The epigraph describes the south as the direction of release and notes, “Birds migrate south for winter” (134). It is the direction of flowers, fire, and creativity. It is an “eternal transformation.”

When Harjo lived in Tahlequah, she would reflect on her situation, wondering why she walked away from her dreams and let her people down. Her ancestors scold her in her mind for giving up on her ambitions. In Tulsa, she is becoming frustrated and bored with her situation, living for survival with a husband who cannot grow up. Her husband agrees with her, and they move back to Santa Fe to revive their earlier artistic dreams.

In Santa Fe, things remain the same, and Harjo gets a job pumping gas in a miniskirt at a local gas station. She finds a love letter from her husband to the babysitter and leaves him. Later she realizes this betrayal set her free. She then goes to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to study pre-med and then studio art, taking her son with her. Her ex-husband does not let her adopt her stepdaughter. Meanwhile, her brother Boyd is banished from her stepfather’s house and comes to live with her.