Bad Cree

Bad Cree (2023) is an Indigenous horror novel by Canadian author Jessica Johns. Johns is a member of the Sucker Creek (Cree) First Nation, and her written work focuses on her Indigenous heritage as well as life in contemporary First Nations communities in Canada. Bad Cree is Johns’s debut novel, but she has published her short fiction, poetry, and nonfiction widely. She is a frequent speaker at various literary and arts festivals in both Canada and the United States. Bad Cree has garnered attention from critics and readers alike who cite it as an important exemplar of Indigenous horror fiction. Indigenous horror uses supernatural elements, aspects of magical realism, and key horror tropes to explore a range of themes that speak to both historical and contemporary Indigenous life in the Americas. Bad Cree combines Indigenous legend with the supernatural in its interrogation of the themes of Processing Grief and Loss to Overcome Isolation, The Affirming Power of Family and Community, and The Impact of Extractive Industry on First Nations Communities.

This guide refers to the 2023 paperback edition by Anchor Press.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide include depictions of anti-Indigenous racism and substance misuse

Plot Summary

Bad Cree begins as its protagonist, Mackenzie, wakes from a disturbing nightmare. She dreamed she was in a clearing deep in the woods watching crows eat her recently deceased sister, Sabrina. She wakes and looks down to see a severed crow’s head in her hands. She smells blood and the sharp tang of pine and struggles to determine whether she is truly awake. The moment quickly passes, and the crow’s head disappears. Mackenzie has had this dream multiple times during the last few weeks, and she has also observed large numbers of crows following her as she goes about her daily routine. She is sure that the dreams and the crows are messages of some kind, but she is unsure how to interpret them.

Mackenzie lost her sister Sabrina to a sudden and unexpected brain aneurysm a year ago and her grandmother several years before that. After her grandmother’s death, she left her small, rural community and moved to Vancouver. Her move caused a rift in the close-knit family, and her relationship with her mother, surviving sister, Tracey, and aunties is now strained. Mackenzie has found a new support system in Vancouver in her mother’s friend Dianne and Dianne’s child, Joli, with whom Mackenzie works at a local Whole Foods. She consults Joli and Dianne about the dreams but also reaches out to her family. The consensus is that Mackenzie is in danger and should return home. She initially resists, but the dreams persist, and she finally relents. She left home in part because she could not handle the sadness in her mother’s home after her grandmother’s death. She still does not feel ready to confront her grief, but she is worried that without the help of her family, the dreams will continue and something terrible will happen.

Mackenzie comes to realize that the dreams do not depict Sabrina’s death but a night at one of their family’s favorite campgrounds a few years prior when both Sabrina and her twin, Tracey, temporarily disappeared into the night. Mackenzie and her cousin, Kassidy, searched for the girls for the better part of an hour without luck, but then the twins emerged silently from the forest. They were covered in scratches, their hair was unkempt, and their clothing was torn. Neither was able to report what happened, and the event remained a mystery.

Back at home, Mackenzie spends time with her family and discusses her dreams. She is averse to the idea that the dreams represent unresolved grief over the loss of her grandmother and sister, but she does appreciate getting to talk about the dreams and process her feelings with her family members. She learns that Tracey, Kassidy, her mother, and her aunties have all, at certain points in their lives, had dreams that were either prophetic or contained meaningful visions. This reminds her of the strong bond that she shares with the women in her family.

The dreams continue, and Mackenzie, Tracey, and Kassidy become increasingly certain that the clues to unravel their meaning are somehow tied to the night of Tracey’s and Sabrina’s disappearance. The event took place during the summer, but Mackenzie’s dreams all happen against the backdrop of swirling snow and bitter cold. The girls begin to wonder if the dreams are somehow tied to the wheetigo, a mythic, shapeshifting, undead figure from the Indigenous legend who is born out of, and feeds upon, unchecked greed. Their community was, for a time, the site of oil drilling, and the petrochemical company responsible (as well as its workers) was profoundly greedy. They promised regional prosperity but left a trail of environmental destruction, blight, and missing Indigenous women in their wake. Mackenzie, Tracey, and Kassidy wonder if a wheetigo attacked Sabrina on the night of her disappearance. They speculate that the figure of Sabrina in Mackenzie’s dreams is the wheetigo, appearing in the form of Sabrina to lure Mackenzie into some sort of danger.

The girls consult their mothers and aunties who begin to ask around about the wheetigo. Appearances of the creature began during the days of the oil boom, and they, too, are increasingly sure that the wheetigo is involved somehow in Mackenzie’s dream. Against the better judgment of their mother and aunties, Mackenzie, Tracey, and Kassidy hatch a plan to kill the wheetigo. In a dream, Mackenzie encounters the wheetigo and realizes it did indeed attack Sabrina on the night of the disappearance. To do so, it took the form of Tracey. It began to reappear in Mackenzie’s dreams to feed on her, too.

Mackenzie knows that she must kill the wheetigo, and after some difficulty, she does. A large group of crows aids her in this endeavor, and she realizes that the birds are protectors, not a bad omen. After she successfully slays the wheetigo, Mackenzie makes plans to return to Vancouver, although this time she will remain in close contact with her family. She has come to understand the importance of both familial and community ties and no longer considers herself a “Bad Cree.” On her last night at home, she, Tracey, and Kassidy see something ominous but identifiable in the woods. They try their best to put it out of their mind and focus on enjoying their remaining time together.