Mean Spirit :: Essays Papers

Mean SpiritOur story takes place on an oil- risque Native American town, called Watona, on a reservation in Oklahoma. The cut through of the story extends from 1918 to the mid-twenties.There is a multitude of characters that accompany this story. One of the most important characters is Nola Blanket, a young teenager who is a full-blooded Osage Indian. She is a real delicate girl but still very strong. Her mother, Grace Blanket, is a very beautiful, well-liked young woman who is very outgoing and fun-loving. Belle Graycloud is a feisty, strong-willed Indian woman. She is well respected and is the commanding grandmother of her household. Her family is very close to the Blankets, who are distant cousins. Belles daughter, Lettie, is a close friend of Grace. Letties lover, Benoit, is an Osage man that is matrimonial to Graces crippled sister, Sara Blanket but he is more like a brother and caretaker to her than he is a husband.Michael Horse is the fire keeper of the Osage tribe , but he also writes in his spare time. He is an old man who observes everything around him and writes it down in his journals. Stace Red Hawk is a Sioux Indian that works for the FBI. He became a federal agent in hopes of helping the Native Americans and protecting them from being taken advantage of. John Hale is a tall, lanky white rancher and oilman. He is trusted by the Indians, and seems to be a generous and helpful person.Watona was a small Indian town that prospered due to the rich rivers of oil flowing beneath it. As part of the Dawes Act, each Indian was allowed to choose an allotment of land not already claimed by white Americans. Although the clx acres of land per Indian seemed generous, the land was barren and dry. The government did not know, however, that black oil seeped up out of the earth, and many Indians became very wealthy because of their shadowy pieces of land. As a result of the Indians wealth, hundreds of white businessmen, fortune-hunters, traders, th ieves, and swindlers s fervided to the reservation to make cash. When Grace Blanket is murdered by John Hale on a warm summer morning, it is made to look like a suicide and the local law enforcement passes it off as such.