Jurisdiction of Tribal Law vs U.S. Federal and State Law
As reviewer Alden Mudge indicates, Indigenous reservation judicial law is a constant element in The Round House.[5] Due to the fact that no one in the story can pinpoint where Geraldine's rape occurred — whether it happened on a patch of land under the jurisdiction of the federal government or on the grounds of the round house — the case becomes an issue of reservation versus state and federal government prosecution over crimes involving reservation residents.[8]
Julie Tharp hints at the irony of Governor Curtis Yeltow trying to adopt Mayla's child after she is deceased.[9] Curtis Yeltow, who is known to harbor racist views against Indigenous people, has an affair with his intern, Mayla, who is also underage.[1] Yeltow attempting to adopt Mayla's child even through the child is biologically his, hints at how corrupt the federal government is when dealing with sexual abuse and misconduct against Indigenous women.[9] Yeltow is more concerned with protecting his political power and ridicule for sleeping with an underaged girl and tries to cover up his crimes by 'adopting' Mayla's child.[9]
Thomas Matchie outlines the implications of tribal law as the central conflict of the novel. He explains how because Geraldine's attacker was Linden, a white man who is not a recognized reservation resident, the novel acts as a potential commentary on the Supreme Court case Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe, which decided that tribal courts cannot prosecute non-Indigenous people who commit crimes on tribal land unless authorized by Congress.[9] Bazil explains to Joe that being a tribal judge doesn't give him any judicial power over Geraldine's attacker, Linden, which leads to Joe and Cappy taking revenge on Linden by murdering him.[1]
Sexual Violence against Indigenous Women
As Ron Charles explains in his review of the novel, Erdrich explores the difficulties Indigenous women face and how their struggles stem from misogynistic perceptions about sexuality, tribal identity, and gender.[10] Geraldine's rape stems from the real-world phenomena that Indigenous women face on reservation lands in the late twentieth century as outlined by Sarah Deer.[11] As Julie Tharp points out in a critical study of the novel, Indigenous women have a 2.5 times higher chance of experiencing sexual violence in their lifetimes than the general United States population and statistically, roughly 37 percent of Indigenous women may experience sexual assault in their lifetimes.[9] After Geraldine is raped by Linden, she is too demoralized to complete her daily tasks and is bedridden for several weeks following the crime.[1] Geraldine becomes a shadow of who she used to be, and when asked by Joe who her attacker was, she quickly dismisses him.[1] As Erdrich noted in a piece for the New York Times, the demoralizing attitude Geraldine exhibits refers to the lack of judicial justice that will be delivered on her attacker, Linden, given that federal prosecutors decline to prosecute 67 percent of sexual abuse cases committed on tribal lands.[12] Critics have noted how Linden, a white man who rapes Geraldine coincides with the reality that Indigenous women are far more likely to experience sexual violence from non-Indigenous men.[5] Geraldine, Bazil, and Joe have little faith in the local judicial system in solving Geraldine's attack, which results in Joe searching out his mother's rapist himself.[1]
Coming of Age and Manhood
Joe Coutts, who is the narrator of The Round House, is an adolescent teenager when the events of the novel take place.[1] Joe is unaware of sexual violence and laws that prohibit tribal citizens from seeking justice. Julie Tharp explains how his mother's rape puts Joe in a difficult situation, as he is beginning to view women such as Sonja as sexual objects, but bares witness to his mother's misery from the hands of male sexual aggression.[9] Joe is surrounded by male role models who exhibit different forms of masculinity, with some exhibiting sexual abuse towards women and others exemplifying leadership and restraint such as his father, Bazil.[9] When Joe blackmails Sonja, she confronts Joe claiming he is no better than the other men she deals with.[1] Joe rejected Whitey's abusive treatment of Sonja when he quit his gas station job, and as Tharp outlines, this incident forces Joe to consider a toxic cycle of misogyny.[9] Joe's masculinity also comes into effect when he plans to kill Linden by preparing his plan of drawing him out on the golf course and murdering him for abusing his mother.[9]
