The state as an oppressor
The novel obviously portrays the state as an oppressive force, which is ironic, considering the majority opinion about the government. To the Native people, there is simply no escaping the painful reality of American history. To put it simply, the American government has never been very kind to Native people groups. The perception among the American state employees is that the Native people are a savage group of people and a menace, even though the tribe has existed harmoniously with nature and others for literally eons.
The police as a threat
The police are designed to "protect and serve," but in this novel, they kidnap children and murder people without due process or legal cause. Ironically, the police think they're helping by "giving children an opportunity at a real future," but by separating them from their parents and sending them to boarding schools, they are systematically eliminating the beautiful, ancient culture of the Native people. The native people think of police as the ultimate enemy.
The school and mandatory homogeny
The common association in the Western world is that school allows kids an opportunity at a better future. But, these Native people see that the way the schools accomplish that goal is to brainwash the kids into becoming the kinds of citizens that fit in in America. The homogenizing effects of school are deeply entrenched in the system's design. Instead of rising with the sun, the students wake up with alarm clocks and sit in rows and do what they're told. They spend most of the day inside, sitting down, which is perfectly antithetical to what a Native person would want for their child. The school makes the kids into a specific kind of person.
Indigo's ironic transformation
Indigo understands her family and community, and she knows that she definitely doesn't want to get captured by the bogey man police. But then, when her worst fears are realized, she sees an irony unfolding. She discovers that she loves the American people, and yes, their culture is very different from her own, but through participation in the mainstream culture, she discovers an academic enlightening that makes her appreciate her painful removal from her family.
The tribal anthropologist
The ironic person who Indigo becomes is an ultimate witness. She becomes someone who can appreciate her culture in a more universally educated way. Not only has she been raised within a tribal community, she also has become academically trained in anthropology, so that her experience of her own community is more enlightened and appreciative. She sees that the whole world is her community, and she begins to see the actual value of her culture as a mystic demonstration of human nature.
