the round house

• The round house (the novel’s namesake) is a structure on the reservation that is used for Chippewa religious ceremonies and celebrations.
• According to Mooshum, Nanapush built the round house to resemble the body of a buffalo, which were once central to Chippewa culture. The round house is an important site for the Chippewa people on the reservation, as it continues to be used for religious practice. 
• he site of the extreme violence against geraldine. When Joe thinks about the roundhouse, he feels that it represents “a part of something larger… just a shadow of that way of life.” 
• while the round house represents the richness of Chippewa culture, part of that culture has become a kind of absence: the void of culture that has been violently stamped out.
• The round house, therefore, is both a monument to modern Chippewa culture and a memorial to the parts of Chippewa culture that have been violently destroyed.