Shaman or Sherlock? The Native American Detective

Subjects:

• Popular Culture » Popular Culture (General)
• Literature » American Literature
• Multicultural Studies » Native American Studies

Reviews:

• Gina Macdonald (Nichols State Univ.) and Andrew Macdonald (Loyola Univ.) have produced a solid and thorough treatment of Native American detective fiction. Like Kathleen Klein's edited collection Diversity and Detective Fiction (1999) and Stephen Soitos's outstanding The Blues Detective: A Study of African American Detective Fiction (CH, Sep'96), the present study attests to the growing interest in detective fiction as a means of addressing questions surrounding issues of race and gender. Dealing with much more than Tony Hillerman's work, the authors study a vast range of Native American authors by concentrating on regional and tribal variations. Throughout, the contrast is between "stories dominated by native spiritualism and shamanistic approaches to detection [and] stories dominated by the more assimilated outlook of ratiocinative detectives."....A sensitive introduction to Native American culture as reflected in detective fiction, this is a book for academic and general readers at all levels.
  —Choice July/August 2002
• I have always noted that incorporating supernatural elements into detective fiction can be tricky, but it can be done and Shaman or Sherlock? has given me much to think about. This book will definitely challenge readers who insist that detection must be based solely on logical, methodical thought...recommended for academic libraries, especially those with popular culture collections.
  —MultiCultural Review September 2002

Table of Contents:

• Introduction
• Two Ways of Knowing: Mainstream and Native American
• Native American Crime and Detection Novels: Earth and Spirit Power
• The Southwestern Detective Story: A Reflection of the Land
• The Southwestern Detective: Shaman or Sherlock?
• Shamans and Sherlocks: Unraveling Crime in the Mountains and on the Plains
• The Northwest: Shamanistic Horror Infuses Eerie Rain Forests
• Alaska and the Canadian Northwest Territories: Wilderness Challenges and Human Limitations
• The East Coast and Great Lakes Nations: Modern Reincarnations of Past Glory
• Conclusion: The "Indian" in Detective Fiction-- Present Realities and Future Directions
• Bibliography
• Index