House Made of Dawn

The small church in Jemez is a cornerstone of the community. However, the priests who run it propagate an ongoing culture war against the traditional beliefs, spiritualities, and religions that they observe on the reservation. Father Olguin believes, like his predecessor, that Indigenous spirituality is little more than satanism or witchcraft. In their view, the aim of the church is to bring Christianity to Indigenous people and help drive out the old religions that are not approved by the church. Much to their annoyance, the local people refuse to give up their beliefs. Many follow both Christianity and traditional beliefs. Men like Francisco are so invested in this dual religiosity that they take part in Indigenous ceremonies and Christian ceremonies alike, to the point that Francisco is a deputy in the church. The priests’ umbrage with Indigenous traditions highlights the extent of the conflict between Indigenous and exogenous cultures. Christianity is a belief system of the old world, which can’t tolerate a rival religion in the new world. The priests seek to drive the Indigenous religion out of their congregation, while the local people are happy to entertain both. In this sense, the dual religions of Jemez reflect the process of colonialism, in which the European force seeks to overwhelm and drive out any Indigenous rival. Because the colonialists have, in effect, already won, their religion is the dominant religion, while everything else is deemed satanic.

The complex nature of whiteness is evident in the fate of Reyes the albino. Reyes is a white skinned-person but isn’t ethnically white. That the other characters don’t consider him white illustrates how whiteness is a social construct. Angela doesn’t perceive him as white and is morbidly curious about his ethnicity. The man in the novel who has the whitest skin is an Indigenous American man with a medical condition; his whiteness only further marginalizes him, rather than making him acceptable to the white world. Rather, whiteness is a privilege extended to certain groups. Reyes isn’t a member of these groups, so he isn’t white. He exists at the periphery of everything—seen as an outsider by both Indigenous and white people. Reyes’s status as a perpetual outsider grates on Abel. He decides that Reyes is a witch, due to the moment in a traditional ceremony in which Reyes performs actions for his own personal gratification rather than adhering to the sacred tenants. He beats Abel with a rooster, going above and beyond the actions necessary for the ceremony. Abel takes offense and, later, murders Reyes. His explanation is that he sincerely believes Reyes is a witch.

The murder is treated as an Indigenous matter. If Abel were to have murdered a white man, for example, he likely would have served more than six years in prison. When reflecting on his trial, Abel reveals the extent to which he believes witchcraft is real. He simply knew that Reyes was a witch, and this alone justified the murder. This sincere belief is simple and accepted by the other Indigenous people, but the white bureaucrats struggle to make sense of it. In truth, Abel himself understands the concept of witchcraft as little more than a guttural feeling. He lacks the linguistic tools or spiritual knowledge to explain to the world why Reyes was a witch. In his marginalized position, he can only feel his cultural beliefs on a visceral level. White society has robbed him of his ability to properly explain his crimes and, as a result, that same society is perplexed by his actions. Just as Reyes was too white to be Indigenous and too Indigenous to be white, Abel is too Indigenous to be understood by the legal system but not Indigenous enough to properly explain his motivations. The novel’s portrayal of witchcraft helps illustrates the strange intersection between whiteness and religion for people like Abel.