Wind from an Enemy Sky

Wind From an Enemy Sky is a 1978 historical fiction novel by D’Arcy McNickle. It tells the story of the fictional Little Elk tribe in the northwestern United States and their attempts to navigate the advancement of white colonization on their lands. McNickle based the story on his life as a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation. The novel was McNickle’s last and was published posthumously. While it never won any awards, the book received positive criticism for its portrayal of the cultural friction between Indigenous Americans and the United States and is considered a critical work of Indigenous American literature.

This guide refers to the 1988 paperback edition published by University of New Mexico Press.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide address themes of racism, cultural erasure, and violence against Indigenous people.

Plot Summary

The novel explores the struggles the Little Elk tribe faces with white settlers and encroaching modernity in the early 20th century. Bull, the tribe’s chief, goes to the river with his grandson, Antoine. They discover that it has been defiled by a dam built on their ancestral lands, and Bull ineffectually shoots at it. His brother, Henry Jim, seeks to reconcile with both Bull and the tribe by reclaiming their lost Feather Boy bundle, an item of extreme cultural significance to Little Elk that he gave away years prior. To get the bundle back, he seeks help at the Little Elk Indian Agency from a government agent named Toby Rafferty. Rafferty, who has struggled for years to bridge the cultural divide, talks to Reverend Welles, the local missionary involved in the original removal of the medicine bundle. Welles tells him that he won’t help because it will undo the “progress” he made on the tribe.

Henry Jim’s plans to mend rifts and restore the Little Elk tribe’s cultural identity are interrupted by the actions of Pock Face, a young man from the tribe. He goes to the dam and, in an act of revenge against the white settlers, shoots and kills the dam’s caretaker. The discovery of the murder triggers the suspicion of US marshal Sid Grant against the Little Elk community. This leads the authorities to detain Bull and the other men from his camp. While Rafferty attempts to mediate between the tribe and law enforcement, Henry Jim’s men arrive to appeal for his assistance in securing the return of the medicine bundle again, saying that Henry Jim is dying. Bull and the other men talk with The Boy, the tribal police officer, and argue over their ideas of justice and whether or not to cooperate with the white authorities. Pock Face attempts to confess to the murder, but the others deny this. Bull says he wants to join Henry Jim, and they are released. Meanwhile, the women, helped by Antoine, depart the camp and inadvertently hamper Grant’s attempts to look for evidence of the missing murder weapon. After Antoine ensures that they are safe, he goes to the agency’s compound to find Bull, only to be directed to Henry Jim’s ranch. The parents of the dead caretaker also arrive to retrieve his body, along with his uncle, Adam Pell, who is both the designer of the dam and fascinated by Indigenous cultures.

Rafferty, accompanied by the local doctor, Doc Edwards, and The Boy, visits the dying Henry Jim at his ranch. The Little Elk men again press Rafferty on the medicine bundle, and he says that Bull should meet with him the next day to discuss it further. Back at the agency, Grant presents dubious evidence linking Bull’s camp to the caretaker’s murder to Rafferty, Pell, and the man’s parents. Bull arrives with Antoine and The Boy. The tense situation is further complicated by Pock Face, who arrives, says that Henry Jim has died, and again confesses to the killing at the dam. When he reveals his motives, Pell realizes that he is responsible for the situation and, in an attempt to be forgiven, decides to return the medicine bundle.

Following Henry Jim’s funeral, there is a shift in the dynamics within the Little Elk tribe. Some members go to Rafferty for help with farming, and Bull begins to trust The Boy to serve as an intermediary between the tribe and the government. The people of Bull’s group return to their original camp. Bull seeks the guidance of Two Sleeps, an old man in their group, after the latter returns from a solitary journey into the mountains. However, the old man refuses to say anything, leading to unease in the camp. Pell, meanwhile, returns to New York and searches his museum for the medicine bundle. He discovers that it was discarded and destroyed by pests. This prompts him to search for a substitute gift for the tribe, and he chooses a gold Andean figurine from his collection. He sends a message to Bull’s camp that he has returned with a gift for the tribe and a lawyer to represent Pock Face. Despite their doubts over the settlers’ intentions, Bull and the other men prepare to meet Pell. When Rafferty and Doc Edwards learn what happened to the bundle, they warn Pell against telling the Little Elk men, fearing that it will only worsen the situation. Pell, however, insists that it will be fine.

Bull leads a group to the Little Elk Agency for the meeting with Rafferty and Pell, hoping for the fulfillment of the assistance promised by Henry Jim. Along the way, they share songs and reflect on the past. Two Sleeps also heads alone into the woods. Bull’s first wife, Veronica, concerned for Two Sleeps’s safety, follows him. As they also make their way to the agency, Two Sleeps reveals that what he learned on the mountain was that the medicine bundle was destroyed, and he is wracked with guilt over not disclosing the news sooner. At the agency, Pell confesses his involvement in the bundle’s destruction and the dam’s construction. In response, Bull shoots and kills both Pell and Rafferty and is, in turn, killed by The Boy. The novel closes with Two Sleeps’s resignation to the somber reality of the tribe’s situation.