Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of pregnancy loss, graphic violence, child abuse, cursing, death, illness, and racism.

“‘That’s an artifact. It’s for decoration.’ I looked down at the ulu in his hands. It was newly sharpened. The baleen handle was worn, polished to a bright shine from all the times it had been gripped […] ‘It’s a tool. For cutting.’”

In “Kushtuka,” tension rises due to Hank’s theft of Indigenous items. When Tapeesa comes to his lodge, she sees her own grandfather’s spears on the wall and even tries to use an ulu to prepare food. Hank not only denies that the spears are Tapeesa’s grandfather’s but also refuses to let her use the ulu. In this scene, the two characters look at the same item, yet see it differently. Tapeesa sees the ulu as a useful tool for everyday life, and one whose good condition means it was frequently and recently used. Hank, however, sees a trophy.

“Marissa hops off the exam table and moves closer. She sees now the drawings are diagrams. Human heads being measured and annotated, their features grossly exaggerated.”

As Marissa waits in the exam room Elayne brings her to, the danger she and her baby face is foreshadowed by the diagrams on the wall. These diagrams show measurements of heads (a mainstay of the pseudoscience of phrenology) and stereotypical depictions of different peoples. This reflects an outdated and racist eugenics-centered approach to human biology. The diagrams seek to define character by physical features alone.

“I fumbled around the boulders at the base of the pier before I found what Cam had hidden up his sleeve: glimmering in the low light, sticking out from the seam of a few smaller rocks. An old pair of needle-nose pliers.”

Joe feels increasingly suspicious of Cam as Cam invades Joe’s apartment and obsesses over his tooth collection. In the climax, Joe fights Cam when it becomes clear that Cam possesses human teeth. As Joe walks away, he sees that Cam brought pliers to pull teeth from Joe.