Character Analysis
The Night Swan is a former cantina dancer who moves to Cubero, a town near Laguna with a good view of Mount Taylor, or Tse-pi'na. She lives in an apartment above Lalo's bar, where Josiah and his nephews often stop for drinks.
Despite the protests of Josiah's family, who object to the fact that she's Mexican, the Night Swan becomes Josiah's girlfriend. (Their relationship is super adorable, by the way.) The suspicious townspeople, who don't really trust this sexy, single flamenco dancer, relax a little once she starts going out with Josiah.
Like many other female characters in this novel, the Night Swan seems to have mystical powers. Her flamenco dancing, for example, has an incredible energy that takes men's breath away. She tells the story of one evening when she seemed to dance a traitorous ex-lover to death.
How else do we know that the Night Swan is powerful? Well, she has hazel eyes (a sign of her mixed heritage), blue clothes (the color of ritualistic ingredients like blue cornmeal and pollen), a connection with a mountain (Tse-pi-na), and an apartment full of breezy energy and movement.
Like Ts'eh and Betonie's grandmother, the Night Swan seems to have an intuition that things are changing, and that change is necessary. It's the Night Swan who sets up Josiah's cattle deal, a project that comes to symbolize the strength that results from the blending of cultures. And she's also the one who explains to Tayo the significance of their hazel eyes: it's a sign of change and means they're part of something important.
One last detail: what do you make of the fact that the Night Swan goes to bed with Tayo? Is this a betrayal of Josiah's trust? A necessary part of Tayo's spiritual journey?