A fascinating tale where history meets fiction and brings to light issues of social justice and forced removal of indigenous people from their ancestral lands. The setting is the Black Hills and Pin Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where arcs of three protagonists—a soldier, single mother, and warrior—meld together into a moving and eye-opening storyline.

Single mom to three sons, Nancy Swiftfox leaves her tribal land each day to drive the long distance to the college where she teaches.

Her struggles are not only economic, but social and cultural. The root can be traced back two hundred years ago to when the U.S. government procured land from Indigenous people by numerous means—the Dawes Act, larceny, violence, starvation, and murder.

It takes a minute to follow the timeline without the crutch of dates, but soon the story unfolds, and you step back into time. The three main characters, two women and one man are illustriously brought to life, and you step into their hearts and minds. Not to play favorites, but the young warrior, Little Wolf, a skilled and strong fighter who gives everything she’s capable of to save her people, is compelling. You can’t help but be consumed by her struggles and her faith in her people and the earth she strives to protect.

Author Angie Elita Newell belongs to the Liidlii Kue First Nation from the Dehcho.

Based on what I’ve gleaned about Newell and from my emotional response to this book I can honestly say, her compelling storytelling is instinctual and hard-won. She blends her experience as a professor and historian artfully with her passion for bringing to light the impact this cataclysmic event had and still has, centuries later.

Image and Book Courtesy of Smith Publicity (Lydia) and Greenleaf Book Group