Week forty-two of Lite Reads comes to a close as we finish the selection Black, Their Regalia by Darcie Little Badger. During the week, there have been questions as food for thought on social media as people had the chance to read it and think about it. Before I announce the next Lite Reads selection (June 9), I will be sharing my own thoughts here. This story was chosen with Indigenous History Month in mind. Spoilers ahead for those who haven’t finished reading the story yet.
Black, Their Regalia by Darcie Little Badger (Lipan Apache) tells the story of a plague epidemic sweeping across the USA. Tulli (Apache), Kristi (Apache), and Moraine (Navajo) make up the Apparently Siblings, a band whose name comes from white folks constantly asking if they are triplets or related in some way, and all three of them have been infected with the plague. The story begins with their ride on the CDC’s sterile white train which transports them to a CDC compound to be quarantined. All three have shared visions of a Plague Eater, a mystical being that destroys plagues, and eventually they perform a song and dance in glorious black regalia to ask the Plague Eater to spare them, and all infected, from the plague. The story comes to a brilliant and uplifting conclusion of no one else dying of the plague.
I really admire the way the plague epidemic is portrayed here, and the more I think about it, the more I feel enamoured by what Little Badger’s work accomplishes here. I think she manages to capture the image of past plagues really well, with the isolation of quarantine shown with taste and tact, and the impact on indigenous communities serving as a painful (and necessary reminder of the past). It also manages to look remarkably like what I would imagine a present or future plague epidemic might. Everything from the sterile white of the CDC trains and compounds serving as a stark reminder of the disease running rampant around them to the internet and cell access and bored isolation of the patients feels like what mass quarantine might look like in the western world today. Indigenous communities still being impacted by epidemics feels painfully real given the limited improvements made with time (and although geographically it isn’t that close, it is worth noting that I am reading this story of Navajo and Apache characters being impacted by a plague while a Canadian inquiry has just announced that indigenous genocide in Canada is still ongoing).
I thought the colour symbolism and imagery in Black, Their Regalia was really striking. Shades of black and the presence of vultures representing healing and strength while white represents illness and death, with the false and forced sterile white covering memorials and CDC compounds and trains. Much of the imagery is set against the brilliant shades of nature, like the red sky that their dance is set against. The colours are vital to the story, and it felt like the story pushed me to really imagine the characters and their surroundings, on both a superficial level, picturing simply how everything looked, and a deeper level, imagining the feeling of everything and what it meant to me and to the characters.
I really appreciated the gallows humour present throughout the story. I love darker stories, but a sense of humour really brings them to life for me. It makes me feel as though it emphasises the darkness without making me feel as though I’m drowning in it. Little Badger excels at this. From first learning the band was named the Apparently Siblings (and why), to finding that the Plague Eater happened to be a big fan, Little Badger manages to spin things to find a unique humour in them, and it brought me genuine joy, and alleviated the anxiety of plague peril.
Overall, Black, Their Regalia by Darcie Little Badger was definitely a story I’ll remember. I feel like I could have read an entire novel of this (so I’ll definitely be looking out for more from the author). Between colour symbolism, horrible disease, and a delightful sense of humour, I did genuinely enjoy this, and I appreciate that Little Badger has woven a story that her own culture is so much a part of. I would definitely recommend this one!
I hope everyone who participated by reading the story and following along on social media enjoyed the story. If you have more thoughts to add, please feel free to comment on this post, or anywhere on The Feminist Bibliothecary’s social media. Week forty-three begins tomorrow, June 9, with a brand new short story selection, chosen with Pride Month in mind.
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