All is Lost In Fools Crow, by James Welch, Welch shows that everything can be lost through betrayal, the loss of a center, and no trust. This is described in the text of Fools Crow, by the story told by Mad Plume of the Black Patched Moccasins. Mad Plume tells Fools Crow, formally known as White Mans Dog, about their past and their downfall. Betrayal is the start to something that can destroy everything that a tribe once was. Little Dog was once the chief of the Black Patched Moccasins. “Many of us were surprised, but Little Dog told us a good trick, for soon good things to eat would grow. The white chiefs wished us to quit the trail of the blackhorns and to grow the good things to feed upon.” (97). Little Dog tried to live in peace with the Napikwans. So he and his people tried to live like the Napikwans. The thing though is that they were always hungry now because they were not getting the nutrients they once got, so they started hunting the blackhorns again. This angered the Napikwans. So Little Dog had to try other ways to please them. All he wanted was peace among them and his people. He feared the Napikwans so he threatened his people “He told our people not to kill anymore of them. He told the seizer chiefs that he would deal harshly with those Pikunis that offended them. He wanted peace between the Pikunis and the Napikwans, and that would be his downfall.” (97). He did not want his people to offend the Napikwans in anyway to give them a reason to bring harm to them. The negative to this though is that Little Dog’s people saw it as him taking the Napikwans side. Therefore his people turned on him and killed him “The killers of Little Dog felt the head chief had put the interest of the Napikwans before those of the Pikunis. It was he who betrayed the people.” (98). Everything he did was only to protect his people or prolong his people from an inescapable fate. He saw something that the rest of his tribe did not. All they did after all the efforts he did to keep them safe was betray him. Betrayal is the beginning of the end. Little Dog was more than just a chief to these people he provided a center. He wanted to protect his people from a threat that was far greater than they could understand “He knew the Napikwans possessed greater medicine than the Pikunis, for they came from that place where the Sun Chief rises to begin his journey.” (97). He did so much for his people to try to keep them safe he lost sight of being as a part of his own people. They tried to live like the Napikwans and traditions were being lost. The center was starting to fade even before the betrayal. “We are a leaderless people now.” (98). Betrayal was the cause of the loss of the center and everything began to crumble. Without a leader the people lose care for one another and they go into anarchy. The young men had left to fend for themselves “No, they are off hunting for themselves, or drunk with the white man’s water, or stealing their horses.” (98). Without a center there is no law or tradition that really matters anymore. There is no one there with honor because of the betrayal of their own people. The center is the bond; it is what keeps the people in unity. A center can be many things in this case it was one man with a hope “There is no center here.” (98). Now that there is no longer a center, the people have made their new center in themselves “They do not bring anything back to their people.” (98). They do not see the threats in their world and all they are doing is taking their own people down too by being selfish. Without a center trust and respect is tense. The people convey the betrayal of Little Dog with the loss of trust. They no longer respected him once he started trying to live like the Napikwans. Once Little Dog was betrayed and the center was lost, all trust was lost among the Black Patched Moccasins “He was betrayed by some of his own people, and that is why the Black Patched Moccasins have become so distrustful.” (97). They cannot even trust their own to provide for each other because there is no longer anything to keep them united. Trust and respect is what gives people hope, but they have abandoned all of that. They do not feel as if they would be welcome anywhere else to get away from the Napikwans, because they feel as if they did this to themselves. It was much more than that though. They were once so highly respected and it all got ripped away because their own people did not just have some hope or trust in the center of their tribe. They had given up in a way because everything these people had worked for their whole lives was just taken away in matter of seconds. Now they were poor and had nothing really. “Perhaps – it would be nice.” (98). This is what Mad Plume says to Fools Crow and that was the end of the conversation. They did not want to be taken care of if their own people are not willing to take care of them. They wanted some honor and respect in trying to be independent and salvage what was left of the center they still had among the tribe. Even though they had lost everything they still offered Fools Crow to feast with them. I feel like they do this to try and cover up all their hurt and show something in themselves that they did not really have. They hold on to a false hope for all their trust was lost. In conclusion, even great things can crumble. The Black Patched Moccasins have been through hell, but yet they seek out respect and try to have hope. They show no importance to Fools Crow at a glance, but they are the moral of how easy these people could fall if they did not work together and have leadership.