The worst thing about this anthology, likely, is its production and marketing. In some effort to make readers believe they were getting unique and deeply unsettling stories from a collection of indigenous writers, instead we get a solid collection of stories from a wide array of serious writers which each address difficult but significant topics.  Some of these, to be sure, are horror or supernatural in nature, but even here, much of the magic of the stories comes from the questions the characters face, questions faced in any event by contemporary Indian culture.

Most of the reviews I've seen which are critical are about thwarted expectation; and I count myself among one who bought into the expectation. Seeing that Shane Hawk had created the collection and enlisted Stephen Graham Jones for an introduction, I think I was right to do so. 

But what we are offered instead is a much wider array of (mostly) contemporary challenges, on the nature of allyship, the purity of story, racism, personal and family legacy, intergenerational conflict, love, and--along the way--a healthy smattering of curses, ghosts, and the occasional  monster. As with any anthology, not every story is of equal 'matter,' but there are enough that wield subtle and not-so-subtle power, regardless of their genre: Mona Susan Powers, Kelli Jo Ford, Mathilda Zeller, and D.H. Trujillo are some whose stories will stay with me.

And, of course, immersing one's self in this writing and supporting indigenous art and writing is itself necessity. Many of these stories are addressed fairly directly to me, my preconceptions and privileged choices, my notions of my own story. And most all are addressed to all of us, in how we manage the shifting complexities of managing our grief and our politics, our respect and love. Worth the read.