Chapter summaries The Buffalo Hunter Hunter Stephen Graham Jones

Chapter 4: The Nachzehrer’s Dark Gospel – Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

The narrator, a Pikuni man named Good Stab, begins his account in 1912, explaining his lineage and the key events of his life up to the moment of his death. He was born during a meteor shower and lost his mother in childbirth. His recollections are shaped by the winter count kept by Otter Goes Back. The chapter centers on a mission he undertook as a young warrior alongside Peasy, Hunts-to-the-Side, and Tall Dog. They are tasked with hiding evidence of a wagon train attack to prevent further retaliation from the U.S. Army. At the wagons they discover a strange, pale creature in an iron cage, covered in crosses, that cannot be killed by arrow or bullet. Believing it might be the Great White God of the napikwans, they decide to haul the cage to Chief Mountain. During the journey, the party is ambushed by a squad of soldiers. Tall Dog and Hunts-to-the-Side are killed. Good Stab is shot multiple times. Peasy makes a suicidal stand, buying Good Stab time to escape. In his final moments, Good Stab drinks the blood of the wounded creature, known as the Cat Man, and dies—but his telling implies this is not the end.

Key Events

  • Good Stab reveals his birth during the Year the Stars Fell and his mother’s death.
  • He recounts personal traumas: loss of his first family in a Black Paint raid, the smallpox scars, and the Bear River Massacre (where he was not present).
  • Peasy, Hunts-to-the-Side, Tall Dog, and Good Stab ride out to dispose of evidence from a burned wagon train.
  • At the wagons they find a pale, fanged creature in a cage—the Nachzehrer—that survives arrow, bullet, and a gut shot.
  • The group decides to haul the cage into the Backbone (Glacier) toward Chief Mountain.
  • Good Stab briefly leaves to find a yoke and kills a beaver against tradition, hiding the pelt to trade for a many-shots gun.
  • Soldiers ambush the party; Tall Dog and Hunts-to-the-Side die; Peasy sacrifices himself.
  • Good Stab is shot and, as the Cat Man is severed by a cannon, drinks the creature’s blood.
  • Good Stab dies, but the frame narrative suggests he continues to speak from beyond death.

Character Development

  • Good Stab (the narrator): A Pikuni warrior who admits to stubbornness and a desire for a repeating rifle. His decision to kill the beaver marks his first step away from tradition. He is haunted by lost loved ones and carries guilt for his choices.
  • Peasy: An elder with a tall black hat that he claims is good medicine. He is pragmatic, speaks French, and makes the final sacrificial stand in a burst of traditional courage.
  • Hunts-to-the-Side: Stern and disciplined, critical of Good Stab’s impulsiveness. He dies before firing his one shot.
  • Tall Dog: Loyal and skilled at reading tracks. He shares his food with Good Stab and dies from a liver wound.
  • The Cat Man / Nachzehrer: A captive white being with sharp teeth, claws, and regenerative abilities. It is silent except for hissing, but its blood triggers Good Stab’s transformation.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Transformation and Blood: Good Stab’s death and ingestion of the Nachzehrer’s blood suggest a literal or spiritual transformation, linking him to the undying creature.
  • Tradition vs. Ambition: Good Stab’s theft of the beaver pelt and his longing for a repeating rifle represent a break from Pikuni values, leading to his downfall.
  • The Backbone / Chief Mountain: The holy landscape of the Pikuni becomes the setting for a final confrontation, reinforcing the idea of sacred ground desecrated by violence.
  • The Winter Count and Memory: The opening uses the winter count as a mnemonic device, emphasizing how history is carried and retold.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter establishes the origin of Good Stab’s encounter with the supernatural and his subsequent undead state. It ties together personal history, colonial violence, and folklore, setting the stage for the rest of the novel. The discovery of the Nachzehrer and Good Stab’s blood-drinking death anchor the horror elements in real historical trauma.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Good Stab decide to kill the beaver, and what does this act symbolize?
Good Stab kills the beaver to obtain a pelt he can trade for a repeating rifle, believing the weapon will restore his status as a capable hunter. The act breaks a Pikuni taboo and his swift-runner abandons him, symbolizing his first step away from cultural traditions and into moral darkness.

2. How does the group’s handling of the Nachzehrer reflect their understanding of white American religion?
Peasy interprets the creature as a white god because it refuses to die and is covered in crosses. They decide to carry it to Chief Mountain, the place where the Great White God is prophesied to appear, showing how the Pikuni recontextualize colonial symbols through their own beliefs.

3. What is the narrative function of the frame story set in 1912?
The frame establishes Good Stab as a survivor speaking from the present, hinting that his death at the end of the chapter was not final. It creates suspense and reinforces the theme of memory and retelling, as he claims to be recounting events to a listener (Three-Persons) in order to “roll the bodies out of the way.”

Navigation