on Osage Indian land, and suddenly, landowners find themselves in serious danger.

Grace Blanket is the first one to die, and her own daughter, Nola, watches in horror as men in a black car kill her mother and make the death look like a suicide. She and the friend who is with her, Rena Graycloud, are too frightened to go to the authorities, and the Graycloud family knows that they would receive nothing in the way of real justice in any case. Therefore, they remain quiet and try to protect Nola, who is the heir to her mother's land.

As time passes, more and more Osage landowners die, and people realize that there is a deep conspiracy at work that involves high-level officials and even the sheriff's office. Those in power are using it for ill purposes. John Hale is especially suspicious, but he also has a lot of power and wealth, and he offers loans to the Osage if they will let him take out life insurance policies on them. Then, not long after, many of them end up dead. Since the murders continue, those responsible clearly feel no remorse at their deeds. They are focused on obtaining valuable land any way they can and growing wealthy. They are also determined to cover up their misdeeds.

The community writes to Washington DC to request an investigation, but no one takes any particular notice—no one, that is, except Stace Red Hawk, who is appalled by the abuses, injustices, and violence rampant in Watona. He disguises himself as a medicine man and begins his investigation. Soon, he realizes that the conspiracy is much hirer and broader than John Hale, and he cannot even trust his own colleagues.

Meanwhile, the government and Indian Agency are failing to help the people of Watona. The government decides that the Osage are acting irresponsibly with their money, and it withholds oil royalty payments (completely unjustly, of course, because it is none of the government's business how the landowners spend their money). The Indian Agency even leases part of Belle Graycloud's land to John Hale without her permission, again in an extreme abuse of power.

In the end, even though John Hale goes to prison, the Grayclouds must flee Watona for their lives, even as a bomb destroys their house. Nothing has truly been solved. The injustice, abuse of power, and lack of remorse continue.

What Linda Hogan writes about in her novel Mean Spirit is the murder of Indigenous people in Oklahoma. Grace Blanket is a member of the Osage tribe. She comes into possession of some land. The land is not great for growing things, but it is, as it turns out, rich with oil. The oil that’s a part of Grace’s land makes her wealthy and brings her lots of attention.

The oil also turns Grace into a mark. She becomes a target for John Hale, a powerful oilman, who wants Grace’s land. To get it, he has her murdered. Grace’s daughter, Nola, witnesses her mom’s murder, as does Nola’s friend Rena. This turns both of them into targets. Rena’s home is set on a fire and Grace’s sister, Sara, is killed as well.

Stace Red Hawk, an Indigenous member of the Bureau of Investigation (a precursor to the FBI), tries to bring Hale to justice but ultimately fails.

With some idea of what Hogan wrote about in Mean Spirit, it’s now possible to think about why Hogan wrote her novel. Perhaps Hogan wrote her book to get people thinking about the lethal oppression that Indigenous people confront. By telling a specific story—one that's based on real-life events—Hogan might be trying to attach distinct, individual faces to the general struggles of Indigenous people.