First off, I'd like to give some background information on this poem. The Grand Coulee Dam was a dam built in Washington between 1933 and 1942 to produce power and provide irrigation. A reservoir was also built, which forced the relocation of over 3000 people, including Native Americans whose ancestral lands were partially flooded as a result of the reservoir. In addition, the dam blocked the migration of salmon and other fish upstream.
Given this knowledge, I agree with Cathy that Alexie is being sarcastic when he says he will forgive. However, I feel that he is speaking with a more angry than sarcastic tone, since he repeats that he will agree after the Indian woman topples the dam, after the floodwaters burst each successive dam downriver from the Coulee,after that first drop of floodwater is swallowed by that salmon waiting in the Pacific, and so on. To me, the salmon and the Indian woman are symbolic of the people cut off from their homes and everything good associated with them. In addition to the salmon and the Indian woman, the dam is also a symbol. Since it was constructed to provide power and provide irrigation, it is a symbol for the government (as it was a government funded project) and for materialism (since electricity powers cities and is associated with being "modern").
Because of this, I'll have to disagree with Andrew. This is a dystopian poem because the speaker repeats that he will only forgive after the dam (the symbol for government and materialism) is broken, and things are made right for the Indian woman and the salmon.
As for the last few lines of the poem, the speaker is expressing the happiness he would feel when the dam is gone, which implies that he will be happy when the government has fallen, hence, the end of the world.
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