Then who is my father?
 

This question, mournfully expressed by True Son at the end of Chapter 15, is perhaps the central question of this novel. As a white boy raised by Indians and then returned to his white family, True Son experiences an unsettling search for his true identity. Although he feels allegiance only toward his Indian father, Cuyloga, True Son cannot escape the fact that others see him as white and that he has a white family. His relationship with Gordie and the realization that his Indian brothers do indeed kill white children confuses True Son's loyalty to the Indians enough for him ruin their ambush attempt. Having betrayed his Indian family, True Son is saved from death by Cuyloga, the only father he loves and recognizes, only to be abandoned by Cuyloga in the end. Even if he wants to, True Son cannot return to his white father either since True Son has scalped his Uncle Wilse. Ultimately, the boy is left without a father and hence without an identity; both Cuyloga and Mr. Butler have failed to protect him from the war between Indians and whites.