Native Ghost Stories

David E. Kemp is professor emeritus of drama at Queen’s University.

Lone Pine Publishing has included no information about Darren Zenko or
Amos Gideon, who adapted these traditional stories into modern fiction,
but their empathy with their material suggests that they are both
indigenous North Americans. In the two volumes under review, animals or
objects have supernatural powers, and ancestors help guide or rescue
souls as they struggle for survival against the elements. All of the
stories seek to present readers with a means of dealing with the final
certainty of death.

The stories are eclectic, as befits the diversity of individuals within
the many tribal groupings. A young Blackfoot warrior returns from a
hunting trip accompanied by a frightening force that wreaks havoc in his
community. A Brule Sioux turns the tables on four ghosts and then
encounters something much worse. A Navajo tries to save his brother from
the evil spider woman. A man and his wife help a dead Sioux girl return
to life and she devotes the rest of her days to healing the sick.

Both volumes offer readers a glimpse of the depth and breadth of First
Peoples cultures. But individuals or libraries need not purchase both of
them: the only difference between them is the title.