Both because of the violence implicit in addressing someone by their race, and because of his connection to the state police, the white rancher represents the vestiges of colonial authority—the same authority that committed grievous offenses against indigenous populations and now polices those populations. He embodies the existential threat constantly faced by native people who struggle to maintain their cultures and communities. The narrator implies that Silva kills the rancher when she writes that she hears four gunshots in the distance, having earlier remarked that she thought the rancher was probably unarmed.