In this paper I will discuss the complex relationship of recovering the sacred land and sacred lore. With a ritual-like parallel structure (1-9, 2-8, 3-7, 4-5-6), Hogan weaves a
complicated interrelation among power, sacrifice, violence, and story. Underneath the demonstration of diverse forms of power relation—communicating with animal and spiritual world, practicing law hearing, and telling stories and lies—is the violence of sacrifice. The judgment of the visible violence of sacrificing the animal is put in contrast to the invisible violence of sacrificing the sacred land of the indigenous tribe. The most powerful revelation is the suppressed facts of the untold story about the true cause of the hunger and death of sacred animal and land—the encroachment of environmental
injustice by US government. The complicity of sacrifice and violence with modernity will
be investigated in light of Ulrick Beck’s “risk theory” (1992) and René Girard’s theories
on “sacrifice” (1972) and “the scapegoat” (1986). The native struggles for sacred land
will be examined with reference to Homi Bhabha’s idea on “the third space” and Kelly
Oliver’s (2001, 2004) psychoanalysis of postcolonial psychic space.
