Overview

Papa's Pills is the story of Selo and Tefe, an elderly couple navigating the end-of-life stages on the southeastern fringe of the Muscogee (Creek) Reservation in Oklahoma. The novel takes place in the mid-1990s, a time of significant cultural and governmental change for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and its tribal town communities.Selo is stubbornly committed to taking care of her blind and nearly deaf husband, Tefe, in their remote farm home, even as his mental and physical challenges become more than she can handle. Selo juggles Tefe's hallucinatory episodes, his out-of-touch non-Mvskoke doctors, and the daily confusion of his ever-shifting pill prescriptions-all while maintaining her farm chores and managing community gossip, including from the local Chief of the Lighthorse police, who is convinced she has committed a crime, a case he is determined to crack as the last heroic act before his retirement.Selo must wrestle with reconciling her own life with the decline of her partner's quality of life. In the process, she finds hope for cultural continuation through a cast of younger Mvskoke (Creek) community members.

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9781956578898

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Reviews

I fall into this story and remember the center. This novel is a gift. -Jennifer Elise Foerster, The Maybe-Bird Papa's Pills is a delicate, funny, and loving story set against the backdrop of rural Oklahoma in the Mvskoke Nation. It feels like a roadmap to aging gracefully in love-through all of love's ups and downs, specifically as a life and love nears its sunset hour. -Sterlin Harjo, Reservation Dogs and The Lowdown, citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and of Mvskoke descent, a 2024 MacArthur Fellow. . . . a heartfelt and deeply Mvskoke story. The choice to thread the endangered Mvskoke language through the narrative is an act of reclamation-quiet, deliberate, and powerful. This book reminds us that love, land, and language endure together, even in the most ordinary and intimate moments. -Sarah Deer, Citizen of the Mvskoke Nation, Distinguished Professor, University of Kansas Few works of fiction written by US Native authors are written to speak to both the local tribal community, including the traditional elders and the youth, and diverse audiences beyond the Mvskoke world. -Craig Womack, Red on Red and Drowning in Fire

Author Information

Rosemary McCombs Maxey is a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and lives near Dustin, Oklahoma where she was born and raised. Rosemary served as an ordained clergy person throughout her career and has taught religious studies and Mvskoke language at various colleges and seminaries. Rosemary now lives on her farm, raising chickens and cattle, quilting, and serving as a Master Language teacher with the College of the Muscogee Nation. This is her first novel.

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