Mean Spirit

Michael Horse is one of the last members of the Osage to live in a teepee. He is a “firekeeper,” and keeps a sacred fire lit outside his doorway. The role of firekeeper had been passed down through his family since before the Osage purchased land in Oklahoma. Michael has premonitions, and he understands that Belle is about to approach his teepee. She does, and shares the news about Grace. She tells him that her family thinks that it was a “lover’s quarrel,” but she is not so sure. Michael agrees that the situation is dire and that it is possible that she was killed over her oil-rich land. Many white men covet the oil rights of the Osage, and it is not uncommon for them to marry Osage women in hopes of gaining access to their wealth.

A strange man appears outside the Graycloud house, and Belle’s other daughter, Louise, and her white husband, Floyd, realize the man is Nola’s relative, come to take her back to the hill. The Grayclouds do not want to let the girl go, knowing Grace’s death has made her wealthy and therefore vulnerable, and that there is a new law mandating boarding school for all children on the hill. Nola is so distraught that she barely moves or speaks; neither she nor Rena have been able to identify the men who killed Grace. 

Benoit, a horse trader, arrives with his trailer. He is Lettie’s lover, but also the legal husband of Sara Blanket, Nola’s aunt. He learns about Grace’s murder, and wants to alert the sheriff. He is persuaded otherwise, but remains upset. There have been 17 murders within the small Osage community during the last six months, and people are afraid. Later that day, a white man finds Grace’s body, and reports that a “drunk” Osage woman died by suicide. Benoit is called in to identify the body, and when he suggests that there was foul play, he is told that Grace had just been cited for disturbing the peace, that she was a known troublemaker, and that her suicide, obviously the result of alcohol abuse, is not in question. Grace’s grave is later robbed, which is a common practice in the area, as local white people know that the Osage bury their dead with jewelry.

In Washington, DC, Stace Red Hawk, a Lakota law enforcement officer, offers tobacco to the four corners of the earth before he starts his day. Although he works in government, he misses his home of South Dakota. At work, his partner Levee informs him about Grace’s case, although it is not their jurisdiction. There has been a lot of mysterious crime in Osage country lately, and he does not think that Grace’s death was a suicide. The two are curious. 

Fall has arrived and it is the day of the Osage tribe’s quarterly payments for land and oil-rights leases. John Hale presides over the process, and is ready with a quick offer of a cash payment to any individual who finds themselves already in debt and wanting to sell off a portion of their land. Hale has lived among the Osage all his life, and although some of his ranching innovations have been lucrative, opinions about him are mixed. His girlfriend, China, is reading the paper, and comments that she does not believe Grace killed herself. He questions her sharply, and she informs him that there is going to be an investigation into her death.

Although he prefers solitude, Michael Horse is on his way to Watona to buy some bear grease and talk with the people who have gathered there on payment day. He knows that white people resent having to pay Osage for the lease of their land, and there is much animosity between the two groups. White people also resent what they see as the flaunting of Osage wealth, and they criticize how the Osage spend their money. In the room where the funds are distributed, Michael observes the palpable tension between white people and members of the Osage tribe. He witnesses multiple acts of open disrespect, and knows that even if the white men gathered were aware of how intelligent and educated many of the Osage were, it wouldn’t matter to them. The government even withholds a portion of the money owed to many Osage, deeming them “incompetent” and in need of financial guardians. It is typically full-blooded Osage individuals who are deemed incompetent; those with white heritage are trusted, but receive less money because they are not fully Osage.

John Hale has been taking out life insurance policies on Osage men who owe him money, explaining to them that he is willing to wait until their death to collect the money unless they can pay it sooner. Although this seems like a good deal to many, the doctor who examines the men for the insurance companies to issue a policy has noticed that a few of these individuals have died suddenly. He is leery of the sheriff and doesn’t want to report his suspicions locally, but he did try to contact the authorities in Washington, DC, who told him that there was not enough evidence.

Lettie and Benoit attend the carnival in Watona. A fortune teller calls Lettie over and tells her that she is having a vision of things “flying apart” for Lettie. Stunned, Lettie pays her and they leave. Taking her hat off to kiss her, Benoit finds a hidden knife and asks her what she is doing with it. She responds that since Grace’s death, she has lived in constant fear, and although he tries to blame Grace for getting herself killed, Lettie admonishes him, telling him that he knows just as well as everyone else that Grace was murdered.

A few days later, Michael Horse holds a ceremony in his teepee. Moses, his sister Ruth, and others gather together. The prevailing mood is one of frustration and fear: The Osage are tired of mistreatment at the hands of white oilmen and government officials, and the string of suspicious deaths and unsolved murders has everyone on edge. They hear a loud explosion nearby. Benoit, hearing it too, hurries home. He finds his house engulfed in flames. Sara was inside, and although Benoit spent the entire evening with Lettie, he is arrested for arson. Belle and Lettie go to visit him in jail, dressed in traditional clothing that amuses the white people they pass along the way. Belle knows that they prefer to see traditional dress because it is less confusing to them than wealthy Osage men and women dressed like their white neighbors. Belle and Lettie tell Benoit that someone has filed a claim for Sara’s money, but that they were unable to find out who. Everyone knows that Benoit did not burn his own house down or kill his wife, but the white sheriff claims that he has witnesses who will testify otherwise.

Michael Horse is on his way to Watona. He had a dream that an Osage man named John Thomas was killed near the auction tree, and he wants to see if that man is okay. He also plans to join a local poker game. In town, an elderly Osage man named John Stink collapses suddenly and is pronounced dead. Shocked, Michael searches for John Thomas. Nearby, John Hale worries about Walker, one of his life-insurance-scam men, who plans to die by suicide. This would mean that his policy wouldn’t pay, and Hale tries to convince his friend Mardy to kill the man, arguing that it wouldn’t be murder really because Walker is already planning his own death. Rumors swirl around the death of John Stink, and most of the Osage believe he was poisoned. Although not a young man, he had not been unhealthy, and his death doesn’t make sense. There was truth in Michael Horse’s dream, for John Thomas is found dead from a gunshot wound through his neck. Fear and worry increase in the Osage community.

Michael Horse is arrested for the murder of John Thomas, and Belle is detained by the sheriff for attacking a group of hunters who were killing eagles. Moses, sent to pick up Belle from the jail, explains to the sheriff that Michael was playing poker with him and could not have killed John Thomas. Because Michael has signed IOUs from the poker game, the sheriff lets him go. He also lets Belle go without charges. Belle, returning to the house, sees the watchers, four men from the Hill Community sent to guard Nola, standing outside, and feels reassured by their presence.