Grass Heart: A Novel

In 1837 a smallpox epidemic devastated the Mandan Indians of the Great Plains. This remarkable novel shows the horrifying reality not only of the epidemic but also of Sioux slavery, cultural plundering by anthropologists, and exile. The young heroine is a Mandan Indian, whose courage and spirit recall the heroines of M. M. B. Walsh???s earlier novels. We see Grass Heart through her devotion to her father, Good Plume, whom she rescues from misfortune more than once, her complex and interesting relationship with a young white man, Jake Moon, and her relationships with Indian men, one of whom turns out to be a berdache. There are so few novels that portray the events of colonization from the point of view of the colonized, and this one does a fine job of portraying characters sympathetically on both sides. The description of smallpox and its effects on indigenous peoples is stunningly powerful.