Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on twentieth-century literature. In this essay, he considers Harris's novel in terms of the cultural climate in which it was written.

Harris's Hatter Fox, a popular novel that contains many different perspectives on Native Americans, reflects the cultural climate in which it was written. The early 1970s was a time when old perceptions, stereotypes, and prejudices about Native Americans were starting to give way to a new understanding. This was fueled by several factors. In the late 1960s the rise of the "red power" movement made the general public more aware of Native American grievances and aspirations. New attitudes in the reporting of Native American affairs emerged in newspapers and on television. A number of books, including Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (1971), a sympathetic account of Indian history, helped to create for...