Smith 1

Nicolas Smith
Tarpalechee
ENGL-2733
22 November 2022
Summary
Darcie Little Badger is of Lipan Apache heritage and this shows greatly through her
works. Many of her published works include aspects of Lipan Apache belief and history. This
connection to her heritage can clearly be shown in one of her recent works: Elatsoe. Ellie, or
Elatsoe as the book’s title suggests, is a seventeen year old girl living in northern Texas. Ellie
comes from a long lineage of women from the Lipan Apache tribe that pass down the
knowledge of how to summon the dead. These powers are rare however similar powers exist in
the universe that the book takes place in. Spiritual and supernatural beings and occurrences
exist and are commonplace in the modern day setting that the book is set in. For instance,
vampires also exist in this universe in their typical blood sucking fashion. One night, Ellie finds
herself greeted by her cousin in a dream. He tells her of his murder and calls for her to uncover
and expose his killer. Ellie begins her investigation while she is in the town of Willowbee for her
cousin's funeral. Ellie, her friends, and her family uncover the truth about Abe Allerton, a doctor
with the power to transfer wounds from one person to another. Allerton used this power to save
himself after a car accident by using Ellie’s cousin as a donor. During her investigation, Allerton
caught on to Ellie and awoke the ghost of her cousin while attempting to hide his crime. Ellie
and her friends crash Allerton’s party in order to stop the vengeful ghost from killing everyone
present. Eventually the truth is uncovered that the entire community is in on the scheme. Ellie
manages to summon all of the dogs of her ancestors to overwhelm the ghost, allowing exorcists
to contain him while Ellie focuses on Allerton. Ellie goes against the stories she has heard about
her ancestors and brought Allerton with her to where dead spirits go. She leaves Allerton there
as punishment for what he has done over the past two hundred years. As the book winds down,
it is clear that Ellie plans on ensuring that if another event like Willowbee were to happen, that
she would be able to stop it.

Critical Analysis
There are many themes present in Elatsoe, however the one that seems to stand out the
most is that of listening to the stories of your elders. This theme is heavily present throughout
the book as Ellie is told the story of her Six-Great. Ellie’s mother provides many different pieces
of the story as the book goes on and often the stories contain wisdom and insight into
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understanding the issues that Ellie is currently facing or is going to face soon. The values that
the book presents are somewhat broad however many can be understood with clarity through
the narrative. For instance, there is a strong message that family is an important value. Ellie
relies on the generations before her as well as the other family that surrounds her to achieve her
goals. Native heritage and culture plays a large role throughout the book. The stories that Ellie
is told as a part of her culture allow her to achieve the goals she sets. Without the aid of these
stories, the book makes it clear that Ellie would greatly be putting herself in danger if she was
not careful. These stories also tell a lot about the culture of the Lipan Apache people. The book
displays Native Americans in a very modern way. For instance, when talking about her heritage,
Ellie's mother reminds a vampire that the Apache people exist.
“Really, you’ve never heard of us?’
‘I know what Apaches were–”
‘Were? This land is still our home, and Euro-vamps can’t occupy a home when they’re
unwelcome.’” (Badger 153)
This referencing how there is a modern misbelief that Native American people no longer exist. A
major aspect of this book is its reflection on the initial colonization of the United States and the
effects that it had on the native cultures that existed. The town of Willowbee is moved often in
search of a community to take advantage of. For instance, the town had been moved to near
the Rio Grande during the setting of the book in order to prey on native and immigrant
populations in the area. Often the people of the town are called leeches by the characters of the
book. The imagery of a leech reflects colonization in the way that both take necessary things
from what they attach to. Colonizers remove and land resources from native populations in the
same way that a leech sucks the blood from their victims. The dialogue in the book reflects this
as well. At the end of the book, during the climax, Allerton reveals that he believes himself to be
a neutral power. He claims that as much harm he does he makes up for it in good. He killed
Ellie’s cousin however in return he funded his victim’s daughter to go to college. This ideology
heavily reflects that of the colonizers of America. It was often understood that what they were
doing was wrong, destroying cultures and committing genocide is often difficult to praise,
however replacing that culture with their own was what they deemed appropriate as a solution.
The idea that the culture and technology that they obtained being greater and therefore more
important than what they were replacing. This reflection allows the story to achieve a message
against undermining other cultures. These reflections, as well as the stories that Ellie is told of
her Six-Great, provides readers with more insight into the terrible nature in which the native
people were treated during the time of colonization. Without these reflections, the book would
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lose an important historical message that works very well with the cultural approach it takes to
its storytelling.

Comparison to Other Texts

Oral storytelling plays a major role in Elatsoe. The practice is tied into Ellie’s culture. The
Chiricahua Apache Nation website says: “Apaches educate, advocate and promote our culture
through oral tradition––through spoken word and stories, also expressed through song and
dance.” (Chiricahua Apache Nation) Ellie’s powers being granted through knowledge rather than
simply inherited means that the plot relies entirely on the stories that Ellie is told in order for her
to understand more about her powers. For instance, Ellie accidentally goes too far with her
powers and ends up in a ghostly prehistoric ocean. After this event she meets with a spiritual
advisor. This advisor has helped Ellie and her family pass down the secrets to her powers as
she has grown up. “‘Once I am gone, you need to tell her the last story of your heroic ancestor.
It’s time.’”(Badger 230) This quote shows that Ellie is not told all of the stories of her Great-Six in
order to ease her into her powers. If Ellie is taught too much about how far she can push
summoning the dead, the power would overwhelm her. By telling her the stories of her Great-Six
to her in this fashion allows Ellie to practice her knowledge and abilities at a smaller and safer
scale. Eastman’s Indian Boyhood, reflects this idea of being ready for certain stories and the
information that they hold. During Eastman’s story, it is revealed that his grandmother holds an
important knowledge of their tribe. “‘In that case everybody would be a medicine-giver, and
Ohiyesa must learn that there are many secrets which the Great Mystery will disclose only to the
most worthy.’"(Eastman sct. 1.3, pt. 22) This quote shows how Eastman’s grandmother won’t tell
everyone the “Great Mystery” as the power would be too great for everyone to maintain. These
two quotes and the context that surrounds them provides readers with the insight that the
storytellers have a plan for when each story should be told, rather than simply providing the
story for everyone. These stories that Ellie receives are similar to those that Sequoyah Guess
talks about in his video series about Cherokee Storytelling. Guess talks about how the stories
he tells come from his grandmother and how he told a story at an elder’s council that was
almost forgotten. (Guess 5:05) A similar message can be found in Elatsoe when her mother
passes down her knowledge to Ellie. “‘It’s dangerous. But… in the right hands, the secret can
change the world. That’s why it cannot be forgotten.’” (Badger 299) This quote comes right
before an important story of Ellie’s Six-Great, the message in which she uses to overcome an
obstacle later on. This emphasis on how oral storytelling and the passing of it is important
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provides insight into how these stories have not only survived but also educated entire
generations.
Another major comparison that can be made is found in the violence against native
people that can be found in the book. The book heavily references real historical acts that were
committed and many comparisons can be drawn across literary sources. For example, Ellie’s
Six-Great’s husband was brutally killed via musket for seemingly no reason, this senseless
violence can be seen across many different texts. The sentiment that Elatsoe holds is very
reminiscent of William Apess’ Eulogy on King Philip. Apess writes about many issues that are
present for the native community during the formation of the United States. One major issue
present in his writing is that of violence against the native people. “It is, however, true that there
are many who are said to be honorable warriors, who, in wisdom of their civilized legislation,
think it no crime to wreak their vengeance upon whole nations and communities, until the fields
are covered with blood and the rivers turned into purple fountains…” (Apess pt. 3) Apess
discusses how the colonizers feel like “honorable warriors” despite the overwhelming
dominating violence. The idea that a civilization claiming dominance over another while
committing horrible acts against it follows colonization as a whole. Tommy Orange also
comments on the violence committed in the prologue to his book There There. “They tore
unborn babies out of bellies, took what we intended to be, our children before they were
children, babies before they were babies, they ripped them out of our bellies” (Orange 8) These
major and senseless acts of violence are unfortunately something that is often present in native
literature. The treatment of native people at the time was clearly horrific. All of these pieces
present the question of: How is it helping when there are victims?

Personal Analysis
I found the book very entertaining. The book relies on the hero’s journey as a narrative
storytelling device however with some intriguing modifications. For instance there is not much of
a point of failure for Ellie in the book. Instead, I feel that the story relied more on understanding
rather than failure. For instance, Ellie receives wisdom throughout the stories in the form of
stories of her Six-Great. A notable exception to this is when Ellie accidentally goes too far with
her powers. This is the only moment of failure and I believe that it is used more as a device to
further explain to the audience how the knowledge she obtains from her heritage could be
dangerous to her. The event seemed underplayed as a major learning moment for the
character. I found many moments in Elatsoe that made me think back to previous readings,
primarily William Apess. Apess’ writing often will include historical evidence of horrible acts as a
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reminder when he makes his statements. This is done quite often in Elatsoe as Ellie and her
whole maternal lineage comes from the Lipan Apache people. Many historical evidence is
presented such as Ellie’s Six-Great walking the trail of tears or the story of her Six-Great’s
husband dying senselessly to musket fire.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would
highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.
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Works Cited

APESS, WILLIAM. Eulogy on King Philip. UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LI, 2022.

Badger, Darcie Little. Elatsoe. Youth Large Print, 2022.

Eastman, Charles Alexander. Indian Boyhood. Verlag Nicht Ermittelbar, 2019.

Guess, Sequoyah, director. Native Peoples of Oklahoma - Oral Traditions - 1.1.2

Orange, Tommy. There There: A Novel. Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.

“Traditions.” A People of Peace and Harmony, The Chiricahua Apache Nation, 28 Oct.
2022, https://chiricahuaapachenation.org/traditions/.