Mocked and ridiculed by the locals (being called a "Washington Redskin"), including tribal police officer Walter Crow Horse, Ray finds that he has an unaccountable standing with some of the tribal elders such as Grandpa Sam Reaches. The natives recognize Ray as "Thunderheart", a Native American hero slain at the Wounded Knee Massacre in the past, and now reincarnated to deliver them from their current troubles.