Almanac of the Dead takes place in the American Southwest and Central America, focusing on the conflict between Anglo-Americans and Native Americans.[when?]
It follows the stories of dozens of major characters in a non-linear narrative format, switching between the present day, flashbacks, and occasional mythological storytelling.
[2] Driving many of these individual storylines is a general theme of total reclamation of Native American lands, as well as a celebration of the value of storytelling.
[3] Critiquing the limitations of the American Indian Movement, the novel presents readers with the model of "tribal internationalists," individuals who work with international alliances to reclaim their Indigenous land.
In this section, the following characters are introduced: Lecha, Zeta, Seese, Sterling, Yoeme, Calabazas, Ferro, Paulie, David, Eric, Beaufrey, Jamey, Root, Mosca, Mahwala, Sarita, and Liria.
The stories of this section focus on Menardo, Alegria, El Feo, Tacho, Bartolomeo, and Angelita La Escapia, as well as the minor characters Beaufrey and Serlo.
In "Rivers", the latter two have gone to Colombia with David to make deals, ride horses, sniff coke, and indulge any of their other desires.
Beaufrey and Serlo's personal histories are also described, showing them to be narcissists obsessed with the pure blood of their European ancestors.
Simultaneously the sisters learn of the triplets La Escapia, El Feo, and Tacho and their resistance efforts.
Mosca develops an obsession for the Blue family and their businesses in Tucson, while Calabazas is shown to be compassionate, yet losing his edge.
All these characters' worlds become explicitly connected to Max Blue and his family in "The Warriors" book, due to Mosca's plan that makes Sonny begin a feud with the Tucson police.
Judge Arne also features extensively in this section, and is shown to be as powerful as Max Blue and deranged as Serlo or Beaufrey.
The third book, "The Struggle" sees Alegria crossing the Mexico-U.S. border, and a new character is introduced; Awa Gee, who is a close friend of Zeta.
Two new leaders of the resistance movement named Wilson Weasel Tail and the Barefoot Hopi deliver dramatic and dynamic speeches at a convention attended by mostly young white people.
Lecha, Zeta, Awa Gee, Clinton, Rambo-Roy, Angelita (on behalf of the twin brothers), Root, Calabazas, and Mosca all meet and exchange their perspectives and strategies with the two leaders.
Lecha “has come home to get things in order before she died.” She is Zeta's twin sister and has the ability to see into people's lives and futures.
She exploits this gift for some time in her life, even becoming a TV personality, before she decides to return to the work left by her grandmother.
An older Laguna man from New Mexico who is exiled from his community after he fails to protect them from a Hollywood film crew that disrespects their native lands.
She abandoned her family (Lecha and Zeta's mother) when she was young because she knew they were not strong enough to survive the colonial violence of white settlers.
Yoeme returns to the twins' life, teaches them harsh lessons and histories of the American Southwest, and hands them a book called The Almanac of the Dead that she wants them to read.
He starts an insurance company that is small until a major earthquake hits, and he pulls off a miraculous feat that makes the community members adore him.
Menardo's wealth grows, he marries a woman named Iliana and gains monetary connections from Tucson to Guatemala.
She is the head of a leftist rebel cell that is tracking Menardo's activities and reporting back to her indigenous community members.
Though she is not fond of Arizona, Leah does manage to hustle and obtain large amounts of valuable property in the area.
He becomes Leah's primary lover, and builds a blood and organ bank with the help of his assistant Peaches, as well as a homeless veteran named Roy.
He works for Trigg but uses the money he makes to organize other homeless men, veterans in particular, because he has a vision to build an army to overthrow the government.
He retells how he survived Vietnam, his days in college, the history of Black Indians, and how he looks to centre pre-colonial African spirituality in his daily life.
The print edition of Almanac of the Dead features a "Five Hundred Year Map,"[5][6] omitted in the e-book versions of the novel.
The map depicts Silko's stylized version of the locations featured in the novel, with lines radiating outward from Tucson, Arizona to New Jersey in the northeast, San Diego in the west, and Tuxtla Gutiérrez in the Mexican state of Chiapas in the south.
Other cities and towns in the US and Mexico are accompanied by character names and notes that pertain to both the novel's narrative and historical events.