A Comprehensive Timeline of Tracks

I. Events before the commencement of Tracks. a. The protagonist Fleur drowns twice. i. The first time Fleur drowns she claims the lives of two men who attempt to save her. ii. The second time Fleur drowns she takes the life of George Many Women, who also, was attempting to save her life (11). Chapter One: Winter 1912 a. The spotted sickness arrives from the south, and wind from east brings exile in a storm of government papers. Flight west to Nadouissioux land, where the treaty was signed, and the Consumption begins to spread from Northern territories (1). b. Edgar Pukwan, upon receiving orders from the government to burn the remaining Pillager lands, ventures out to complete his task with Nanapus (3). c. Nanapush and Edgar Pukwan try to burn down the remaining pillager land, but it does not burn (3). d. Upon arriving on Pillager ground, Nanapush and Pukwan discover the totality of the carnage and death caused by the Consumption. This occurs during late winter (3). e. Nanapush and Pukwan discover a 17 year old Fleur dying in a cabin, and in fear of the wrath of Pillagers, save her life (3). f. Edgar Pukwan loses his life after returning to his home, most likely due to the wrath of Fleur. She is upset that he saved her life, and not allowed her to die on her own land (4). g. Father Damien appears for first time at Nanapushs door signaling the arrival of European influences (7). h. Fleurs last remaining relative, Moses Pillager is discovered alive in the woods. i. Fleur then returns to the house that fire did not want, and upon settling in, an agent arrives demanding the fee allotment money required to retain ownership over her lands (8). i. After leaving Fleurs cabin the agent vanishes, and is last scene in the woods, marking another one of Fleurs victims (9). Chapter Two: Summer 1913 a. At the age of 15, Pauline goes against her fathers wishes in order to be more like her half-white mother, and travels to Argus (15). i. Pauline says the last she heard from her family was during the following winter, therefore, it is assumed that her remaining family was consumed by the sickness (15). b. Fleur arrives in Argus in June because the town is threatening to kick her out. She is under suspicion of committing a murder (15). c. After watching the men play cards for some time, Fleur pulls up a chair and joins in on their card game. She had compiled thirty dollars in earnings by August, by

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winning one dollar every night, indicating she played throughout the month of July (20-22). d. The following month of August, Fleur hustles the men and finally wins more than her one dollar, causing the enraged men to attack and rape her (23-24). i. After the poker game, the day after Fleur is raped, a tornado hits Argus, supposedly caused by Fleur. It kills the all the men who worked in the barbershop, except Dutch who was critically injured (26-28). e. After the accident Fleur and Pauline return home to native soil. Pauline does so in the spring (31). Chapter 3: Fall 1913-Spring 1914 a. Nanapush, infamously uses the name No Name when approached by Father Damien concerning the census (33). b. Fleur has Lulu in the fall, then goes to see Nanapush (34). c. Last disease arrives, and Fleur pays every allotment owed for Pillager land (37). d. Eli and Nector are introduced by Erdrich, contrasting Elis indigenous mode of life, with Nectors adapted western mode of living. This foreshadows Nectors decision to pay off Kashpaw land instead of Pillager land, a crucial mistake (39). e. Eli and Fleur meet for the first time while Eli is attempting to track a wounded deer, the primitive and mysterious nature of Fleur initially seduces Eli. i. Eli then tells Nanapush of his chance meeting with Fleur. His description of Fleur leads Nanapush to rightfully concur that she is pregnant (41-43) ii. Nanapush tells Eli of the lake man, and the supernatural danger of the Pillager land. f. Eli confesses that he wants to secure Fleurs love to Nanapush, and Nanapush then gives him the means of doing it (44-45). g. During the years of consumption, Nanapush became, and was able to talk his way out of death (46). h. Margaret, Elis mother, is frustrated leading her to confront Nanapush about this situation, about how Eli and Fleur have been seen making love everywhere (48). i. Nanapush and Margaret adventure to Pillager land to spy on the couple for themselves. i. They return back to Nanapushs house and Margaret claims that Fleur will have a baby in the springtime (51-53) j. Pauline arrives at Nanapushs, and gives her account of what happened in Argus (53). i. Paulines association with death is introduced, along with her aspirations to be Christian (54). 1. All of these events still occurring during the winter. k. When spring arrives, Lulu is born, and it is clear that it is not Elis child. Lulu is brought into the world with Nanapush, Margaret, and Pauline present. Margaret did most of the work in ensuring a healthy birth (57). i. The last bear attacks, and is killed the day of Lulus birth. The bear was thought to have been a spirit bear (60).

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l. When Nanapush is asked the name of the girl by father Damien, he ensures that the legacy of Nanapush lives on by naming her Lulu Nanapush (61). Chapter Four: Winter 1914-Summer 1917 a. Napoleon Morrissey takes in his sister, and three children. Bernadette also decides that she will take in Pauline (64). b. Bernadette and Pauline travel to Mary Peppewas to ease her into death, a task that Pauline thoroughly enjoys (68). i. Immediately following the death of Mary Peppewas, by Pauline cutting the lifeline, Pauline describes herself as transforming into a bird where sleeps in a tree (67-69). c. Pauline, shortly after becomes obsessed with death, and becoming holy, begins to wear nuns attire (69). d. Spring has arrived, and Pauline, thinks she needs a husband. She decides to sleep with Napoleon, who leaves shortly after. He is possibly trying to avoid embarrassing situations, but said he had to leave on business (73). e. A year passes, and Pauline attempts to seduce Eli, by brushing against him, but is non-chalantly turned down (77). f. Pauline, then convinces Bernadette to hire Eli, to compensate for Napoleons absence. She, plans to use him in a plan of hers where she will make a love potion that is to be used on Eli and Sophie Morrissey (79). i. To do this, Pauline goes to Moses and secures the potion. Every day, that Eli works she uses the concoction against him (80-81). g. Pauline waits for the right time, then she possesses Sophie, when it is just her, Sophie, and Eli at the barn. In possessing her, Pauline forces the two to have sex. Eli consents because the potion removes his mind from the present situation (8384). i. Then in true Pauline fashion, she confesses to Bernadette what she saw happen between Eli and Sophie. This causes Bernadette to not only whip Sophie, but to send her off to Grand Forks (87). 1. Sophie eludes going to Grand Forks by jumping off the cart entrusted with carrying her safely to her destination, and instead, darts to Fleurs house (88). h. The day after, Pauline discovers Sophie grieving at Fleurs. Thus, she finds out that Fleur is aware of what happened (88). i. Eli tries apologizing to Fleur for what he has done, but learns that it is going to take a lot more than that to earn her trust hack (90). i. Sister Anne is introduced, also Paulines infatuation for her is expressed, along with the fact that Sister Anne would go on to be her mentor (92). i. Sister Anne and Father Damien travel to Fleurs to help Sophie out of her stupor. Sister Anne uses the statue of the Virgin Mary to assist her, and in the process of this exorcism of sorts, Pauline sees the Virgin Mary crying and becomes obsessed with the relic (93-95). Chapter Five: Fall 1917-Spring 1918

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a. Eli seeks out Nanapush and badgers him for six straight days about how miserable he is about Fleur (100). i. On the seventh day, Nanapush becomes too frustrated and hands Eli a gun directing him to go hunting. Nanapush guides the journey through an old ritual (101). ii. Eli, nearly dying on his journey, finds and kills a moose. Nanapush ensures that he returns home safely by guiding his track home, with slow moving steps (103-104). b. After Eli returns back to Nanapush, he tells the story of how Fleur has been leaving in the middle of the night to go into Lake Matchimato. He believes Fleur is once again pregnant with a child who is not Elis (106). c. Nanapush finds this funny, and in his sympathy, prescribes how Eli can go about getting Fleur back (108-109). d. The Lazarre and Morrissey families are confirmed to have signed the land settlement papers, and vowed to go against anybody with opposing views (111). i. On the way home from Mass, Margaret and Nanapush are jumped by Boy Lazarre and Clarence Morrissey. In this struggle Boy Lazarre hurts and cuts off the hair of Margaret (111-115). 1. Lulu goes missing in this scuffle, but is found at Margarets house where she has hidden (115). e. Fleur shaves her head in honor of Margaret (117). f. Fleur visits the Morrissey cabin, and spreads the bad medicine throughout their house (119). g. Nanapush and Nector capture Clarence in a snare, leaving a permanent scar but allowing him to live. The scratch that Fleur left Boy Lazarre becomes infected, and will eventually turn into a scar (123). h. Nanapush and Margarets relationship deepens when Nanapush buys her the costliest bonnet on a shelf (123). i. While Nanapush is living with Margaret, she leaves him for two weeks for saying something that offended her. He grows weak, then proceeds to have the dream he had one in those days after his family was taken (127). i. During this dream, he becomes so weak he almost loses his life, but Margaret arrives just in time to save him (127-128). j. Eli and Fleurs relationship begins to heal and the two are now living, talking, and sleeping together once again (129-130). Chapter Six: Spring 1918Winter 1919 a. Bernadette catches Pauline stabbing herself with the wooden end of an axe, in order to cause a miscarriage i. Bernadette stops this from happening, and offers to raise the child for Pauline ii. Pauline consents to this and the two of them together sew a dress in order to hide Paulines growing stomach

iii. Once Bernadette learns that it is Napoleons baby inside Pauline, she orders that Napoleon not show his face to Pauline b. The time comes for the baby to be born, and Pauline nearly kills the child. Thankfully, Bernadette was there to ease the struggling baby into the world. i. Pauline has the child named Marie, in honor of the Virgin Mary. c. Pauline, then returns to the convent, and begins having visions where the Lord is talking to her. i. She claims that the Lord devised a plan for her, to go and find his enemies and kill them. d. While in the convent, Paulines self-inflicted torturing routines begin to escalate. e. Pauline ventures out to Fleurs cabin, and claims that Fleur forgives her for what she did to Sophie and Eli. f. While at Fleurs, Nanapush invokes an argument concerning the perverseness of Paulines habits, and tells a story about the child of the flood. i. This story sort of spooks Pauline out, and causes her to return to the convent and say a thousand prayers. g. Pauline compares her suffering to that of Catholic Saints. h. One of Paulines habits is to avoid cleaning, so when she returns to Fleurs, she is forced to bathe because she smells. i. After the bath, is when Fleur begins to have her miscarriage and nearly dies had it not been for Lulus courageous run to Margarets to ask for assistance. i. While Lulu is still running, Fleur has a vision of Chippewa heaven where she is forced to gamble with the men in Argus for the life of Lulu. VIII. Chapter Seven: Winter 1918Spring 1919 a. Lulu successfully arrives at Margarets in order to tell her the news that Fleur is dying, in the process Lulu nearly dies herself (165). b. Lulu has almost frozen to death, and Nanapush is charged with trying to make her live. He brings her back to life by singing her songs (166-167). c. Father Damien arrives with a traditional doctor, and Nanapush refuses to let him operate on Lulus frostbitten toes, essentially saving her life and ability to walk (168). d. Nanapush returns to Fleurs cabin with Lulu, where the rest of the family is staying (170). e. Signaling the loss of Fleurs power is her false vision of fresh venison (170-171). f. The family almost starves to death in Fleurs cabin, and were saved by government commodities, marking the downfall of the Pillager lands (172-173). g. Nanapush, and the rest of the family devise a plan to acquire enough money to secure the necessary allotment money for Kashpaw and Pillager lands. They do this by collecting cranberry bark, a very difficult activity (175-176). h. The Morrisseys and Lazarres marry within families, and overrun the house that Bernadette Morrissey had built, forcing her to leave (179). i. The relationship between Nanapush and Margaret escalates into a physical, spiritual, and loving (183).

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j. Father Damien confronts Nanapush in an attempt him to accept a job within government, and Nanapush denies, describing this attempt as a snare (185). k. Fleurs health is decaying due to being away from Lulu, so Nanapush seeks out her cousin Moses for a healing remedy (186-187). l. Nanapush procures the necessary ingredients, and proceeds to conduct the healing ceremony, but is unsuccessful due to Pauline (188-189). i. Pauline sticks her hands in the boiling hot water, to prove that Christ is as powerful as the Indian remedies and faints, nearly burning off her hands (190). m. The family ends up having enough money to pay off the allotment fees, and Nector is charged with the duty of going to pay them (191). Chapter Eight: Spring 1919 a. After Paulines attempt to justify Christianity fails, and her hands burn, she begins to doubt the existence of God. b. She, then describes an encounter she had with Satan during one of her dreams causing her to seek out the lake monster in Matchimanito. c. While at Matchimanito, she takes a raggedy boat out to the middle of the lake in an act of defiance. She is preparing to stay forty days and forty nights in the dessert. i. She encounters the lake monster, who appears as Napoleon Morrissey, and strangles the being with her Rosary. d. After killing the lake monster, she runs into the woods and rolls around in everything, essentially in an attempt to become un-human. e. She claims that this act has sanctified her, and that she will go on to be the bride of Christ. f. At this point Pauline has fully converted, and is dedicated to her teaching position at St. Catherines school. It is also her job of aiding souls into death. i. Pauline has reached her goal, and has now decided to leave her past behind. She then, takes the name Leopolda. Chapter Nine: Fall 1919-Spring 1924 a. The lumber companies arrive (206). b. Nanapush confronts the agent because he believes the Pillager land has been paid off already (207). i. The agent tells him that there was extra money owed due to late fees. These late fees were illegally added on, but there is nothing Nanapush can do about the situation. The only lands that were retained were Kashpaw land (208). c. Fleur notes that the reason he is telling this story to Lulu is because she resents her past, because she never knew what truly happened and why she was sent away (210). d. Fleur tries, and is unsuccessful once again in drowning herself. Eli saved her, this is the third time in the story she has tried to drown (212).

e. The loss of Pillager land causes Nanapush to move into Kashpaw land, where his love for Margaret continues to flourish (214). f. Fleur becomes more indigenous in her ways, beginning to become stronger. Nanapush reveals that reason Fleur sent Lulu away to government school was because she not safe on the reservations (218-219). g. Nanapush has a vision of all the people he knew that have passed away, signaling that if he wanted to die, he could, but he chooses to stay among the living as long as Fleur is still alive (220-221). h. Fleur creates the storm upon her land and destroys virtually everything surrounding the Pillager land (222-224). i. Nanapush becomes a bureaucrat in order to gain the ability to get Lulu back home (225). i. Lulu returns to the family bearing the Pillager grin, signaling the continuance of Fleur and Nanapushs legacy (225).