Mean Spirit

“Even resting outside in the iron bed surrounded by night’s terrain, Belle was a commanding woman with the first morning light on her strong-boned face.”

This passage speaks to Belle’s characterization. She is a respected member of her community and the matriarch of her family. Her commanding presence and dedication to her family stand her in great stead, and she is widely respected by the Osage people.

“The act that offered allotments to the Indians, the Dawes Act, seemed generous at first glance so only a few people realized how much they were being tricked, since numerous tracts of unclaimed land became open property for white settlers, homesteaders, and ranchers.” 

This passage reflects the theme of Greed, Corruption, and Anti-Indigenous Racism. White people in the area had given the Osage people their land allotments based on their belief that the land was worthless. Although it had been advertised as a gift to Indigenous people from the government, it was actually a sign of anti-Indigenous racism.

“That morning he was sitting outside on a rock watching the fire. It was an important fire. It had descended from the coals of his ancestors.”

Michael Horse speaks these lines. There is a tension in this novel between traditional Indigenous culture and the changes brought to the Osage people by modernity and through contact with white culture. Several of the Osage characters embrace white culture, but others, like Michael, remain dedicated to traditional Osage cultural practices.