"The Only Good Indians" Annotation

Author: Stephen Graham Jones

Title: The Only Good Indians

Genre: Horror

Publication Date: July 14, 2020

Pages: 305

Geographical Setting: Blackfoot Indian Reservation- Northwest Montana / Great Falls, Montana / Williston, North Dakota

Time Period: Contemporary (likely 90s-2000s)

Series: N/A

Plot Summary: 10 years prior to our story, four young Blackfeet Indian men hunt in illegal territory and end up forced to horrifically put down an elk that just wouldn’t die, who they then discover had been pregnant out of season. Years later, each man has gotten on with his life, two of the four moving off the reservation, yet they each still feel haunted by what they did that day. When Lewis comes to suspect he is being haunted by an entity, he and each of the other men must reckon with their past, their people’s traditions, and the spirit that has come for them.

Subject Headings: 
Horror -- Fiction
Indians of North America
Folklore -- Fiction
Human-Animal Relationships
Revenge -- Fiction
Blackfeet Indian Reservation (Mont.)

Horror Appeal:

(Trigger warning: violence)

Morally complicated characters: As the reader gets acquainted with the four main characters, Ricky, Lewis, Cass, and Gabe, we are given an honest picture of them and their flaws. They are portrayed at times as crass, alcoholic, cowardly, and violent, with trouble holding down jobs and some issues with women. This makes the characters feel realistic while offering social commentary, portraying many issues that are too common to reservation life. 

Shocking, descriptive violence: Much of the book is written with a generally unsettling feeling that leaves the reader on edge. Violence is not constant throughout the book, yet when it comes, it is sudden, shocking, and extremely descriptive, leaving the reader stunned. 

“It takes maybe half a second for those chrome spokes to grip her long spiral curls, crank her head both up and to the side, her neck obviously cracking… An instant after her neck breaks, the top of her head scalps off and her forehead tilts loosely down into the rear wheel, the spokes shearing skull as easy as anything, carving down into the pulpy-warm outside of her brain. It’s greyish pink where it’s been opened, and kind of covered with a pale sheath all around that, the blood just now seeping into the folds and crevices.”

The natural world as brutal: During their hunting incident, the four men’s main transgression is portrayed as assuming too much ownership of and not properly honoring the natural world. And so the elk spirit, representing all of her kind, takes every bit of revenge she desires. Land and nature are sacred to Native tribes, and as much as nature gives life and sustenance, it is also harsh and uncaring. “The land claims what you leave behind.”

Three Descriptive Terms: Gruesome, Vengeful, Thought-Provoking

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works

Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto- Vine Deloria Jr.

This is a classic nonfiction work of activism by Sioux lawyer, professor, and writer Vine Deloria Jr. This collection of essays presents relevant, modern issues that American Indians face with a frankness and humor that is also present in Jones' work. 

American Indian Myths and Legends- Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz

This anthology offers a collection of 160 tales gathered from 80 Native tribes to paint a fascinating panorama of the folklore, religion, and heritage of these people groups. For those interested in the folky feel of The Only Good Indians, this is a great next step.

Native Hoops: The Rise of American Indian Basketball, 1895-1970- by Wade Davies

For those who were intrigued by the importance of basketball in The Only Good Indians, this book will explain the surprisingly rich heritage of basketball in reservations. Davies explains the rocky beginnings of the sport and all that it has come to mean for different groups of Native Americans.

3 Relevant Fiction Works

White Horse- Erika T. Wurth

This novel follows Indigenous woman Kari, who like some of Jones' characters, is trying to run from past traumas. Yet with the emergence of a clue about her mother's death along with a malevolent entity, Kari returns home to face the difficulties of family and spirits. 

The Removed- Brandon Hobson

For those interested in more focus on reservation life and the spirit world, this is a great next step. The Echota family is still morning the police shooting of their teenage son, Ray-Ray, ten years prior, and as they each encounter the Cherokee spiritual world in different ways, they must learn to face this trauma together.

Boy in the Box- Marc E. Fitch

In a very similar yet transported storyline to The Only Good Indians, Boy in the Box follows four friends who are hunting in the Adirondack Mountains, and tragedy strikes, resulting in a boy dead and buried in a legendary area called Coombs' Gulch. Ten years later, the four men return to this momentous area to protect their secret, yet they are met by a malicious supernatural being they must reckon with.