The Only Good Indians

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 1, Chapter 6

Part 1, Chapters 7-12

Part 2, Chapters 13-18

Part 2, Chapters 19-26

Part 3, Chapters 27-31

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Character Analysis

Lewis Clarke

In the wake of the hunting incident where Lewis Clarke shot a pregnant elk cow as it struggled to survive, he is overcome with guilt. Shortly after, he meets Peta, a white woman, and they move away from the Blackfoot reservation and marry. He gets a job with the postal service and spends the next decade avoiding his feelings of guilt over his own actions and his abandonment of the reservation. This guilt becomes the key character trait driving him. He attempts to build a life in opposition to the shame he feels. Still, he thinks of himself as on display often, especially the Blackfoot identity that is a rarity in Great Falls, and he imagines the newspaper headlines written about him frequently, conceiving of himself as a noteworthy story or object lesson about what Blackfeet are like. Despite his attempts to erase his actions, he is still left with a nagging sense that karmic justice is coming for him.

When Elk Head Woman begins to haunt him, it’s through leveraging his guilt and shame that she succeeds. His relationship with Shaney is fraught with temptation, but he also sees in her an opportunity to connect with someone who would understand why his actions were such an egregious violation of nature and tribal custom. As the supernatural events around him heighten, he descends into paranoia, which drives him to commit violence upon Shaney in a deluded attempt at self-preservation. When Peta dies from falling off the ladder, his inaction mirrors his earlier inability to try and save Harley. He doesn’t believe he deserves the good things he has, so he does nothing to try and preserve them.

His flight with the newborn elk calf is a distorted version of the family he wanted to have but didn’t think he deserved, and his arc ends exactly as he thought it would: He is killed because of his own actions.

Gabriel “Gabe” Cross Guns

Gabriel Cross Guns has a poor reputation on the reservation, due primarily to his problem with alcohol, which leads to him having a public, violent outburst at his daughter Denorah’s basketball game, an event that puts a further strain on his relationship with her. He is also known for cheating people or and is seen as untrustworthy, as is exemplified in his stealing of the antique rifle from his father to pay Cass for the sweat lodge. He’s aware of all this, and that awareness informs his sense of shame: He’s become a stereotype of Indigenous identity, struggling with vice and dishonorable actions yet filled with a sense of pride.

His saving grace, and what he chooses to put his pride in, is his daughter Denorah. He sees her as a kind of salvation: Her talent on the basketball court promises to take her off the reservation toward a better life, and he longs for that for her, in part because of what it says about himself. When Elk Head Woman executes her plan, he is willing to end his own life if it means sparing Denorah’s—in his view, her life is the only thing worth preserving in his own.

Cassidy “Cass” Sees Elk

Cassidy Sees Elk has long lived like Gabe, but his life has recently turned around thanks to his relationship with Jolene, a Crow woman he met and quickly fell in love with. Together, they’ve secured him steady employment and set up a homestead together, and he intends to marry her. He is protective of his budding future, and he sees this potential as his saving grace.

Cassidy longs to take Blackfoot traditions seriously, though he doesn’t know how, as is exemplified by his providing a cassette tape of tribal drums, a cheap facsimile of the real thing. His time in court-mandated recovery made a strong impression on him, especially the words of the elder Neesh who ran his group, and he is trying to find meaning for himself. The sweat lodge, for Cass, is a real chance to reset and reconnect with what’s valuable.

All of this has put him at cross purposes with his best friend Gabe, who represents the things he’s now afraid or ashamed of. When Elk Head Woman begins to prey upon them, it’s through making Cass believe the darkest thoughts he’s had about his friend: that Gabe will somehow destroy Cass’s stability and future.

Denorah

Denorah is driven by her love of basketball and her desire to make something of herself, a pressure put on her by her father and the community at large that she embraces. She spends every moment she can on the court, and she tends to be cocky about her abilities, frequently getting in trouble on the court for showboating. She sees herself as a rising star, and she is afraid of anything that might drag her down, including her father Gabe, who she is ashamed of.

She embodies the Final Girl trope of horror stories in that she has the capability, compassion, and drive to live that the other characters lack because they are emotionally crippled by their past or present vices. However, to live she must realize the danger she is in and let go of her belief that she can dominate her enemy. She ultimately ends the cycle of violence in the book because of her compassion and her desire to honor nature, indicating the value of truly understanding her Blackfoot cultural heritage.