Mean Spirit tells the story of a government official who learned to honor his Native American heritage and fall in love with its people through the investigation of Grace Banket: a young woman who was once the richest person in her territory, until the greed of white men led to her murder and a future of uncertainty for her family. In this 1991 Pulitzer Prize nominee, Chicksaw author Linda Hogan pulls the curtain back on the history of the Osage tribe during the Oklahoma oil boom. When rivers of oil were found beneath the land belonging to the Osage tribe, Grace Banket became the richest person within the territory.

But when her fortune was discovered, Grace was murdered at the hand of greedy men. Then, after taking in Grace’s daughter following her death, the Greycloud family began dying mysteriously, even after multiple letters begging for help were sent to Washington, D.C. Their pleads were unanswered and their family slowly disappeared until Native American government official Stace Red Hawk ventured west to investigate the terrors plaguing the Osage tribe.

Through his investigation, Stace was able to the uncover rampant fraud, intimidation, and murder that led to the death of Grace Banket and the Greycloud family. But, amidst the horror that once plagued his people, Stace finds something truly extraordinary–a realization of his deepest self and an abundance of love and appreciation for his native people and their brave past.