Kavanah differs from keva, or the “routine,” the means by which one performs a religious act. In its simplest meaning, it refers to concentrating the mind in the performance of a religious act, ensuring that it doesn’t devolve into rote, mechanical action. Kavanah is the Hebrew word for direction, intention, or purpose. It’s defined by My Jewish Learning as such: It reminds me of a concept in Jewish teachings called kavanah. So what does it mean to be a “good Indian,” at least according to the characters in Good Indians? Is it staying on the rez, and thus staying true-ostensibly, at least-to your Native roots? Should one be loyal only to one’s tribe, and suspicious of any others, as in the mild, sometimes-only-half-serious feud between Blackfeet and Crows depicted in the book? Is it less about one’s heritage and more about being the best person you can be, regardless of tribe and location in the world, i.e., those that leave the rez for the world beyond? Is it simply enough to survive, as Denorah swears to do when she turns that old bigoted saying on its head?Īs one might expect, there isn’t one definitive answer presented, though in general, it seems just trying one’s best and never crossing lines you cannot uncross is the core of Jones’s novel, a basic principle fueling everything that happens within its pages. I’ll only add to this that Good Indians owes much of its plot, at least in a loose sense, to A Nightmare On Elm Street, but with splashes of graphic violence inspired by Tom Savini’s gnarliest Friday The 13th effects, all bound together with the heart and drama of Chris Eyre’s Skins, a film that, just like Jones’s novels, grapples with what it means to be a “good Indian”-as well as, in Jones’s case, a play on that stalwart bit of hate speech, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian,” a phrase that one of the characters, Denorah, briefly examines, ultimately proclaiming that if the saying is true, “she’s going to be the worst Indian ever.”

that’s the power of Jones’s writing, his ability to keep you reading even when parts inside scream at you to stop.

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