Seymour Polatkin is a Spokane gay poet, and he returns back to his Indian home when his close friend, Mouse, dies. Before returning, Seymour had many internal, personal identity conflicts. For the people that knew him in New York, he is a normal gay male, with a white boyfriend that writes poems about his past. But truthfully, he has left his past behind. He is also stigmatized by his own people, as they do not approve of the work he does.
Arriving at the reservation, he notices just how much the Indians don’t like his poems, an that they think he has bad motives. He feels like he isn’t a part of them anymore, but at the same time, he isn’t a part of the American society. Seymour wonders where he truly belongs, and he battles the cultural assimilation he faces. Through several flashbacks, countless confrontations and “fancydancing”, Seymour realizes his place in the world, who he is and where he belongs.
