An extraordinary, evocative novel about a young Native American coming to terms with his heritage-and his dreams.

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Excellent depiction of the result of the immoral Indian wars in contemporary Indian Country. What was done to Native Americans (no different from any place Westerners decided that they could 'own' a peoples and their resources) was an outrage, and this book shows its effect. For a fuller picture, read FOOLS CROW by the same author, James Welch, himself a Native American. This book is a predecessor to WINTER IN THE BLOOD; we all know highlights of history like Wounded Knee and Custer's Last Stand (though we don't know about pieces of history from the stealing of Indian lands to using Native Americans for target practice and an early use of 'germ warfare' (giving Native Americans the blankets of those soldiers who had died of smallpox...). Too many Americans don't recognize that 'they were here first'; many don't even realize that there are ANY Native Americans living east of the Mississippi!!!

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For me this book was a two-sided sword. It was a story of a young man troubled by his own past and unsecure future. He is desperately searching for himself but looking in all the wrong places until he listens to an old blind man's wisdom. Once he realizes who he is and how his life is important he admits some respect for himself and his roots. This book was written/released in 1974 and is currently becoming a movie.

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