Which U.S. military unit and commander were responsible for the attack on Chief Heavy Runner’s camp during the Marias Massacre?

The $2^{nd}$ U.S. Cavalry under Major Eugene Baker.

Literary Method: Epistolary

Definition: A narrative told through documents like letters or diaries. Example: Arthur Beaucarne’s 1912 manuscript in *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter*.

In the vampire lore of *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter*, what physical change occurs to the undead based on their 'metabolic transformation'?

They grow to resemble the specific creatures or people they consume.

According to the novel *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter*, why must the vampire Good Stab consume the blood of his own Pikuni people?

To maintain his human Pikuni identity and avoid transforming into a settler or animal.

In Aaron John Curtis’s *Old School Indian*, what does the protagonist Abe Jacobs’ medical condition symbolize on a thematic level?

The 'colonization of the body' and physical manifestation of cultural disconnection.

What This Deck Covers

This deck maps the vocabulary essential for reading contemporary Indigenous fiction with attention and care, organised into five domains. The first domain — narrative sovereignty and form — covers the terminology of how Indigenous authors claim structural authority: the triple-frame narrative that spans centuries, the epistolary method as a tool for historical reckoning, and the deliberate choice of who gets to tell which story and through what medium. The second domain addresses historical trauma and its vocabulary: the specific language of the Marias Massacre, the boarding school system and its stated aim of assimilation, the Indian Child Welfare Act as a legal framework, and the terminology of intergenerational grief that flows through contemporary narratives. The third domain maps survivance and its related vocabulary — Gerald Vizenor’s foundational concept of an active Indigenous presence that moves beyond victimhood, along with the related terms for cultural continuity, language preservation, and community accountability that appear across contemporary texts. The fourth domain covers embodied vocabulary: how authors use physical transformation — the vampire’s metabolic change, the medical condition as a symbol of colonisation, the body as a site of cultural disconnection and reclamation — to make abstract historical forces tangible. The fifth domain addresses autobiographical and testimonial forms: the memoir of boarding school legacy, the diary as historical witness, and the academic-framing device that connects ancestral stories to contemporary institutional life. Each card anchors its term in a specific novel, grounding the vocabulary in the fiction that embodies it.

Who This Deck Is For

Intermediate readers who have discovered Stephen Graham Jones, Tommy Orange, and other prominent Indigenous authors but want to read with greater contextual awareness — understanding the historical specificity behind the fiction, recognising the formal innovations that distinguish Indigenous storytelling, and engaging with the critical vocabulary that Indigenous scholars and authors themselves use — this deck builds that foundation. Advanced readers, educators, and book club facilitators who want to lead discussions with accuracy and respect: knowing the legal and historical frameworks that shape contemporary narratives, distinguishing between the distinct traditions of different Indigenous nations, and using terminology that emerges from within Indigenous literary criticism rather than being imposed from outside. Beginners should start with the contemporary Indigenous fiction guide for an accessible overview of the key authors and contexts.

How to Get the Most Out of It

Study in 20-minute sessions of 20 to 25 cards. The “Known” threshold carries particular weight for this deck: Indigenous literary terminology includes concepts that are frequently misrepresented in mainstream criticism, so mark a card mastered only when you can explain the term in a way that respects its origin in Indigenous critical thought. Shuffle mode matters because the deck clusters terms by historical period and nation — without randomisation, you learn the organisational scheme rather than the individual concepts. To deepen engagement, pair each card with its corresponding novel: read the book, then return to the card and assess whether your direct encounter with the text confirmed, complicated, or expanded the definition. For book clubs tackling Indigenous fiction, reviewing the survivance and narrative-sovereignty cards before the meeting ensures that the discussion uses vocabulary that emerges from within the tradition rather than importing external categories.

Connect the Dots

After working through the deck, test your applied knowledge with the literature quiz, which includes questions on Indigenous authors and their formal innovations within the broader literary landscape. To see how contemporary Indigenous fiction connects to other literary movements — gothic, speculative, autobiographical — the contemporary literary landscape mind map reveals the relationships across traditions. For a portable reference you can carry to discussions or classes, the Buffalo Hunter Hunter PDF guide distills key authors, historical contexts, and critical terms. And for the full editorial treatment, the guide to contemporary Indigenous fiction traces how authors from Stephen Graham Jones to Tommy Orange are reshaping American literature.

Indigenous Flashcards

Card 1 / 65

Question

In Stephen Graham Jones's *The Buffalo Hunter Hunter*, what specific 1870 historical atrocity serves as the novel's 'gravitational center'?

Answer

The Marias Massacre.

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