It Could Happen Here CZM Book Club: Kushtaka, by Mathilda Zeller
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Oct 5, 2025 Dive into a spine-tingling tale perfect for spooky season! The story revolves around family pressures and the sinister Kushtuka legend, revealing a chilling supernatural threat. As tensions rise at Hank's lodge, stolen artifacts come into play, leading to a brutal attack that forces a daring escape across the tundra. Confrontations and moral dilemmas unfold amidst the backdrop of cultural theft. Themes of violence and community protection are intricately woven, leaving listeners with haunting metaphors to ponder.
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Family Pressure And Moral Stakes
- Margaret Kiljoy reads Matilda Zeller's Kushtuka about a village girl pressured by her mother to work for a wealthy settler.
- The narrator frames family pressure, racialized labor, and local myth as the story's opening stakes.
Road To The Lodge Turns Supernatural
- The protagonist endures Hank Ferryman's crude behavior while driving to his lodge, hearing warnings about Sedna and kushduka.
- She sees a kushtuka figure in the truck headlights and later again at the lodge, escalating her dread.
Artifact Theft And Cultural Theft
- Hank Ferryman mocks and appropriates Inuit artifacts, claiming his grandfather owns spears that likely were stolen from Anna.
- The protagonist recognizes these artifacts and feels a tightening, signaling cultural theft and disrespect.
