In the appendices to the novel, Highwater notes his reliance on works of traditional Native American literature when selecting the tales used in Anpao.

His bibliography lists compilers of tales such as John Bierhorst, George Grinnel, Alice Marriott, and Carol K. Rachlin. It is Grinnel whom he credits with recording the Blackfeet story of Scarface which contains the idea for the character of Anpao.

Although Highwater has never used the characters from Anpao in any other novel, he has used similar themes in some of his other works. The theme of myths as a constant which unites a society is found in many of his other novels and nonfiction including The Primal Mind (1985) and The Language of Vision (1994). He also focuses on the history and traditions of Native Americans in many of his novels. In The Sun He Dies (1980), the account of the destruction of the...