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Sundown
Challenge Windzer, the mixed-blood protagonist of this compelling autobiographical novel, was born at the beginning of the twentieth century "when the god of the great Osages was still dominate over the wild prairie and the blackjack hills" of northeast Oklahoma Territory. Named by his father to be "a challenge to the disinheritors of his people," Windzer finds it hard to fulfill his destiny, despite oil money, a university education, and the opportunities presented by the Great War and the roaring twenties. Critics have praised Sundown generously, both as a literary work and a vignette into the Native American past.
329 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 26, 2008
As John Joseph Mathews tells the story of his mixed-blood protagonist, Challenge Windzer (known as Chal), who fits in neither with the Osage Indians he was raised among nor with the white society he tries to join while attending university, flying for the U. S. military, and boozing his way through his post-military life, he also tells the story of how Progress came to Indian Territory, bringing money and technological improvements, before leaving it behind when the oil ran out.
Progress came: "Slowly from the east the black oil derricks crept toward the west, rising above the blackjacks, like some unnatural growth from the diseased tissues of the earth" (62); Progress took over: "The black derricks had now passed on to the west; out beyond the blackjack fringes onto the high prairie, where they stood like sterile forests against the sky" (239); Progress destroyed: "Several black wells stood about on the prairie above the trees and from each a path of sterile brown earth led down to the creek, where oil and salt water had killed every blade of grass and exposed the glaring limestone. Some of the elms had been cut down, and the surface of the water had an iridescent scum on it" (250); and Progress tossed aside what it had used up: "The all-powerful life that had come with the creeping black derricks began to recede to the east. . . . The derricks stood black against the prairie horizon in rows, and became the husks of a life force that had retreated back along its own trail. The houses in the town of the little valley stopped their encroachments on the blackjacks, and they gradually became husks too; like the shells of the cicadas clinging to the hillsides" (303-4).
This is a sort of Great Gatsby for American Indians, as it illustrates the emptiness of liquor, partying, and money. It is also a Native version of The Grapes of Wrath, focusing instead on those who stay behind, as it reveals the corruption behind the white man's version of Progress and the myriad ways in which Native Americans are taken advantage of and even destroyed in the name of technological advancement and of capitalism.
Sundown makes a strong argument for the inevitability of the end of traditional Indian cultures. The title itself indicates that this time period is the end of something, and the book ends with stories of suicides, bankruptcy, and wholesale abandonment of the towns that have been developed where Native Americans once lived on the land. During a sweat lodge ceremony, White Deer says,
"Long time ago there was one road and People could follow that road. They said, 'There is only one road. We follow that road. There are no other roads.' Now it seems that road is gone, and white man has brought many roads. But that road is still there. That road is still there, but there are many other roads too. There is white man's road, and there is road which comes off from forks. The bad road which no white man follows--the road which many of the People follow, thinking it is the white man's road. People who follow this road say they are as the white man, but that is not white man's road. People who follow this road say that road of Indian is bad now. But they are not Indians any more, these People who follow that road.
"The road of our People is dim now like buffalo trail across prairie. We cannot follow this road with our feet now, but we can see this road with our eyes, and our hearts will go along this road forever. Even if our bodies are carried by our feet on this road that is not Indian road. There are few of us whose eyes can see old road of our People, I believe." (271)
Even in this injunction to find the one road, to follow it, there is an acknowledgment that only a very few can see this road and that many Indians are no longer Indians because they follow the wrong road in an attempt to be white, to fit in with "civilized" culture. Even this defender of native traditions reveals the greater loss that Native Americans have suffered in their contact with white America.
However, there is some small indication that there may be hope for Chal individually when he determines to go to Harvard Law School and make something of his life. He has hit rock bottom and, in his determination to make something better of life from this point on, Chal could represent the possibility of a new direction for Native Americans. Chal could represent the hope of a new half-breed culture, born from the ashes of the old culture.
White Deer says, later in the sweat lodge ceremony, "We cannot fight white man, but we are Indian; we cannot be white men. We must use our time to fight our troubles. To fight that evil which comes on inside of us" (276). He does not endorse the kind of half-breed culture that Chal is searching for with this speech (in fact, he says of half-breed children that "they are not your children. . . . They have no people," and exhorts the true Indians to abandon them), but this idea of turning inward and fighting personal troubles first resonates with Chal's struggle to find a place. His decision to go to Harvard Law is yet another attempt to find his place in the world. Whether or not it will succeed is a question Sundown does not try to answer, but perhaps the attempt--not to be white but to be a warrior in his own way, to "be a great orator" (311)--is itself honorable.
Progress came: "Slowly from the east the black oil derricks crept toward the west, rising above the blackjacks, like some unnatural growth from the diseased tissues of the earth" (62); Progress took over: "The black derricks had now passed on to the west; out beyond the blackjack fringes onto the high prairie, where they stood like sterile forests against the sky" (239); Progress destroyed: "Several black wells stood about on the prairie above the trees and from each a path of sterile brown earth led down to the creek, where oil and salt water had killed every blade of grass and exposed the glaring limestone. Some of the elms had been cut down, and the surface of the water had an iridescent scum on it" (250); and Progress tossed aside what it had used up: "The all-powerful life that had come with the creeping black derricks began to recede to the east. . . . The derricks stood black against the prairie horizon in rows, and became the husks of a life force that had retreated back along its own trail. The houses in the town of the little valley stopped their encroachments on the blackjacks, and they gradually became husks too; like the shells of the cicadas clinging to the hillsides" (303-4).
This is a sort of Great Gatsby for American Indians, as it illustrates the emptiness of liquor, partying, and money. It is also a Native version of The Grapes of Wrath, focusing instead on those who stay behind, as it reveals the corruption behind the white man's version of Progress and the myriad ways in which Native Americans are taken advantage of and even destroyed in the name of technological advancement and of capitalism.
Sundown makes a strong argument for the inevitability of the end of traditional Indian cultures. The title itself indicates that this time period is the end of something, and the book ends with stories of suicides, bankruptcy, and wholesale abandonment of the towns that have been developed where Native Americans once lived on the land. During a sweat lodge ceremony, White Deer says,
"Long time ago there was one road and People could follow that road. They said, 'There is only one road. We follow that road. There are no other roads.' Now it seems that road is gone, and white man has brought many roads. But that road is still there. That road is still there, but there are many other roads too. There is white man's road, and there is road which comes off from forks. The bad road which no white man follows--the road which many of the People follow, thinking it is the white man's road. People who follow this road say they are as the white man, but that is not white man's road. People who follow this road say that road of Indian is bad now. But they are not Indians any more, these People who follow that road.
"The road of our People is dim now like buffalo trail across prairie. We cannot follow this road with our feet now, but we can see this road with our eyes, and our hearts will go along this road forever. Even if our bodies are carried by our feet on this road that is not Indian road. There are few of us whose eyes can see old road of our People, I believe." (271)
Even in this injunction to find the one road, to follow it, there is an acknowledgment that only a very few can see this road and that many Indians are no longer Indians because they follow the wrong road in an attempt to be white, to fit in with "civilized" culture. Even this defender of native traditions reveals the greater loss that Native Americans have suffered in their contact with white America.
However, there is some small indication that there may be hope for Chal individually when he determines to go to Harvard Law School and make something of his life. He has hit rock bottom and, in his determination to make something better of life from this point on, Chal could represent the possibility of a new direction for Native Americans. Chal could represent the hope of a new half-breed culture, born from the ashes of the old culture.
White Deer says, later in the sweat lodge ceremony, "We cannot fight white man, but we are Indian; we cannot be white men. We must use our time to fight our troubles. To fight that evil which comes on inside of us" (276). He does not endorse the kind of half-breed culture that Chal is searching for with this speech (in fact, he says of half-breed children that "they are not your children. . . . They have no people," and exhorts the true Indians to abandon them), but this idea of turning inward and fighting personal troubles first resonates with Chal's struggle to find a place. His decision to go to Harvard Law is yet another attempt to find his place in the world. Whether or not it will succeed is a question Sundown does not try to answer, but perhaps the attempt--not to be white but to be a warrior in his own way, to "be a great orator" (311)--is itself honorable.
February 27, 2022
Literally dnf’d this with 40 pages left, I just couldn’t. 😭 While there were some beautiful parts, it was so, so boring. Maybe not the book for me at this given time, maybe I’ll pick it up again, but for now, it’s a no from me. 😳
August 2, 2015
Written in the '30s, this is the story of Challenge Windzer and his youth in Oklahoma, followed by his attempted assimilation into white society at the time of the early 1900s, through World War I and into the '20s. Challenge is successful, but it comes at a cost to his identity and his friendships with fellow natives. This book should've been more successful than it was. Mathews evokes Windzer's pastoral existence in Oklahoma beautifully, and his ear for dialogue and the slang of the period is particularly sharp. Though my attention wandered somewhat in the middle, when most of the activity took place amid the society at large, the story resonated and has stayed with me.
October 12, 2012
A dark American modernism novel about a Native American young man's quest to find acceptance in a time where his race sets him apart. I have to admit that I was drawn to this novel because the main character attends the University of Oklahoma, my alma mater, and the book includes an interesring description of the greek life and the pre-war administration building.
Very depressing, which seems to be a theme in modernit novels. Also includes a very anti-climatic ending. Think native Oklahomans with Native American interests would enjoy this novel, but probably not many adolescent readers.
Very depressing, which seems to be a theme in modernit novels. Also includes a very anti-climatic ending. Think native Oklahomans with Native American interests would enjoy this novel, but probably not many adolescent readers.
May 14, 2018
From the introduction by Priscilla Oaks:
“...(John Joseph Mathews) became part of the first wave of Native American authors of the '20' s and '30's working in the mainstream of American Literature and writing in English. A very few individuals had preceded Matthews and his contemporaries, John Milton Oskison (1874-1947) and D'Arcy McNickle (1904-1977) but these men were the forerunners who blended Indian themes and ideas with such a nonIndian form as the novel.” p vii (this book was published in 1933).
Born at the turn of the century, Chal was so named so he would be a 'challenge to his people'. He was a part-breed Osage, living on the Oklahoma reservation at a time when many changes were taking place.
As a child he loved galloping his horse across the prairie and lying on his back observing the wonders of nature around him.
But as he grew, he was troubled by what he saw as the lack of ambition in many of the tribal members. This became more pronounced as oil was discovered on the reservation, money became easy, and much of the culture changed.
Chal himself persisted in a university education and quit only to pursue flying in WWI, where he became a gifted pilot.
Both in the service and then when he was more returned to the reservation after the war, he fought to come to terms with the dual sides of his Indian and white natures.
I gained insight into both Osage thought and the internal dialogue when one is ashamed of one's culture and longing to be someone else.
I read this after reading author [[David Grann]] say this book was his inspiration for doing the research and then writing [Killers of the Flower Moon]. Sure enough, Mathews does mention both the corrupt doctor in town competing with the town whore to sell drugs as well as a few (very few!) murders over the oil 'head rights'. They are mentioned as part of the general corruption the oil money brought to the reservation and not in great detail.
Grann's research in taking this as a jumping off point and uncovering the extent of the murders is an interesting story in itself.
This book is recommended to those interested in Native American authors and native American life, and anyone who read and enjoyed [Killers of the Flower Moon].
“...(John Joseph Mathews) became part of the first wave of Native American authors of the '20' s and '30's working in the mainstream of American Literature and writing in English. A very few individuals had preceded Matthews and his contemporaries, John Milton Oskison (1874-1947) and D'Arcy McNickle (1904-1977) but these men were the forerunners who blended Indian themes and ideas with such a nonIndian form as the novel.” p vii (this book was published in 1933).
Born at the turn of the century, Chal was so named so he would be a 'challenge to his people'. He was a part-breed Osage, living on the Oklahoma reservation at a time when many changes were taking place.
As a child he loved galloping his horse across the prairie and lying on his back observing the wonders of nature around him.
But as he grew, he was troubled by what he saw as the lack of ambition in many of the tribal members. This became more pronounced as oil was discovered on the reservation, money became easy, and much of the culture changed.
Chal himself persisted in a university education and quit only to pursue flying in WWI, where he became a gifted pilot.
Both in the service and then when he was more returned to the reservation after the war, he fought to come to terms with the dual sides of his Indian and white natures.
I gained insight into both Osage thought and the internal dialogue when one is ashamed of one's culture and longing to be someone else.
I read this after reading author [[David Grann]] say this book was his inspiration for doing the research and then writing [Killers of the Flower Moon]. Sure enough, Mathews does mention both the corrupt doctor in town competing with the town whore to sell drugs as well as a few (very few!) murders over the oil 'head rights'. They are mentioned as part of the general corruption the oil money brought to the reservation and not in great detail.
Grann's research in taking this as a jumping off point and uncovering the extent of the murders is an interesting story in itself.
This book is recommended to those interested in Native American authors and native American life, and anyone who read and enjoyed [Killers of the Flower Moon].
May 2, 2025
This book is amazing, however, it can't be read without context, if you pick this novel expecting to have an easy read you're making a mistake. This novel is extremely historical and deeply political, better have some background on postcolonial criticism before engaging yourself with this amazing work.
October 16, 2023
Poignant, utterly honest, and life-changing. This was not an easy book to read, but I did find solace in it. I even discovered more of myself within its pages.
Beautiful and haunting.
(Note: Content not for all readers)
Beautiful and haunting.
(Note: Content not for all readers)
December 16, 2025
i read this for a class and oh my god i was so bored. chal’s inner monologue is one of the most boring uneventful things i’ve ever read. his inability to do or say anything was repetitive and frustrating.
October 23, 2018
required read. Interesting oklahoma and culture history about osage but reaaaaally boring conflict and main character. true narrative
October 22, 2024
The prose was interesting and poignant, but I found it difficult to invest myself fully in the story.
October 29, 2011
Sundown by John Joseph Mathews (1988)
Read
September 3, 201303/28/2005 Noble Library Book Discussion: Let's Talk About It, Oklahoma
Theme: The Oklahoma Experience: Looking for Home Series
Guest Scholar: Doug Watson from Okla. Baptist Univ. in Shawnee, OK
Theme: The Oklahoma Experience: Looking for Home Series
Guest Scholar: Doug Watson from Okla. Baptist Univ. in Shawnee, OK
February 3, 2017
Amazing, but not something if you like traditional plot lines.
May 28, 2025
Honestly an all-round great book. Definitely didn't bring up any repressed issues.
8/10
8/10
June 3, 2016
Required for a course - not my favorite (Silko is better).
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews