The Bone Picker by Devon A. Mihesuah
University of Oklahoma Press (October 2024)
Reviewed by Rowan B. Minor
Devon A. Mihesuah is a writer, historian, and the Cora Lee Beers Price Professor in the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University of Kansas. She is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation, and a Chickasaw, Norwegian, French, German, and Irish descendant. Mihesuah served as editor of the American Indian Quarterly, and most of her own work tackles colonization, Indigenous stereotypes, Native women, and violence against Natives. She has written several award-winning books, including Choctaw Crime and Punishment, 1884–1887; American Indigenous Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism; and American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities. Mihesuah is the recipient of numerous awards, including from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ford Foundation, and American Historical Association. Her most recent book, The Bone Picker, is a fictional collection of Indigenous horror short stories.
The Bone Picker contains twelve short, but vivid, haunting stories that center around Choctaw lore, legends, cryptids, and deities. Starting with the book’s introduction, Mihesuah invites us into her mythos by preserving the Native tradition of oral storytelling. Many stories within The Bone Picker are not solely Indigenous folklore, but present as allegories as her characters learn some type of lesson along the way. With the author’s evident and palpable knowledge of her Native history and ancestry, she does not need to rely on any of the usual horror tropes, but instead lures readers into her fully-developed world of unconventional narratives. The effective decision to include setting before and within each story enhances the non-indigenous reader’s experience by providing additional context for those who might not have first-hand knowledge of Choctaw history. These timelines, which sometimes span across centuries, deeply strengthen the stories’ significance and authentic mythological credibility.
Even through her fiction, Mihesuah is an advocate for Indigenous voices and is quick to correct the ignorance that surrounds Native culture. A bewitching storyteller, Mihesuah’s work is not just engaging, but educational, and her themes seem to be chosen cautiously and conscientiously. The titular story, “Hattak Fullih Nipi Foli: The Bone Picker,” describes these Native pickers as someone who “uses his fingernails to strip the flesh” from the deceased. Then, they remove the bones for a bone house and paint the skull red. After further research on this ancient Choctaw burial ritual, it is also said that pickers were primarily men who were revered as spiritually powerful people. Stories in The Bone Picker also include fictionalized tellings of real people, such as Ned Christie, a member of the executive council in the Cherokee Nation senate who was accused of killing a U.S. Marshal and Solomon Hotema, a Choctaw preacher who murdered seven people he accused of witchcraft.
These stories are fast-paced, but not rushed, and are written in such a way that allows readers to fully digest their substance in the present moment. There are many graphic scenes of animal hunting and other Native rituals that might not be for the more sensitive-stomached thrill-seekers. However, these scenes, while ghastly, are carefully imagined and effectively serve their purpose.
Although stories in The Bone Picker are fictional, Mihesuah’s evocative use of language is exceptionally visual and stimulating for the senses. The overall essence of this collection feels “real” and comes from a deep place of authenticity. These stories are gripping and will leave you in a chokehold. Original is an understatement; Mihesuah’s literary voice is distinctively unmatched, and The Bone Picker fills a massive void in both genres of horror and folklore. This collection is multi-generational and will preserve Indigenous traditions of The Old Ways and Primitive America through fiction for years to come.
