First published in anticipation of the quincentennial of Christopher Columbus's "discovery" of the Americas, Gerald Vizenor's novel "The Heirs of Columbus" (1991) appropriates the European narrative of discovery to privilege a Native perspective that follows "trickster discourse," a mode that rejects the tragic narratives of the European "discoverers" in favor of the comic world view offered by American Indian trickster narratives. This article examines the roles language and sexuality play in "The Heirs of Columbus"'s representation of American Indian traditional stories and trickster discourse to address questions surrounding Native identity. However, instead of lamenting historical cultural losses, the work offers a solution to bridging two seemingly opposed cultures. The novel resolves the conflict between modernity and tradition through the language play and sexual innuendo of Vizenor's trickster, who synthesizes otherwise competing perspectives. (Contains 17 notes.)