Bones
There is a constant mention of the black and white gambler and the bone game. So what is the actual meaning of the bones and the bone game? There is a background story about the past where a Spanish priest was murdered and the name of this priest comes up in Cole's dreams along with the visions of his past. This same priest comes back as a black and white spirit roaming the earth, wanting revenge for the destruction of nature and wanting his world back. He appears painted black and white and holding a bone in each of his hands.
Bones represent the past; they represent guilt, as seen from Cole's climactic vision where the black and white gambler takes on the face of his dead brother and Cole, is unable to gamble for the bone in his hand. He is unable to take the bone because he can't shed the guilt connected to his brother. The gambler targets the weak who are plagued with guilt, just like Cole and just like Robert. Robert is a white assistant teacher who is a carrier of guilt for what his ancestor had done, as seen from the conversation with Cole where he criticizes the destruction of the sacred forest and how the campus was built on top of Native American bones. The bone game is based on guilt and that is why he is the perfect target to serve as a vessel for the gambler's spirit.
The medicine pouch
The medicine pouch is a pouch filled with various objects that are a part of protection against spiritual world in the Native American culture. It is Cole's brother's legacy left for him, an object of familial love and protection and it is what protects Cole from the gambler.
Black Elk
The story of Black Elk is a critical story of Native American identity and Cole uses it to express the frustration that comes with Native Americans being represented as mystical and noble, as tragic and doomed. He sees the figure of Black Elk as a form of justification of appropriation of Native American culture instead of appreciating the culture through it, as Robert tries to convince him.
