A few important events happen at Junior's grandmother's wake. First, her wake is a testament to how beloved she was, as almost 2,000 Indians attend, so many that they had to move the wake from the tribal longhouse to the football field to accommodate everyone.  

Another important occurrence is that the bullying and abuse that Junior has been experiencing since he started going to school at Reardon finally ends. He suspects that the other members of the rez realize he's been through enough already. "Or maybe they just realized they'd been cruel jerks" (pg 160).

The strangest thing that happens at Junior's grandmother's wake, though happens when people are telling stories about her. An eccentric white billionaire named Ted stands up to talk about how much of a connection with Indian culture he feels. He tells the story of an Indian who came to his Montana home to sell a powwow dance outfit. He says he bought it even though he suspected it was stolen, until he decided to track down its owner – Junior's grandmother. He presents the powwow outfit, very ceremoniously, to Junior's mother, who tells him that it couldn't be Junior's grandmother's outfit, as she was not a powwow dancer. She continues to say that it doesn't look Spokane at all, and his expert must not know what he's talking about. Embarrassed, the billionaire packs up and speeds off. 

The absurdity of this incident, and the offensiveness of the billionaire's attempts to have a meaningful moment with real Indians, causes all the Indian wake-goers to burst out laughing. Junior says,

"It was the most glorious noise I'd ever heard. And I realized that, sure, Indians were drunk and sad and displaced and crazy and mean, but, dang, we knew how to laugh. When it comes to death, we know that laughter and tears are pretty much the same thing" (pg 166)