Monica Dutton (née Long) is the wife of Kayce Dutton and the mother of Tate Dutton.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Monica is a Native American and lifelong resident of Broken Rock Indian Reservation. Her marriage to Kayce Dutton put the couple in a difficult position between the Yellowstone Ranch, the Dutton family and the Native Americans of Broken Rock. She was a faculty member at Heartsong Middle School and then took a job at Montana State University.
Throughout the series Monica is kept unaware of her brother's death early on. After his widow commits suicide in what Monica considers a sacrifice for their children's welfare, she expresses to Kayce that she feels they should consider leaving the reservation to spare Tate the sadness of his cousins moving to Seattle to live with their grandparents.
In an effort to convince Kayce, Monica, and Tate to relocate to the Yellowstone Ranch, John and Jamie arrange for Mel Thompson of the Montana State University to offer Monica a job in their expanding liberal arts department as a Native American Studies adjunct professor while she studies for her doctorate. Monica declines, recognizing that the situation was engineered by John, noting that there are never new teachers waiting to replace one like her on a reservation. ("The Remembering")
One morning when Monica and Tate arrive at school they find two older students fighting. In an attempt to break up the brawl Monica pulls on the larger boy's arm. He accidentally throws her into the path of his adversary's swing and the punch knocks her to the ground, where her head strikes the pavement, causing a traumatic brain injury that requires emergency surgery, hospitalization, and rehabilitation. ("A Monster is Among Us")
As she remains wheelchair bound at the hospital she decides that despite loving Kayce, she needs to protect their son from the Dutton family and the danger that's inherent in their way of life.
By the second season, Monica has recovered from her injuries. She returns to using her maiden name, Long, which is a shortened version of Longspear, her ancestral name until her great-grandfather was allegedly taken from his parents and given a Christian name by Catholic missionaries at a school funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
She meets with the president of Montana State University to tell him she's reconsidered his offer to join the faculty. He informs her that the funds earmarked for her salary were reallocated for the current semester, but if she's willing to teach a single American History class, that would get her foot in the door until the following semester when the funds would be available for her again. She accepts, intending to continue teaching days at the reservation school and teach afternoons and evenings at the university.
In her acceptance she tells the university president that she'll be teaching the class of early American history and it's founding from her perspective. ("A Thundering", "New Beginnings")
After Monica cuts a fling with her physical therapist Martin short, she reunites with Kayce, moving herself and Tate on to Yellowstone Ranch with Kayce as he steps into his role as the future owner of the ranch. Shortly after moving to the ranch, she witnesses the aftermath of Beth's assault at the hands of the Beck brother's enforcers. Beth reveals that what happened to her is something that can and does happen when you're involved in the Dutton's "family business", stoking Monica's fears and concerns over the safety of her and Tate being so close to the Duttons and their dealings. In the meantime, Monica seems to flirt more closely with a radicalized Native American identity as she contrasts herself and her life experience on the reservation with that of the Duttons on their ranch. ("Resurrection Day", "Behind Us Only Grey")
Appearances[]
Quotes[]
| “ | It's the ability to direct or influence another's behavior or a course of events. That's what I have... I can remove you from this class and fail you. I can send you before the dean for violating the student code of conduct. These are all things that can alter the course of your life. That's power. And you don't have any. | ” |
–Monica giving a lecture in class as she defined the "Definition of Power! | ||
| “ | When Christopher Columbus first came in contact with Native Americans, it was the Arawak people in the Bahamas. I'll read to you from Columbus's journal: "They willingly traded us everything they owned..." They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They will make fine slaves... With fifty men we could subjugate them all "and make them do whatever we want." You ever feel like that, Trent? Ever feel like making someone do you want, whether they want to or not? It's a very European mentality, stemming from the oppressive political and religious structures of the Renaissance. Kings and priests with absolute power ruling masses who have none. That was the mentality of the men who discovered America. And it is the mentality our society struggles with today... What you know of history is a dominant culture's justification for its actions. And I don't teach that. I'll teach you what happened. To my people. And to yours. Because we are all the descendants of the subjugated. | ” |
–Monica giving a lecture at the University on the history of Columbus. | ||
Trivia[]
Gallery[]
