The Bone Picker

Native Stories, Alternate Histories

De: Devon A. Mihesuah

Narrado por: Charley Flyte

Under the shadow of gray clouds, three children venture into the woods, where they spot the corpse of an old man on a scaffold. Suddenly a wild figure emerges, with long fingernails and tangled hair. It is the Hattak fullih nipi foni, the bone picker, who comes to tear off rotting flesh with his fingernails. Only the Choctaws who adhere to the old ways will speak of him. The frightening bone picker is just one of many entities, scary and mysterious, who lurk behind every moment of this spine-tingling collection of Native fiction, written by award-winning Choctaw author Devon A. Mihesuah.

As a Choctaw citizen, with deep ties to Indian Territory and Oklahoma, Mihesuah grew up hearing the stories of her ancestors. In the tradition of Native storytelling, she spins tales that move back and forth fluidly across time. The ancient beings, we discover, followed the tribe from their original homelands in Mississippi and are now ever-present influences on tribal consciousness.

While some of the horrors told here are "real life" in nature, the art of fiction that Mihesuah employs reveals surprising outcomes or alternative histories. It turns out the things that scare us the most can lead to the answers we are seeking and even ensure our very survival.

©2024 Gregory Mark Shaw, Prologue and afterword copyright 2024 by Charlie Soap (P)2024 Tantor Media

a different viewpoint

After reading through Graham Jones ' marvelous, spooky works, I have been delving into indigenous horror stories. Among other things, it's understood that part of the horror is the experience of being overrun and subjugated, and the way that different cultures from the US dominant expresses this. This book dishes up subtle stories that are involving, not heavy handed, but give a lot to think about.

Native American story and voice.

The Bone Picker was a good mystery, the action was well paced and the characters were developed to the point of interest. I throughly enjoyed the narrator voice as well as her pacing it was a perfect match for the book.
I could easily compare the vibe of the book one of Tony Hillerman’s.
Enjoy!