So without declaring war, there was a war, with the Cheyenne defending their land, and the US Cavalry viewing that as an act of war. Many Cheyenne refused to accept the terms of the new treaty, claiming that it had not been approved by the whole tribe, and those that did sign didn’t know what they were doing, or were bribed with gifts. Despite treaties signed by both sides acknowledging the Cheyenne and Arapaho’s rights to the designated land, the discovery of gold at Pike’s Peak caused the government to want greater access, so they entered into negotiations with the Cheyenne and Arapaho again, ultimately reducing Indian holdings to less than ⅓ of the earlier negotiated treaty. over land in what is now Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. For example, the American Indian Wars were fought by European countries and finally, the U.S. Also embarrassing to me because I’d never heard of some of them. Once again, the atrocities visited against a group of people is astounding and shameful to those who perpetrated them. If anyone has a “hack” for dealing with this style of writing, I am all ears! The flaw is my inability to easily transition from one character or setting to another, in successive chapters. This is not a flaw of the structure or the writing. I had even taken notes about each one along the way. So each time I got to the second chapter about a character, I had to go back and refresh my memory. Then each of seven other characters has a chapter devoted to them before getting back to Tony Loneman again.

Tony Loneman is the first character introduced. I had difficulty synthesizing how the characters’ stories intersected, and also had trouble remembering who everybody was. Each chapter is short, around 9-10 pages. The story is told from the perspectives of twelve individuals making their way for different reasons to the Big Oakland Powwow. I had no idea what to expect, only that this novel was highly anticipated and received a starred review from Kirkus. This debut novel by a young member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma introduces a new voice to American literature.

There there tony loneman