vistacanas's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
"We will go on, he thought; as long as Mother Earth smiles on her children, we will continue to be a people. We will live and die and live on."
Fools Crows is the story of the Pikuni (Blackfeet) tribe in the Montana territory shortly after the Civil War. As the white man is encroaching more and more on their land, the tribe is faced with the choice of whether to stand their ground and fight or surrender and sacrifice their resources, land and way of life.
The story is almost entirely from the male perspective, primarily the main character named White Man's Dog, who is later re-named Fools Crow (a common tribal tradition). He begins the story as a boy struggling to find his place and become a man and ends it as one of the leaders and medicine men of his band, known as the Lone Eaters.
Although there were some women characters, the author definitely doesn't have the gift of a connection with the feminine soul like some other male authors I've read, so unfortunately they were flat and unemotional.
For me, this was an educational book that taught me some important things about one of the most awful aspects of my country's history. What it did not do was have a lasting emotional impact on me, so it's not likely to live long in my memory. Regardless, it made me better, so for that I am grateful.
Fools Crows is the story of the Pikuni (Blackfeet) tribe in the Montana territory shortly after the Civil War. As the white man is encroaching more and more on their land, the tribe is faced with the choice of whether to stand their ground and fight or surrender and sacrifice their resources, land and way of life.
The story is almost entirely from the male perspective, primarily the main character named White Man's Dog, who is later re-named Fools Crow (a common tribal tradition). He begins the story as a boy struggling to find his place and become a man and ends it as one of the leaders and medicine men of his band, known as the Lone Eaters.
Although there were some women characters, the author definitely doesn't have the gift of a connection with the feminine soul like some other male authors I've read, so unfortunately they were flat and unemotional.
For me, this was an educational book that taught me some important things about one of the most awful aspects of my country's history. What it did not do was have a lasting emotional impact on me, so it's not likely to live long in my memory. Regardless, it made me better, so for that I am grateful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Genocide, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Alcoholism
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