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Author Mihesuah, Devon A., 1957- author.

Title The Hatak witches / Devon A. Mihesuah
Published Tucson : University of Arizona Press, 2021

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Description 1 online resource (302 pages)
Series Sun tracks : an American Indian literary series ; volume 88
Sun tracks ; v. 88.
Summary "After a security guard is found dead and another wounded at the Children's Museum of Science and History in Norman, Oklahoma, Choctaw detective Monique Blue Hawk and her partner Chris Pierson are summoned to investigate. The detectives are baffled at the lack of fingerprints, footprints, or any obvious means to enter the locked building. The only initial clues are owl feathers found scattered in the basement. While perusing old archival records, Monique discovers that the motive for the crimes was to steal an ancient and deformed half-human, half-bird skeleton from the seldom-used and neglected physical anthropology archives known as the 'Room of Secrets.' She consults with her uncle, the spiritual leader Leroy Bear Red Ears, who concludes that the stolen remains are those of Hatak haksi, a witch and the matriarch of the Crow family, a group of centuries-old Choctaws who can shift into ishkitini-great horned owls. The witch's pelvis was left behind, however, because it did not fit through the air duct the owls used to escape the museum. Monique, Leroy, and Chris, along with her cousins Dustin and Andrew, plan to confront the Crows. The problem is that the Crows inhabit the Choctaws' mythological underground tunnel, the dark passage the tribe traveled after their creation eons ago. One of the cave's entrances is located on Chalakwa Ranch, a property owned by Monique's cousin Andrew. It is a treacherous place for the group to challenge the Crow family, but aided by Leroy's wisdom, the witch's missing pelvis, and the unexpected appearance of the Old Ones who guard the lands of Choctaw afterlife, Monique and her colleagues manage to defeat the Crows"-- Provided by publisher
After a security guard is found dead and another wounded at the Children's Museum of Science and History in Norman, Oklahoma, Detective Monique Blue Hawk and her partner Chris Pierson are summoned to investigate. They find no fingerprints, no footprints, and no obvious means to enter the locked building. Monique discovers that a portion of an ancient and deformed skeleton had also been stolen from the neglected museum archives. Her uncle, the spiritual leader Leroy Bear Red Ears, concludes that the stolen remains are those of Hatak haksi, a witch and the matriarch of the Crow family, a group of shape-shifting Choctaws who plan to reestablish themselves as the powerful creatures they were when the tribe lived in Mississippi. Monique, Leroy, and Chris must stop the Crows, but to their dread, the entities have retreated to the dark and treacherous hollow in the center of Chalakwa Ranch. The murderous shape-shifters believe the enormous wild hogs, poisonous snakes, and other creatures of the hollow might form an adequate defense for Hatak haksi. But what no one counts on is the unexpected appearance and power of the Old Ones who guard the lands of the Choctaw afterlife. Blending tribal beliefs and myths into a modern context, The Hatak Witches continues the storyline of Choctaw cosmology and cultural survival that are prominent in Devon A. Mihesuah's award-winning novel, The Roads of My Relations
Notes Description based on print version of record
Subject Women detectives -- Oklahoma -- Fiction
Murder -- Investigation -- Oklahoma -- Fiction
Witches -- Oklahoma -- Fiction
Choctaw Indians -- Oklahoma -- Fiction
Shapeshifting -- Fiction
FICTION / General
Women detectives
Shapeshifting
Murder -- Investigation
Witches
Choctaw Indians
SUBJECT Oklahoma -- Fiction
Subject Oklahoma
Genre/Form Fiction
Detective and mystery fiction
Detective and mystery fiction.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780816542956
0816542953