Ghost dancers

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Ghost Dancer is the eleventh detective novel in a series by Tony Hillerman . Entitled Sacred Clowns , he appeared in 1993 in English , in German 1995 Goldmann Verlag.

context

Ghost dancer is an ethnic thriller. The detective novels of the series about the two investigators Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee , two police officers of the Navajo Tribal Police ( police of the Navajo Nation Reservation ), also build on Native American culture. The location of the action in Ghost Dancer is the northeast of the US state Arizona and there the sparsely populated Navajo Nation Reservation and the fictional village of Tano Pueblo of the neighboring pueblo culture .

people

The police

  • Officer ( civil servant ) Jim Chee (warrior name: "He who thinks far ahead"), a member of the Navajo (also: Dinee, "people"). He intends to become Hataalii , one who masters ritual chants that are used when a person no longer lives in harmony with himself and his environment and therefore falls ill. Chee has been stationed at the "Office for Public Security" in Window Rock for a week , where he is with
  • Lieutenant ( Lieutenant ) Joe Leaphorn , a senior colleagues, is also a member of the Navajo, one consisting only of the two investigation team, which is supposed to uncover corruption. Some time ago, Emma, ​​Joe Leaphorn's wife, died during an operation. Leaphorn's professional interest focuses on the robbery of Eric Dorsey.
  • Special Agent David W. Streib , "Dilly," is the FBI's local officer and has long known Leaphorn.
  • Lieutenant Ed Toddy is a cop in the district where Eric Dorsey lived.
  • Sergeant Harold Blizzard, from the Bureau of Indian Affairs , is a "city Indian", an Indian, but grew up in the city, does not always get along with Indian culture and therefore needs the support of Chee. He is investigating another murder case that occurred during a major festival in Tano Pueblo .

The friends

  • Janet Pete , a lawyer with the Federal public defender , and Jim Chee try their hand at a long-term relationship.
  • Louisa Bourebonette , an anthropology professor, and Joe Leaphorn met in the previous novel, The Coyote Awaits . They have grown closer and want to travel to China and Mongolia together. This goes completely wrong because, through an inattention on the part of Chee, Joe Leaphorn is suspected of having passed police information to the media and an investigation directed against Leaphorn prevents him from traveling.

The others

  • Delmar Kanitewa from Tano Pueblo has disappeared. His politically influential grandmother puts pressure on the police, but that suddenly subsides.
  • Francis Seyesva , Delmar Kanitewa's uncle , lives in Tano Pueblo and is a member of a kiva, a religious brotherhood, for which he plays the role of a kosharen at religious festivals. After the festival he is found slain.
  • Eric Dorsey is a works teacher at the Saint Bonaventure Indian Mission School in Thoreau . He is an idealist and helps everyone who needs help. As a handicraft teacher, he also teaches the children traditional silver work. He keeps the silver for it in a closet at the school. It disappeared when he was found dead.
  • Eugene Ahkeah is arrested because of an anonymous phone call and the stolen silver found under his trailer. He is said to have killed Eric Dorsey.
  • Victor Todachena dies when a drunk driver runs over him one night.
  • Asher Davis is an antique dealer and has maintained a solid reputation. He's been with for a long time
  • Friends of Roger Applebee , a lawyer who represents the interests of those who oppose a planned landfill.
  • Jimmy Chester is a tribal and landfill politician.
  • Bert Penitewa is the Governor (Mayor) of Tano Pueblo.
  • Virginia Toledo is the secretary of the Public Safety Bureau.
  • Hosteen Frank Sam Nakai is Jim Chee's maternal uncle and his teacher of Hataalii knowledge.

action

The criminal cases

Jim Chee is supposed to find Delmar Kanitewa, who ran away from school, on behalf of his new boss, Joe Leaphorn. Another mission is to identify the driver, Victor Todachena run over and then run driver has committed. This is a pretty hopeless proposition as there are no traces. A murder occurs, almost under the eyes of Jim Chee, at a religious festival in Tano Pueblo. Tano Pueblo is outside the jurisdiction of the Navajo Tribal Police. Joe Leaphorn, on the other hand, is investigating another murder case, the death of Eric Dorsey , a works teacher at the Saint Bonaventure Indian Mission school in Thoreau. Only in the course of the plot is there a connection between the two murders. And it's typical of Tony Hillermann's Leaphorn / Chee range that it's once again about antiques. After Chee has spoken out in a letter to the editor against a planned landfill on Indian land, he becomes interesting for Roger Applebee , who represents the opponents of the project as a lawyer. Chee's thoughtless handling of the recording of an illegally tapped phone call puts his boss, Joe Leaphorn, in dire straits. Because of the following investigation, he has to cancel the planned trip with Louisa Bourebonette to China and Mongolia.

Subplots

The love story between Jim Chee and Janet Pete this time suffers from the fact that Jim Chee gets into a conflict of conscience because Janet knows little about her own clan affiliations, which traditionally play a big role in whether a relationship is possible or not. As a Hataalii , he takes it very seriously, tries to get advice from his uncle, Hosteen Frank Sam Nakai, and other tribal authorities, and ultimately has to find a solution on his own. Janet doesn't like his hesitant behavior.

The love story between Joe Leaphorn and Louisa Bourebonette continues cautiously: They are planning a trip to China and Mongolia together because Louisa Bourebonette has to go there anyway as an anthropologist. Joe Leaphorn has to give up the plan late and at very short notice when an official investigation is opened against him. He can't even reach Louisa Bourebonette in person anymore, just put her on the answering machine . So the further development of the relationship remains open until the end of the novel.

Quote

“Compared to what our Creator expects of us, all humans are clowns. (P. 149) "

expenditure

Remarks

  1. ↑ This article is based on the 1st edition from 1995.
  2. ↑ So: Geistertänzer , p. 250. Whenever the warrior name of Chee was mentioned in the previous novels in the series, it was always "Deep Thinker".
  3. ↑ In the first novels this form is given in the German translation as "Yaatalii" .
  4. ↑ During religious festivals, a koshar uses excessive behavior - similar to a clown - to draw attention to social errors and misconduct.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HarperCollins, New York 1993. ISBN 0-06-016767-X
  2. ^ Goldmann Verlag 1995. ISBN 978-3-442-43036-9
  3. ↑ Information according to the catalog of the German National Library