“The Only Good Indians” is a 2020 horror novel by Stephen Graham Jones. The book follows four friends as they are haunted by a past mistake. Taking place primarily on a Blackfeet Native American reservation in Montana, Jones contributes his own cultural experiences as a member of the Blackfeet tribe to tell this story.
On the first page of the novel, we learn that one of the four friends has been killed in a dispute at a bar. Richard “Ricky” Boss Ribs gets beaten to death by a group of white men outside a bar in North Dakota, where Ricky moved after leaving the reservation in Montana.
The book then switches perspective, introducing the next of the four. Lewis Clarke lives in Great Falls, Montana, with his wife, Peta. We are also introduced to the other half of the core friend group, Cassidy “Cass” Sees Elk and Gabriel “Gabe” Cross Guns. Lewis works at the post office where he meets his new coworker Shaney, a member of the Crow tribe. Soon after meeting Shaney, Lewis confides in her the incident that has been haunting him for years.
The day is retold in a flashback scene. Lewis, Ricky, Gabe and Cass are out hunting elk. They pursue a herd into a section of the reservation reserved for elder members of the tribe, where they are not legally or traditionally allowed to be hunting. Disregarding the rules, they shoot the entire herd, except for one female elk who manages to survive the initial ambush. Lewis shoots the elk again, this time from a shorter distance, finally killing her. He discovers that the elk is pregnant and buries the fetus, promising to himself that none of the mother’s body will go to waste. However, as the group goes to leave, they are stopped by the game warden and forced to dispose of all the elk.
After Lewis and Peta’s dog is mysteriously and brutally killed, Lewis grows paranoid that the mother elk has returned to take revenge on him for killing her calf. He grows suspicious of Shaney and convinces himself that she is an embodiment of the elk’s spirit.
It turns out that the mother elk has come back to take revenge on the remaining friends that were present at the hunt. She takes the form of a human woman with an elk head. Along with taking revenge on the men, she also seeks to kill Gabe’s daughter, Denorah, as she is his “calf”.
There are many reasons why this book is so captivating. For starters, the use of perspective and flashback to tell the story is unlike any other horror novel I’ve ever read. The mother elk’s perspective, told from a second-person point of view, creates an emotional connection between readers and the “antagonist”. The elk doesn’t have any underlying motives for hunting the four. Her instinct is to protect herself and her calf. It’s hard to feel anything but sympathy for her.
Another strength of the novel is its utilization of Native American folklore and culture in a horror setting. In horror media, Native Americans (when even included) are often stereotyped and trivialized, usually by Euro-American producers and authors. Jones, a Blackfeet author, includes real aspects of Blackfeet culture and history, while also addressing issues that modern Native Americans face, including addiction and prejudice.
Overall, this book was very interesting and entertaining. I’d highly recommend any horror or thriller fans to consider reading.
