Spirit Crossing: Cork O’Connor Mysteries, Book 20, William Kent Krueger, author; David Chandler, narrator
In Spirit Crossing, Cork, his two sons and his grandson, Waaboo, go blueberry hunting, they find the first field is surprisingly picked clean, leaving nothing for others. They decide to go to a place that Cork thinks no one else knows about. The blueberry fields there, are on the property of an eccentric man who has died. Once there, however, the group gets far more than they bargained for, and they get no blueberries.
What they discover on this property begins to not only solve the crimes of several missing women, but it also exposes the many injustices that continue to exist in the community of indigenous peoples. Seven-year-old Waaboo shocks the group when he suddenly senses the ghost of a troubled young woman. Could Waaboo have been gifted with second sight? Could this be one of the missing indigenous women? Apparently, of more concern to law enforcement, has been a missing Caucasian woman from a prominent, upper-class family. This turns out to be the grave of an indigenous woman of unknown identity, which they tend to ignore. Therefore, the Tribal Police get more involved. Although law enforcement doesn’t want to rely on the visions of a seven-year-old child, after he reveals that he had kind of a thought conversation with the ghost of the woman in the grave, they allow him to lead them into the abandoned shack on the property. They find another body. Waaboo has helped law enforcement, but he is now of concern to the criminals. Someone leaked his identity, and he is in danger.
This period of time should be a happy one for the O’Connors, because they are about to have a wedding in the family, Cork’s daughter Annie, who has been away for a very long time, returns for the wedding harboring secrets. She does not want to share them until after the wedding, so as not to rain on her brother’s parade. When she returns, she and her friend Maria participate in the peaceful demonstrations of Native Americans, from many tribes, that are protesting the development of an oil pipeline that will go through their sacred land. They are protesting the destruction of Mother Earth by the greedy.
Some of the habits, way of life, folklore and culture of Native Americans are explored. Sometimes, because it is not native to my lifestyle, parts of the story did not seem credible. For instance, it stretched the imagination to think a 7-year-old could have the power to see into the spirit world, or to be so mature that his philosophy would be sought out, Also, Uncle Henry Meloux is an elderly Ojibwe. He is also gifted with second sight. His explanations, calming and often heartwarming, add to the beauty of the story as the culture is revealed, but sometimes require the suspension of disbelief. The peace and harmony that the author promotes in the indigenous community seems to add to the disparities between the different cultures and how they treat each other.
The author has based part of the story on the life of a Native American law enforcement officer whose child was a victim of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The child eventually succumbed to the lack of treatment for the after-effects as she sought a lifestyle fraught with danger. Eventually she was trafficked and murdered.
I wondered why the author chose to make Annie a lesbian when she returned home with her friend Maria. I am not sure what it added to the narrative. Also, white people are generalized largely as villains, intent on trampling on the rights of the Indians. They are motivated by selfishness, while Indians are motivated by caring for Mother Earth and sharing the wonders of the environment.
I look forward to reading books by this author because they are generally interesting and cover issues that need to be exposed. This book covers the abuse of indigenous women. Too often they are murdered or sex trafficked as they try to escape the reservation and find a better life. The behavior of the non-native population toward the native population is often beneath contempt. He hopes, that although he is not a member of the culture, he will bring more daylight to their issues and help to bring positive change to them.