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CHARACTERS AND PLOTS IN D'ARCY MCNICKLE'S FICTION
by Robert L. Gale
 D’Arcy McNickle (1904-1977), one of the most important, most accomplished Native Americans who ever lived, was pro-Indian activist, government employee, self-taught anthropologist, educator, and writer. Part Cree, part French, and part Irish, McNickle may ultimately be most fondly remembered for his three novels and sixteen short stories. The Surrounded dramatizes the plight of seemingly hopeless Native Americans encircled by ever-encroaching white “civilization.” Runner in the Sun presents the heroic quest of a young adult in pre-Columbian “America.” The hauntingly titled Wind from an Enemy Sky opposes Indians, themselves split, against white aggressors whose atmosphere is toxic. McNickle casts his intriguingly varied short stories in the West, in eastern cities, and in Paris, all of which he knew well. Characters & Plots in D’Arcy McNicke’s Fiction is restricted to a detailed treatment of McNickle’s novels and stories–their characters and plots, and pertinent critical insights on them–and includes a Chronology of McNickle’s phenomenal life, a Bibliography demonstrating the range of scholarship about him, and an Index.
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