In Lieu of Class

The first and last stories are heavily interconnected with one another. The last story, Crossing the Water, answers many of the questions the characters/ reader has from the first story, The World's Greatest Fisherman. Lipsha finally understands who he is and where he comes from and King, in my eyes, is humbled down.
Lulu Lamartine decides that Lipsha needs to know who his mother was, June (the woman we encounter in the first pages of the book, who dies), it is hard for Lipsha to accept this, but when he does, it allows Erdrich to develop his character more and also provides insight into the developing relationship between him and King. More than anything, Lipsha meets his father, whom he accepts: "The famous Chippewa who had songs wrote for him, whose face...sat down at the dirtiest kitchen table in Minnesota with his son and his cellmate, and picked up a deck of cards." (Pg.352)
It shows the younger side of the Kashpaw family, their vulnerability. Finally, Lynette and King (who were always so loud and outspoken) were quiet. "Her eyes were wild and wary as a rat's. It was the first time I'd ever seen her with no words for what was going on." (Pg. 355)
One thing I noticed was the fact that King's own son seems to hate him, I believe this is an influence from all the fighting in the first story, he hates how King treated Lynnete, he's always been around that.
In the final story, Lipsha finally gets the life he always deserved. He gets the car, he finally meets his father. I liked how Edrich made it so that Gerry always knew that Lipsha was his son, but didn't admit it until the car ride. "You're a Nanapush man, we all have this odd thing with our hearts." (Pg. 366).
I believe the final story indirectly gives an end to June's story. It finally makes all the ends meet.