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Treat Them as Buffalo
An electrifying anti-Western from an exciting new Indigenous writer. As teenage boys begin to disappear from a great plains Métis community, a young man attempts to uncover the evil force lurking out of sight.
In 1885, Nikosis “Niko” Eriksen spends his days playing buffalo hunter, even though it’s been many years since a member of his tribe has actually seen one of the once-ubiquitous animals. But when beloved Cousin goes missing, things start to fall apart. With law enforcement failing—indeed refusing—to investigate the disappearance, the community members take matters into their own hands, rallying around the leadership of a sawn-off shotgun-slinging rancher named Kate McCannon.
The resultant women-led coalition of freedom fighters strikes back against the Mounted Police as they investigate the boys’ disappearance and take their futures into their own hands. But violence continues to haunt Niko, and boys continue to disappear. As he leaves his boyhood behind and draws closer to finding Cousin, Niko’s investigation points to a harrowing revelation about his own heritage, which heels closer to violence that any boy would wish to know.
Written with the pace and punch of Outlawed and the inventiveness of The Only Good Indians, Treat Them as Buffalo delivers a gripping portrait of a young man coming of age before his time.
In 1885, Nikosis “Niko” Eriksen spends his days playing buffalo hunter, even though it’s been many years since a member of his tribe has actually seen one of the once-ubiquitous animals. But when beloved Cousin goes missing, things start to fall apart. With law enforcement failing—indeed refusing—to investigate the disappearance, the community members take matters into their own hands, rallying around the leadership of a sawn-off shotgun-slinging rancher named Kate McCannon.
The resultant women-led coalition of freedom fighters strikes back against the Mounted Police as they investigate the boys’ disappearance and take their futures into their own hands. But violence continues to haunt Niko, and boys continue to disappear. As he leaves his boyhood behind and draws closer to finding Cousin, Niko’s investigation points to a harrowing revelation about his own heritage, which heels closer to violence that any boy would wish to know.
Written with the pace and punch of Outlawed and the inventiveness of The Only Good Indians, Treat Them as Buffalo delivers a gripping portrait of a young man coming of age before his time.
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
March 28, 2026
Okay. Wasn’t sure about writing a review but here goes:
I am probably being generous with my rating. There was so much about the setting of this book that I found compelling. The Red River resistance is a fascinating part of history, and as a Métis person, I was keen to learn about the impact of that on Métis folks outside of Manitoba.
But here’s the thing… the protagonist is a 12 year old kid. And as much as we love to joke about Chosen One adventure Narratives with teens and tweens as the protagonist, when they are Chosen they get Agency and that makes it fun to read. The protagonist has no agency. Most of the book is just him telling us about what’s going on around him and watching the adults leave to go do the adventuring while he stays home and is sad about it.
EVERY character around him probably has a more interesting story to read, especially Kate McCannon, but that’s not the story we get.
When the kid finally gets some agency in the last third of the book, it’s just for the *briefest* moment and it ends in horrific violence. Which, wow, the violence of this book.
I get it was a violent time but like, I’ve read historical fiction a lot and there is historical depictions of the violence and then there is gratuitous violence in a historical setting to make the story… I dunno, more interesting? But I find gore really terrible to read and don’t find it interesting at all to read horrible descriptions of violent acts by nearly cartoonish antagonist.
So, I didn’t enjoy this book and would have DNFd it, but a friend gave me the ARC and I really wanted to give it a chance.
Anyway - I much prefer katherena vermette’s Echo graphic novels for excellent historical fiction about Métis people.
I am probably being generous with my rating. There was so much about the setting of this book that I found compelling. The Red River resistance is a fascinating part of history, and as a Métis person, I was keen to learn about the impact of that on Métis folks outside of Manitoba.
But here’s the thing… the protagonist is a 12 year old kid. And as much as we love to joke about Chosen One adventure Narratives with teens and tweens as the protagonist, when they are Chosen they get Agency and that makes it fun to read. The protagonist has no agency. Most of the book is just him telling us about what’s going on around him and watching the adults leave to go do the adventuring while he stays home and is sad about it.
EVERY character around him probably has a more interesting story to read, especially Kate McCannon, but that’s not the story we get.
When the kid finally gets some agency in the last third of the book, it’s just for the *briefest* moment and it ends in horrific violence. Which, wow, the violence of this book.
I get it was a violent time but like, I’ve read historical fiction a lot and there is historical depictions of the violence and then there is gratuitous violence in a historical setting to make the story… I dunno, more interesting? But I find gore really terrible to read and don’t find it interesting at all to read horrible descriptions of violent acts by nearly cartoonish antagonist.
So, I didn’t enjoy this book and would have DNFd it, but a friend gave me the ARC and I really wanted to give it a chance.
Anyway - I much prefer katherena vermette’s Echo graphic novels for excellent historical fiction about Métis people.
March 24, 2026
3.5 ⭐️
Oh, did this book take me for a ride. The choice to have a young, unreliable narrator was one that was unexpected but proved to be incredibly important to the overall story. Learning about the Métis people and culture was an opportunity I’m grateful for, as I haven’t seen them represented before in popular fiction. While the pace started slow, the action ramped in an engaging & exciting way- I was gripped to solve the underlying mysteries and desperate to see the ending.
A big thank you to Algonquin Books & NetGalley for access to this ARC!
Oh, did this book take me for a ride. The choice to have a young, unreliable narrator was one that was unexpected but proved to be incredibly important to the overall story. Learning about the Métis people and culture was an opportunity I’m grateful for, as I haven’t seen them represented before in popular fiction. While the pace started slow, the action ramped in an engaging & exciting way- I was gripped to solve the underlying mysteries and desperate to see the ending.
A big thank you to Algonquin Books & NetGalley for access to this ARC!
May 17, 2026
Twelve-year-old Niko Eriksen rides Pony bareback through a burned-out Saskatchewan meadow in March 1885, playing buffalo hunters with Cousin Guillaume, when Guillaume evaporates mid-conversation into the bush. The sole evidence is a scream ordering Niko to run and a field of tangled footprints where one boy stood.
Niko's family is a wonder of Métis endurance packed into "la bibliothèque," their homestead so full of maps and letters that guests warn against smoking indoors. Nimama Sara won her tweed jacket at faro; Auntie Joséphine hides her own beadwork in public; and Chapan is the great-grandmother who burned the forest to build a community and received a two-story house as thanks.
The police outpost answers the family's missing persons report with a cigar-smoking sergeant named Wagner, who already has Guillaume's file on his desk before the family even reports the abduction, and a Métis constable named Campbell Palmer who recognizes Nimama and Auntie with the guilty eyes of a man carrying buried chapters.
Three Indigenous boys have vanished across Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles in a single week; all their police reports sit pre-filed in a folder addressed to the Indian commissioner. A fur trader with terrible burn scars and beaded gauntlets visited the local priest days before the disappearances, describing a government contract to sterilize coyote pups. Chapan suspects she knows the man.
Into this rides Kate McCannon, a one-woman tribunal who already removed a Mountie's pistol hand at the wrist, and who is organizing a women-led armed search camp at Loon Lake, open to all, and going hunting.
Blair Palmer Yoxall is a Canadian writer of Métis and settler heritage, and the debut Treat Them as Buffalo, published May 2026 by Algonquin Books, takes its title from Gabriel Dumont's remark at Fish Creek: "I wanted to treat them as we would have buffalo." An epigraph and a thesis. The colonized hunting the colonizer with the calm their ancestors brought to the open plains.
The book makes its case, that colonial dispossession is institutional, generational, and ongoing, through twelve-year-old Niko, who keeps discovering that every adult in his life has been running a protection racket of silence.
Every newspaper from every reserve in Canada in 2026 confirms that Ottawa's relationship with Indigenous peoples still runs on the same colonial accounting. Instead of dealing with its own iniquities, and trying to remedy the tragedies inflicted upon the actual Indigenous people of the land, the populist Canadian politicians project the narrative onto other regions and nations with antisemitic glee.
Yoxall writes with a child's vocabulary and a historian's fury. Niko's voice, all "bonkerser" and "dang" and prayers for good dreams, carries the weight of the 1885 North-West War with more dignity than most academic treatments.
The weaknesses are those of debut ambition: some chapters pile horror on horror until the reader's sympathy goes a little numb, and Kate McCannon is so mythically competent she occasionally floats above the mud everyone else is stuck in. Also, the main character, the child really, speaks, describes, but isn't really felt.
Yoxall's Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles is a town worth grieving, and "when bad things happened" is a Cree translation that ought to follow Confederation into every history class in the country.
❤️ 🇮🇱
Niko's family is a wonder of Métis endurance packed into "la bibliothèque," their homestead so full of maps and letters that guests warn against smoking indoors. Nimama Sara won her tweed jacket at faro; Auntie Joséphine hides her own beadwork in public; and Chapan is the great-grandmother who burned the forest to build a community and received a two-story house as thanks.
The police outpost answers the family's missing persons report with a cigar-smoking sergeant named Wagner, who already has Guillaume's file on his desk before the family even reports the abduction, and a Métis constable named Campbell Palmer who recognizes Nimama and Auntie with the guilty eyes of a man carrying buried chapters.
Three Indigenous boys have vanished across Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles in a single week; all their police reports sit pre-filed in a folder addressed to the Indian commissioner. A fur trader with terrible burn scars and beaded gauntlets visited the local priest days before the disappearances, describing a government contract to sterilize coyote pups. Chapan suspects she knows the man.
Into this rides Kate McCannon, a one-woman tribunal who already removed a Mountie's pistol hand at the wrist, and who is organizing a women-led armed search camp at Loon Lake, open to all, and going hunting.
Blair Palmer Yoxall is a Canadian writer of Métis and settler heritage, and the debut Treat Them as Buffalo, published May 2026 by Algonquin Books, takes its title from Gabriel Dumont's remark at Fish Creek: "I wanted to treat them as we would have buffalo." An epigraph and a thesis. The colonized hunting the colonizer with the calm their ancestors brought to the open plains.
The book makes its case, that colonial dispossession is institutional, generational, and ongoing, through twelve-year-old Niko, who keeps discovering that every adult in his life has been running a protection racket of silence.
Every newspaper from every reserve in Canada in 2026 confirms that Ottawa's relationship with Indigenous peoples still runs on the same colonial accounting. Instead of dealing with its own iniquities, and trying to remedy the tragedies inflicted upon the actual Indigenous people of the land, the populist Canadian politicians project the narrative onto other regions and nations with antisemitic glee.
Yoxall writes with a child's vocabulary and a historian's fury. Niko's voice, all "bonkerser" and "dang" and prayers for good dreams, carries the weight of the 1885 North-West War with more dignity than most academic treatments.
The weaknesses are those of debut ambition: some chapters pile horror on horror until the reader's sympathy goes a little numb, and Kate McCannon is so mythically competent she occasionally floats above the mud everyone else is stuck in. Also, the main character, the child really, speaks, describes, but isn't really felt.
Yoxall's Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles is a town worth grieving, and "when bad things happened" is a Cree translation that ought to follow Confederation into every history class in the country.
❤️ 🇮🇱
June 21, 2026
Overall, I did enjoy the story. The plot itself was really interesting. It was the right amount of dark and gruesome for both the genre and the era it's set in. Fair warning though that last 10% is quite grim. I enjoyed our characters, but I did find myself wanting a slight older main character and just more time to fully connect to them. The plot went so fast it that you didn't really have time to get to know a character before something happened.
I adored the setting, but similarly to my thoughts on the characters i just wish we had more time to go in depth with it! What we did get was well done though!
Looking forward to seeing what else this author has up their sleeve for future books!
Slight PS- The Pussy Posse was absolutely my favorite part of this. A+ on the name.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC copy!
*All opinions are my own!*
I adored the setting, but similarly to my thoughts on the characters i just wish we had more time to go in depth with it! What we did get was well done though!
Looking forward to seeing what else this author has up their sleeve for future books!
Slight PS- The Pussy Posse was absolutely my favorite part of this. A+ on the name.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC copy!
*All opinions are my own!*
June 23, 2026
Brilliant writing. I think the lukewarm reception of this book here is a bit unfair (and suspicious, ha!)
May 18, 2026
Treat Them as Buffalo was a fascinating read: set in 1885 in Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles (district of Saskatchewan), we follow the perspective of 12 year old boy, Niko, after his cousin mysteriously disappears. Soon, other Métis boys are taken, and as the mystery unfolds, more horrific acts occur and we see how the violence affects the community. Indigenous families and brigades are rally together as the police refuse to help, family secrets and shames are slowly revealed, and grief plays a main character in this novel.
It’s also a fascinating artistic choice to structure this story from young boy’s language and point of view; to see his innocence and naïveté, a yearning to grow up and help despite the dangerous situations at play. He gleans what information he can, wants to save and comfort his close-knit family, but is also just a boy who shouldn’t have to experience any of this suffering.
I really appreciated entering into this piece of history, acknowledging the lives, joys, and oppression of the Métis community of that time in this anti-Western-esque story. There was new language to learn, and new expressions of love to take in. While I felt the story was good overall, the writing was difficult to follow, particularly in scenes with multiple people and multiple events occurring at once— there are a lot of alternating names, nicknames, honorifics to keep track of, and I found the writing to be too vague at times to truly grasp what was happening. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
It’s also a fascinating artistic choice to structure this story from young boy’s language and point of view; to see his innocence and naïveté, a yearning to grow up and help despite the dangerous situations at play. He gleans what information he can, wants to save and comfort his close-knit family, but is also just a boy who shouldn’t have to experience any of this suffering.
I really appreciated entering into this piece of history, acknowledging the lives, joys, and oppression of the Métis community of that time in this anti-Western-esque story. There was new language to learn, and new expressions of love to take in. While I felt the story was good overall, the writing was difficult to follow, particularly in scenes with multiple people and multiple events occurring at once— there are a lot of alternating names, nicknames, honorifics to keep track of, and I found the writing to be too vague at times to truly grasp what was happening. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!
June 26, 2026
Very good book. I really like how the book is from the perspective of a child (12 I think?) because I find that often gives books an interesting perspective. It seems pretty accurate to how the world was back then and I liked that the ending ended with positive finality for the characters. They really all came together in the end to fight off terrible people. I liked that they showed the cops as corrupt as cops are often painted as "the good guys" when a lot of people in minority groups know them to often be the ones doing the terrorizing. Overall great book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2026
i’ll have to sit with that ending for a bit, and whether it feels satisfying, but i’m so glad i got the chance to read this early.
i’m fascinated by adult novels from the perspective of a child, since they don’t always land—this one reminds me of bless me ultima in the way it portrays the loss of innocence and violent transition to adulthood after witnessing/experiencing such a tragic moment (and that’s my fav book in the world so this is a high compliment!!!) i also loved how this perspective offered something new to these histories / time period on top of centering some crazyyyyy women (positive)
i really hope this book takes off and that yoxall gets to write a million more books so i can continue reading westerns that don’t make me feel icky
i’m fascinated by adult novels from the perspective of a child, since they don’t always land—this one reminds me of bless me ultima in the way it portrays the loss of innocence and violent transition to adulthood after witnessing/experiencing such a tragic moment (and that’s my fav book in the world so this is a high compliment!!!) i also loved how this perspective offered something new to these histories / time period on top of centering some crazyyyyy women (positive)
i really hope this book takes off and that yoxall gets to write a million more books so i can continue reading westerns that don’t make me feel icky
February 14, 2026
Wow. What a ride that was! Blair Palmer Yoxall grabbed me in the first couple of paragraphs and took me for one heck of a ride.
Life is hard for the Métis in northwest Canada in 1885. Food is scarce, winter is long, the North-West war is raging, and now boys are disappearing. The story is told by a young boy, cousin to another boy that was taken. You really feel for him as things unfold, secrets are revealed, and lives are changed irrevocably.
I was immediately invested in these characters. I felt sad, hopeful, uncomfortable, and angry in turns. Life as a Métis in the late 1800’s is illustrated so clearly that I felt like I was there.
Life is hard for the Métis in northwest Canada in 1885. Food is scarce, winter is long, the North-West war is raging, and now boys are disappearing. The story is told by a young boy, cousin to another boy that was taken. You really feel for him as things unfold, secrets are revealed, and lives are changed irrevocably.
I was immediately invested in these characters. I felt sad, hopeful, uncomfortable, and angry in turns. Life as a Métis in the late 1800’s is illustrated so clearly that I felt like I was there.
May 14, 2026
Rounded to 4.5 stars.
Thank you to Algonquin Books for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book sounded so interesting, and offered a chance to see inside the Métis community in the 19th century. I’ve read a couple of books about Métis people in the present day, but was really drawn in to this historical fiction. Set in 1885 in Saskatchewan, it touches on the conflict between the Métis community and the government, which I knew nothing about and was looking to learn a bit more.
I really took my time reading this one, and fully immersed myself in the story. The very first paragraph caught my attention when I featured it for a First Lines Friday post, and I couldn’t wait to start reading. Even though buffalo hasn’t been seen in a generation, Niko and his cousin love to play buffalo hunter. On the way back, the winner gets to ride the pony while the loser has to walk home. But when Cousin disappears in the blink of an eye, all Niko hears is his cousin imploring him to run.
Naturally, when someone goes missing, especially a child, you’d expect the authorities to help, but in this case they aren’t willing to investigate. This means that the Métis community can only rely on themselves, and organize searches for not just Cousin, but some other boys who have gone missing recently. This part made me furious, because I would expect one missing child, let alone multiple missing children, should be a main priority of the authorities.
The story provides a lot of insight into the family structure of the Métis and half-breed communities—and half-breed is used by the author to describe the historical community that defined themselves that way, rather than the insulting tone that term has taken on in the present day. There are very strong matrilineal bonds in the families—Niko lives with his great-grandmother (Chapan), his mother (Nimama), his aunt, and his cousin. There are some men in the community, but most of the families in this book are raised in a communal setting surrounded by strong, female leaders. It makes sense later in the story when they join up with Kate McCannon and her ‘Pussy Posse’ to protect Niko and find the missing boys.
I really loved how the family and community bonds were portrayed, especially as the tension ratcheted up throughout the course of the story. There are some Métis words used, and there is a glossary defining most of the words, but not all. I felt like I was missing something by not being able to understand some of the words, but ultimately I was able to connect to the story.
The pacing is a little slow in the beginning, but this story is more of a meander than a race, so I didn’t mind. As I mentioned earlier, I took my time with this story, partly because I didn’t want to miss anything, but also because it has some dark themes. The community, including family members of Niko’s, often find themselves facing adult issues before their time, and this is even reflected in a quote that sums things up pretty well:
“Nimama looked sternful. But a tad sympathetic. Part of her remembered what it was like being a kid living a grown-up life.”
Grammatically incorrect language, such as ‘sternful’ and ‘we was walking,’ is used throughout the story, reflecting the way that Niko and the people around him speak, and it only made me feel closer to Niko and his family. I had no trouble connecting with Niko, and was fully invested in the story right from the start. The slower pace of the story allowed Yoxall to really delve into character development and portray a community facing ongoing threats.
Obviously, anyone familiar with Indigenous American/First Nations history is aware of how poorly they were treated by caucasian settlers. A community who has historically relied on buffalo hunts to survive but has no more buffalo to hunt faces a loss of a major food source. It was fascinating to see the kind of foods they ate and the knowledge they passed down, even as their way of life was slowly dying out. I’m sure the Métis community has also faced racism, genocide, violence, and more, leading to an ongoing trauma that has also been passed down to younger generations. Naturally, the heavier themes, including being ignored by police when seeking help, violence, reference to sexual assault, and broken family structures are all handled in a realistic yet sensitive manner, along with the way the Métis are adjusting to a new way of life that is different from their traditional ways.
Overall, this was a fascinating look into Métis history as well as a gripping story that held my attention from start to finish. I loved how Niko was the narrator, and readers get to see all of these events through the eyes of a boy facing adult situations and concerns. The writing is spare and beautiful and conveys a lot without being flowery. It really felt like I was in the head of a twelve-year-old boy trying to understand events that would be difficult for adults to process, and it all made me feel so much more attached to this kid. Niko watches and listens more than he speaks, but I especially loved all the positive female representation in the book—Niko’s great-grandmother, his mother, his aunt, and the women of the Pussy Posse are all protective of Niko and everyone in the community. It also portrays the betrayal Métis feel when one of their own has joined the Mounties (RCMP), and how they act towards him. This was an absolutely wonderful read, and I can easily recommend it to other readers. I’ll be looking forward to checking out more of Yoxall’s books.
Bottom line: A unique and intriguing read focusing on the Métis community through the eyes of a boy facing adult challenges with their traditional way of life and a spate of missing boys. It’s got heavy themes throughout, particularly institutional racism and sexual assault, but also incredible Métis and female representation.
Thank you to Algonquin Books for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book sounded so interesting, and offered a chance to see inside the Métis community in the 19th century. I’ve read a couple of books about Métis people in the present day, but was really drawn in to this historical fiction. Set in 1885 in Saskatchewan, it touches on the conflict between the Métis community and the government, which I knew nothing about and was looking to learn a bit more.
I really took my time reading this one, and fully immersed myself in the story. The very first paragraph caught my attention when I featured it for a First Lines Friday post, and I couldn’t wait to start reading. Even though buffalo hasn’t been seen in a generation, Niko and his cousin love to play buffalo hunter. On the way back, the winner gets to ride the pony while the loser has to walk home. But when Cousin disappears in the blink of an eye, all Niko hears is his cousin imploring him to run.
Naturally, when someone goes missing, especially a child, you’d expect the authorities to help, but in this case they aren’t willing to investigate. This means that the Métis community can only rely on themselves, and organize searches for not just Cousin, but some other boys who have gone missing recently. This part made me furious, because I would expect one missing child, let alone multiple missing children, should be a main priority of the authorities.
The story provides a lot of insight into the family structure of the Métis and half-breed communities—and half-breed is used by the author to describe the historical community that defined themselves that way, rather than the insulting tone that term has taken on in the present day. There are very strong matrilineal bonds in the families—Niko lives with his great-grandmother (Chapan), his mother (Nimama), his aunt, and his cousin. There are some men in the community, but most of the families in this book are raised in a communal setting surrounded by strong, female leaders. It makes sense later in the story when they join up with Kate McCannon and her ‘Pussy Posse’ to protect Niko and find the missing boys.
I really loved how the family and community bonds were portrayed, especially as the tension ratcheted up throughout the course of the story. There are some Métis words used, and there is a glossary defining most of the words, but not all. I felt like I was missing something by not being able to understand some of the words, but ultimately I was able to connect to the story.
The pacing is a little slow in the beginning, but this story is more of a meander than a race, so I didn’t mind. As I mentioned earlier, I took my time with this story, partly because I didn’t want to miss anything, but also because it has some dark themes. The community, including family members of Niko’s, often find themselves facing adult issues before their time, and this is even reflected in a quote that sums things up pretty well:
“Nimama looked sternful. But a tad sympathetic. Part of her remembered what it was like being a kid living a grown-up life.”
Grammatically incorrect language, such as ‘sternful’ and ‘we was walking,’ is used throughout the story, reflecting the way that Niko and the people around him speak, and it only made me feel closer to Niko and his family. I had no trouble connecting with Niko, and was fully invested in the story right from the start. The slower pace of the story allowed Yoxall to really delve into character development and portray a community facing ongoing threats.
Obviously, anyone familiar with Indigenous American/First Nations history is aware of how poorly they were treated by caucasian settlers. A community who has historically relied on buffalo hunts to survive but has no more buffalo to hunt faces a loss of a major food source. It was fascinating to see the kind of foods they ate and the knowledge they passed down, even as their way of life was slowly dying out. I’m sure the Métis community has also faced racism, genocide, violence, and more, leading to an ongoing trauma that has also been passed down to younger generations. Naturally, the heavier themes, including being ignored by police when seeking help, violence, reference to sexual assault, and broken family structures are all handled in a realistic yet sensitive manner, along with the way the Métis are adjusting to a new way of life that is different from their traditional ways.
Overall, this was a fascinating look into Métis history as well as a gripping story that held my attention from start to finish. I loved how Niko was the narrator, and readers get to see all of these events through the eyes of a boy facing adult situations and concerns. The writing is spare and beautiful and conveys a lot without being flowery. It really felt like I was in the head of a twelve-year-old boy trying to understand events that would be difficult for adults to process, and it all made me feel so much more attached to this kid. Niko watches and listens more than he speaks, but I especially loved all the positive female representation in the book—Niko’s great-grandmother, his mother, his aunt, and the women of the Pussy Posse are all protective of Niko and everyone in the community. It also portrays the betrayal Métis feel when one of their own has joined the Mounties (RCMP), and how they act towards him. This was an absolutely wonderful read, and I can easily recommend it to other readers. I’ll be looking forward to checking out more of Yoxall’s books.
Bottom line: A unique and intriguing read focusing on the Métis community through the eyes of a boy facing adult challenges with their traditional way of life and a spate of missing boys. It’s got heavy themes throughout, particularly institutional racism and sexual assault, but also incredible Métis and female representation.
June 17, 2026
This is a beautifully written book. I really enjoyed the emotional immersion this piece carries and the storyline was very engaging! I finished this book pretty quickly because everytime I tried to put it down, I picked it right back up.
May 26, 2026
Trying to write this review 4 days later and still processing.
June 10, 2026
Overall, I felt the story was decent though a little scattered. The setting wasn't established well enough for me to place the story into anything meaningful.
June 16, 2026
I was delighted to discover the debut novel by Calgary author Blair Palmer Yoxall, titled Treat Them as Buffalo, was published by major publishing house, HarperCollins Canada – yay for bigger marketing budgets! The demand continues to grow for Indigenous books by Indigenous authors, but in this case, Yoxall is a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, so a different perspective, but another valuable addition to the growing body of Indigenous perspectives in Canada. What’s even better is that this work of historical fiction centers almost entirely on the female experience of prairie warfare in Canadian history, which is one we don’t often learn about. Although this book is told from the perspective of a young boy, his aunt, mother, and other female relatives and friends are the true heroes of this story.
Plot Summary
Taking place over just 3 months in the spring of 1885 in Saskatchewan, Canada, Treat Them as Buffalo relays the violent events enacted against the fictional Métis Eriksen-Desjarlais family, beginning with the kidnapping of their son, Guillaume. The narrator, Niko, was playing with Guillaume in the forest when his cousin disappears, and when a few other boys are mysteriously kidnapped around the same time, it becomes clear that this is a deliberate attack on the families in this settlement. When the family members attempt to report it to the local Mounted police, they are met with apathy and a complete unwillingness to investigate the disappearances. Niko’s mother is torn between the urge to protect her own son and the duty to help her sister find Guillaume. When it becomes clear that Niko isn’t safe even at home, they make the difficult decision to travel to an encampment of warriors known as the “Pussy Posse”, led by Kate McCannon, a female warrior with an impressive yet gruesome reputation for violence. This is set against the wider conflict known as the North-West resistance of 1885, which began in 1969 with Louis Riel’s initial uprising in 1869. So while the women left behind from this war are fighting to rescue their missing sons, the resistance fighting rages on around them. Mentions of it come just outside of this plotline, but occasionally rear its head, influencing the behaviour of other Métis, as well as the obviously biased police officers who do little to help the Métis population.
My Thoughts
There are many examples of historical fiction that focus on women’s leadership, innovation, and bravery during wartime when men are away fighting. But this is the first book that I’ve ever come across that focuses on Indigenous women and their impressive ability to step up and fight to protect their family during wartime. And – this book is written by a man! The determination and ruthlessness in Niko’s aunt, mother, and Kate is not only profound, but incredibly entertaining to read about. There are action-packed scenes of gun battle on horseback that are thrilling to read, and I’m not one to typically enjoy this type of writing, but the fact that these women could inflict such pain, and then turn around and comfort their children and family shortly thereafter was extraordinary. The notoriety of Kate’s gunslinging and lassoing skills are a fun addition to the lore of the “Pussy Posse”, which is depicted as a well-run camp that thrives under its female leadership. I hesitate to label this a feminist text because although it does focus on the strength of women, it is never in comparison to men. There was never a question that these women were strong – they always have been, and are now forced to demonstrate this when their families are threatened.
My only suggestion for improvement; the narrative voice of this book is a bit uneven. Niko is a young boy, and this comes through in his diction, misunderstandings of some situations, and desire to simply play with his cousin again. However I also found that many phrasings and observations would often come out sounding incredibly wise beyond his years, near impossible for a boy his age to recognize or articulate. While this isn’t a major issue with the story, it was jarring as a reader, and I was hoping for a more consistent voice. These age-inappropriate reactions would momentarily pull me out of the story, which becomes distracting. Still, as a debut novel, the ambition of telling such a wild and action-packed story through a child’s eyes needs to be commended, and I’m sure as Yoxall continues writing this will improve.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
Plot Summary
Taking place over just 3 months in the spring of 1885 in Saskatchewan, Canada, Treat Them as Buffalo relays the violent events enacted against the fictional Métis Eriksen-Desjarlais family, beginning with the kidnapping of their son, Guillaume. The narrator, Niko, was playing with Guillaume in the forest when his cousin disappears, and when a few other boys are mysteriously kidnapped around the same time, it becomes clear that this is a deliberate attack on the families in this settlement. When the family members attempt to report it to the local Mounted police, they are met with apathy and a complete unwillingness to investigate the disappearances. Niko’s mother is torn between the urge to protect her own son and the duty to help her sister find Guillaume. When it becomes clear that Niko isn’t safe even at home, they make the difficult decision to travel to an encampment of warriors known as the “Pussy Posse”, led by Kate McCannon, a female warrior with an impressive yet gruesome reputation for violence. This is set against the wider conflict known as the North-West resistance of 1885, which began in 1969 with Louis Riel’s initial uprising in 1869. So while the women left behind from this war are fighting to rescue their missing sons, the resistance fighting rages on around them. Mentions of it come just outside of this plotline, but occasionally rear its head, influencing the behaviour of other Métis, as well as the obviously biased police officers who do little to help the Métis population.
My Thoughts
There are many examples of historical fiction that focus on women’s leadership, innovation, and bravery during wartime when men are away fighting. But this is the first book that I’ve ever come across that focuses on Indigenous women and their impressive ability to step up and fight to protect their family during wartime. And – this book is written by a man! The determination and ruthlessness in Niko’s aunt, mother, and Kate is not only profound, but incredibly entertaining to read about. There are action-packed scenes of gun battle on horseback that are thrilling to read, and I’m not one to typically enjoy this type of writing, but the fact that these women could inflict such pain, and then turn around and comfort their children and family shortly thereafter was extraordinary. The notoriety of Kate’s gunslinging and lassoing skills are a fun addition to the lore of the “Pussy Posse”, which is depicted as a well-run camp that thrives under its female leadership. I hesitate to label this a feminist text because although it does focus on the strength of women, it is never in comparison to men. There was never a question that these women were strong – they always have been, and are now forced to demonstrate this when their families are threatened.
My only suggestion for improvement; the narrative voice of this book is a bit uneven. Niko is a young boy, and this comes through in his diction, misunderstandings of some situations, and desire to simply play with his cousin again. However I also found that many phrasings and observations would often come out sounding incredibly wise beyond his years, near impossible for a boy his age to recognize or articulate. While this isn’t a major issue with the story, it was jarring as a reader, and I was hoping for a more consistent voice. These age-inappropriate reactions would momentarily pull me out of the story, which becomes distracting. Still, as a debut novel, the ambition of telling such a wild and action-packed story through a child’s eyes needs to be commended, and I’m sure as Yoxall continues writing this will improve.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is a historical fiction book, the fine points you probably never learned about. This is a look at a truly amazing culture where everyone is valued. This is a look at a community where everyone matters, is cared for and is supported. This is a look at what it means to come together. This is a book about how cruel people are. This is a very heavy book.
This fantastic book takes place place over a 48-day period in the spring of 1885. Written from the perspective of a young boy, this is a powerful fictional book about events that happened to the Indigenous and Metis peoples. It took me a minute to digest to vernacular of the story but once I was immersed and learned the characters, this book flowed well. I took a picture of the family tree and the appendix so I could refer to it while familiarizing myself with the names of the characters and the indigenous words used.
The story developed well, and there is a reason why this adult needs to be from a young boys perspective, you will figure it out when you read the book. It is important to the story. There were stories of past incidents which highlighted some of what was happening as the Indigenous people were forced from their land and attempted to be converted to christianity during the time of this book. It is far more then just a story, there is an education in this book about what happened to an entire culture of humans, how they lived and interacted, the cultural hierarchy, where everyone were valued including women and children, with their opinions and input being just as important (and yes women can be leaders). The story develops well and reads well, with the writing reflective of the culture, time and the fact it is very much from a young persons point of view. This is an amazing book from so many aspects, to learn some of the culture and lives of what it may have been like for the indigenous during the late 1800's, to see their struggles and how they were integrating the white mans culture yet still maintaining their own, how they balanced the different cultures as times, and some of the choices they had to make, just to survive. To me, I see this not only as the story of what happened but a look at what they, as a culture, were going through in their lives. The Indigenous people were being indoctrinated into the christian values yet still maintained their own cultural legacy. This is a book incorporating a history lesson, within a story, of things many of us really never learned much about. I loved how it is written, because to me it is way more then a story about finding the boys, there is a lot more to this book and this is a book I look forward to going back to and I really did not want to end. It is not an easy read in the aspect that the lives they lived was horrible and what was being done to them personally and as a culture was even worse, but I also learned what an amazing and caring culture this was on a much deeper level. I hope the author has many more books to write.
For me, this is an amazing book and I hope others get as much out of this as I did. It is not a light or easy read, but very much a worth-while read. This would make an excellent book club read for many groups including history lovers and women's groups. I hope this is picked up by some awards groups to review.
Thank you to the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. I hope Mr Yoxall continues to write, I will be looking for his books. This is a valuable book to help educate and bring to the forefront parts of history I am sure some would rather leave to rest. Excellent book. This is a six-star read.
This fantastic book takes place place over a 48-day period in the spring of 1885. Written from the perspective of a young boy, this is a powerful fictional book about events that happened to the Indigenous and Metis peoples. It took me a minute to digest to vernacular of the story but once I was immersed and learned the characters, this book flowed well. I took a picture of the family tree and the appendix so I could refer to it while familiarizing myself with the names of the characters and the indigenous words used.
The story developed well, and there is a reason why this adult needs to be from a young boys perspective, you will figure it out when you read the book. It is important to the story. There were stories of past incidents which highlighted some of what was happening as the Indigenous people were forced from their land and attempted to be converted to christianity during the time of this book. It is far more then just a story, there is an education in this book about what happened to an entire culture of humans, how they lived and interacted, the cultural hierarchy, where everyone were valued including women and children, with their opinions and input being just as important (and yes women can be leaders). The story develops well and reads well, with the writing reflective of the culture, time and the fact it is very much from a young persons point of view. This is an amazing book from so many aspects, to learn some of the culture and lives of what it may have been like for the indigenous during the late 1800's, to see their struggles and how they were integrating the white mans culture yet still maintaining their own, how they balanced the different cultures as times, and some of the choices they had to make, just to survive. To me, I see this not only as the story of what happened but a look at what they, as a culture, were going through in their lives. The Indigenous people were being indoctrinated into the christian values yet still maintained their own cultural legacy. This is a book incorporating a history lesson, within a story, of things many of us really never learned much about. I loved how it is written, because to me it is way more then a story about finding the boys, there is a lot more to this book and this is a book I look forward to going back to and I really did not want to end. It is not an easy read in the aspect that the lives they lived was horrible and what was being done to them personally and as a culture was even worse, but I also learned what an amazing and caring culture this was on a much deeper level. I hope the author has many more books to write.
For me, this is an amazing book and I hope others get as much out of this as I did. It is not a light or easy read, but very much a worth-while read. This would make an excellent book club read for many groups including history lovers and women's groups. I hope this is picked up by some awards groups to review.
Thank you to the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. I hope Mr Yoxall continues to write, I will be looking for his books. This is a valuable book to help educate and bring to the forefront parts of history I am sure some would rather leave to rest. Excellent book. This is a six-star read.
June 22, 2026
Treat Them as Buffalo
Blair Palmer Yoxall's "Treat Them as Buffalo" is an intriguing story shackled by a few problems which, although not necessarily with the story itself, impede it's telling.
Seeing the often untold story of the Red River Rebellion from an indigenous perspective (and for the first time outside of a history class when I was the age of the protagonist) feels rare, unique, and fascinating. Beyond being a historical novel, this book covers many concepts still relevant in the country today. What stood out to me was the topic of policing and abuse of power against indigenous communities - something that lingers in the mouth of modern day Canada.
The novel is cast by complex and interesting characters. The veteran buffalo hunter Nishecabo, his coming-of-age son Georges, the confrontational gunslinger Kate McCannon, or the Metis RCMP officer Campbell Palmer are the ones who stand out the most. Constable Palmer in particular was intriguing to me as soon as he was introduced. I can almost feel the shock that came over me when our character walked through the police fort and was introduced to the Metis officer. Even in our modern age, policing remains a predominantly white profession and so the concept of a Metis constable on the frontier of the 1880s immediately drew me in. Kate McCannon, although an impactful character, felt somewhat predictable or cliche in the Joan of Arc-esque niche that she fills within the novel. I feel that the book left me wanting more with the development of these characters and that they could have been further expanded upon, but they were not. The antagonist (who is purposefully kept out of sight from the protagonist for nearly the entire novel) seemed to suffer the most from this lack of exposition as his motives boil down to less than half a page of backstory, leaving him feeling like a very two-dimensional character.
The protagonist Niko feels somewhat like a blank slate, and often is less of a character himself and more like a window through which we view the world of the novel. Much of the book is spent waiting, telling what is being eaten for breakfast, and anticipating something to occur - the pace of the first two thirds of the novel feels too slow. Niko is predominantly passive, but when the twelve-year-old protagonist is sparsely given a chance to be a part of the narrative, it becomes a compelling one. The intrapersonal conflict carried by Niko with his identity struggle as a "half breed" is powerful, and (when it's there) the interpersonal action suddenly had me excitedly turning pages in a book that at times was itching to be put down.
Niko is thrust as a child into a very adult world and realistically not given much agency by the grown-ups surrounding him, and it feels that many chances to influence the story are missed. While Yoxall effectively transferred the protagonist's frustration with waiting onto myself, I began to feel as though I had reached a point about half way through the novel where I felt a sense of detachment from the story. Much of the plot development occurred off-page, and at some point, it felt repetitive and numbing how many plot developments were communicated through someone returning to the camp on Loon Lake or La Bibliotheque.
While a good story, due to the narrative issues it fails to become a stand-out for me. It falters with building momentum and exploring the characters and world in greater depth, and left me wanting more.
Blair Palmer Yoxall's "Treat Them as Buffalo" is an intriguing story shackled by a few problems which, although not necessarily with the story itself, impede it's telling.
Seeing the often untold story of the Red River Rebellion from an indigenous perspective (and for the first time outside of a history class when I was the age of the protagonist) feels rare, unique, and fascinating. Beyond being a historical novel, this book covers many concepts still relevant in the country today. What stood out to me was the topic of policing and abuse of power against indigenous communities - something that lingers in the mouth of modern day Canada.
The novel is cast by complex and interesting characters. The veteran buffalo hunter Nishecabo, his coming-of-age son Georges, the confrontational gunslinger Kate McCannon, or the Metis RCMP officer Campbell Palmer are the ones who stand out the most. Constable Palmer in particular was intriguing to me as soon as he was introduced. I can almost feel the shock that came over me when our character walked through the police fort and was introduced to the Metis officer. Even in our modern age, policing remains a predominantly white profession and so the concept of a Metis constable on the frontier of the 1880s immediately drew me in. Kate McCannon, although an impactful character, felt somewhat predictable or cliche in the Joan of Arc-esque niche that she fills within the novel. I feel that the book left me wanting more with the development of these characters and that they could have been further expanded upon, but they were not. The antagonist (who is purposefully kept out of sight from the protagonist for nearly the entire novel) seemed to suffer the most from this lack of exposition as his motives boil down to less than half a page of backstory, leaving him feeling like a very two-dimensional character.
The protagonist Niko feels somewhat like a blank slate, and often is less of a character himself and more like a window through which we view the world of the novel. Much of the book is spent waiting, telling what is being eaten for breakfast, and anticipating something to occur - the pace of the first two thirds of the novel feels too slow. Niko is predominantly passive, but when the twelve-year-old protagonist is sparsely given a chance to be a part of the narrative, it becomes a compelling one. The intrapersonal conflict carried by Niko with his identity struggle as a "half breed" is powerful, and (when it's there) the interpersonal action suddenly had me excitedly turning pages in a book that at times was itching to be put down.
Niko is thrust as a child into a very adult world and realistically not given much agency by the grown-ups surrounding him, and it feels that many chances to influence the story are missed. While Yoxall effectively transferred the protagonist's frustration with waiting onto myself, I began to feel as though I had reached a point about half way through the novel where I felt a sense of detachment from the story. Much of the plot development occurred off-page, and at some point, it felt repetitive and numbing how many plot developments were communicated through someone returning to the camp on Loon Lake or La Bibliotheque.
While a good story, due to the narrative issues it fails to become a stand-out for me. It falters with building momentum and exploring the characters and world in greater depth, and left me wanting more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5. This story kicks off with a young Native boy going missing; the family's search for him is the underlying book plot. You'll need some patience. The first twenty percent is mostly setup and a wide cast gets introduced before anything really gets moving. Things pick up sharply around the eighty percent mark: riding, fighting, real western-style stuff. It's harsh in a way that works, though it moves fast enough that tracking who's where gets tricky. There are gun fights, riding, kidnaps.... everything you'd expect in a western novel, but with a cultural and family twist.
The ending comes fast. There's a genuinely surprising twist right at the end of the book (inevitable in hindsight; doesn't impact book's trajectory) -- and then the book is just done. You can see where it was headed and closure would've been hard to pull off cleanly, but its absence still stings a little.
What holds all of this together is a tonal balance that's one of the book's best qualities. Things are bleak: death, missing boys, genuine danger, but there's also warmth, humor, the feeling of people finding each other and building something. That combination keeps the heavy moments from becoming oppressive.
A number of themes are woven throughout. Community indifference toward Native people is really prominent in the first half or so of the book. There are rare exceptions, a home being built for example, but these tend to feel more like debts being repaid than anything bigger. Belonging runs alongside this: family relationships, friendships, and trust are all tested, and a number of characters who claim to support the Métis people actively demonstrate that they aren't trustworthy. There's also a coming-of-age arc in progress, though the reader never reaches the end of it. The protagonist has some real growing-up moments throughout, but ends the book young and innocent, clearly at the start of something longer rather than through it.
Overall, Treat Them as Buffalo is a strong debut, but you'll need to be patient with it. For a first book, it's a real accomplishment.
A couple characters worth calling out:
The Corporal -- He speaks well of Métis people and seems genuinely interested in their representation, but his language keeps putting them at arm's length. The othering isn't in what he says so much as how he says it, and it's genuinely hard to tell whether he's being passively aggressive or just doesn't hear himself. The book doesn't really answer that, which is either frustrating or honest depending on your read.
Kate McCannon -- She's the archetypal western hero, does and lassoes everything, shows up when needed, and even though the author takes a beat to humanize her, she never fully steps out of that mold.
A note for readers (based on the ARC): The sheer volume of names (people, animals, guns, all named) can be a lot. Reference the family tree at the front early and often. There is also a Cree-English translation section at the back of the book. Check it at the beginning and throughout; it will help.
Publishers: consider moving the glossary up by the family tree. Finding it after finishing the book was a miss; it would have been immensely helpful earlier on.
The ending comes fast. There's a genuinely surprising twist right at the end of the book (inevitable in hindsight; doesn't impact book's trajectory) -- and then the book is just done. You can see where it was headed and closure would've been hard to pull off cleanly, but its absence still stings a little.
What holds all of this together is a tonal balance that's one of the book's best qualities. Things are bleak: death, missing boys, genuine danger, but there's also warmth, humor, the feeling of people finding each other and building something. That combination keeps the heavy moments from becoming oppressive.
A number of themes are woven throughout. Community indifference toward Native people is really prominent in the first half or so of the book. There are rare exceptions, a home being built for example, but these tend to feel more like debts being repaid than anything bigger. Belonging runs alongside this: family relationships, friendships, and trust are all tested, and a number of characters who claim to support the Métis people actively demonstrate that they aren't trustworthy. There's also a coming-of-age arc in progress, though the reader never reaches the end of it. The protagonist has some real growing-up moments throughout, but ends the book young and innocent, clearly at the start of something longer rather than through it.
Overall, Treat Them as Buffalo is a strong debut, but you'll need to be patient with it. For a first book, it's a real accomplishment.
A couple characters worth calling out:
The Corporal -- He speaks well of Métis people and seems genuinely interested in their representation, but his language keeps putting them at arm's length. The othering isn't in what he says so much as how he says it, and it's genuinely hard to tell whether he's being passively aggressive or just doesn't hear himself. The book doesn't really answer that, which is either frustrating or honest depending on your read.
Kate McCannon -- She's the archetypal western hero, does and lassoes everything, shows up when needed, and even though the author takes a beat to humanize her, she never fully steps out of that mold.
A note for readers (based on the ARC): The sheer volume of names (people, animals, guns, all named) can be a lot. Reference the family tree at the front early and often. There is also a Cree-English translation section at the back of the book. Check it at the beginning and throughout; it will help.
Publishers: consider moving the glossary up by the family tree. Finding it after finishing the book was a miss; it would have been immensely helpful earlier on.
May 14, 2026
Thanks to @netgalley, @algonquinbooks and Blair Palmer Yoxall for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Treat Them as Buffalo is a powerful, emotional, and deeply immersive historical fiction novel that stayed with me long after I finished reading. Told through the eyes of young Niko, this story follows the Métis community in 1885 as boys begin disappearing, forcing families and neighbors to come together in the face of fear, violence, and injustice.
What stood out most to me was how vivid and alive the community felt. This isn’t just a story about tragedy — it’s also about family, resilience, culture, and survival. The relationships between the characters were beautifully written, especially the strength of the women in the community and the love woven throughout even the darkest moments. You could truly feel how much every person mattered.
The writing itself was incredibly atmospheric. The descriptions of the landscape, food, horses, dust, and daily life made me feel completely immersed in the setting. I also appreciated how much care went into portraying Métis culture and history. While this is fiction, it also feels educational in an important way, shedding light on a part of history many readers may know very little about.
The choice to tell the story through a child’s perspective was especially impactful. Niko’s voice brought both warmth and heartbreak to the novel, and experiencing these events through his eyes made the emotional moments hit even harder. There is heaviness here, and some difficult subject matter, but it never felt exploitative. Instead, it felt deeply human.
I also loved the balance between the quieter emotional moments and the growing tension and danger throughout the story. Once the plot picked up, I found it incredibly difficult to put down.
This is not necessarily an easy read emotionally, but it is absolutely a worthwhile one. Readers who enjoy historical fiction that explores overlooked histories, strong communities, and emotionally rich storytelling will find a lot to appreciate here.
A moving and memorable debut that I’ll be thinking about for a long time.
Treat Them as Buffalo is a powerful, emotional, and deeply immersive historical fiction novel that stayed with me long after I finished reading. Told through the eyes of young Niko, this story follows the Métis community in 1885 as boys begin disappearing, forcing families and neighbors to come together in the face of fear, violence, and injustice.
What stood out most to me was how vivid and alive the community felt. This isn’t just a story about tragedy — it’s also about family, resilience, culture, and survival. The relationships between the characters were beautifully written, especially the strength of the women in the community and the love woven throughout even the darkest moments. You could truly feel how much every person mattered.
The writing itself was incredibly atmospheric. The descriptions of the landscape, food, horses, dust, and daily life made me feel completely immersed in the setting. I also appreciated how much care went into portraying Métis culture and history. While this is fiction, it also feels educational in an important way, shedding light on a part of history many readers may know very little about.
The choice to tell the story through a child’s perspective was especially impactful. Niko’s voice brought both warmth and heartbreak to the novel, and experiencing these events through his eyes made the emotional moments hit even harder. There is heaviness here, and some difficult subject matter, but it never felt exploitative. Instead, it felt deeply human.
I also loved the balance between the quieter emotional moments and the growing tension and danger throughout the story. Once the plot picked up, I found it incredibly difficult to put down.
This is not necessarily an easy read emotionally, but it is absolutely a worthwhile one. Readers who enjoy historical fiction that explores overlooked histories, strong communities, and emotionally rich storytelling will find a lot to appreciate here.
A moving and memorable debut that I’ll be thinking about for a long time.
June 4, 2026
Thoughtful, immersive, and emotionally resonant!
Treat Them Like Buffalo immediately pulls you in. What begins as a compelling mystery quickly expands into a richly layered portrait of family, community, and history. Through Niko’s perspective, readers are introduced to his family, particularly Nimama and Chapan, as well as the Métis and Cree community of Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles. The author skillfully incorporates the migration of families from Red River, the decline of the buffalo, food insecurity, religious life, and growing tensions surrounding Louis Riel’s return to the North-West.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is the way historical context is woven seamlessly into the narrative. Rather than presenting history as background information, the story reveals how larger political and social changes shape the daily lives of its characters. The result is an intimate and historically grounded narrative. The inclusion of an appendix featuring a chronology of major events and selected Cree translations further enriches the reading experience.
The novel establishes interconnected themes of loss, identity, belonging, and survival. Personal tragedies, fractured family histories, and community struggles exist alongside broader historical realities, including displacement, the disappearance of the buffalo, and increasing colonial pressures on Métis and Cree communities. Equally compelling is the exploration of how memory, storytelling, language, and cultural continuity shape people’s understanding of themselves and their place in the world. Treat Them Like Buffalo offers a powerful blend of historical fiction and family narrative. Its rich themes and discussion worthy subject matter make it especially well suited for book clubs. Highly recommend!
Treat Them Like Buffalo immediately pulls you in. What begins as a compelling mystery quickly expands into a richly layered portrait of family, community, and history. Through Niko’s perspective, readers are introduced to his family, particularly Nimama and Chapan, as well as the Métis and Cree community of Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles. The author skillfully incorporates the migration of families from Red River, the decline of the buffalo, food insecurity, religious life, and growing tensions surrounding Louis Riel’s return to the North-West.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is the way historical context is woven seamlessly into the narrative. Rather than presenting history as background information, the story reveals how larger political and social changes shape the daily lives of its characters. The result is an intimate and historically grounded narrative. The inclusion of an appendix featuring a chronology of major events and selected Cree translations further enriches the reading experience.
The novel establishes interconnected themes of loss, identity, belonging, and survival. Personal tragedies, fractured family histories, and community struggles exist alongside broader historical realities, including displacement, the disappearance of the buffalo, and increasing colonial pressures on Métis and Cree communities. Equally compelling is the exploration of how memory, storytelling, language, and cultural continuity shape people’s understanding of themselves and their place in the world. Treat Them Like Buffalo offers a powerful blend of historical fiction and family narrative. Its rich themes and discussion worthy subject matter make it especially well suited for book clubs. Highly recommend!
May 20, 2026
Ni vet hur jag tjurigt undviker alla BookTok-hypes och bestseller-ettor av ren envishet...? Jag börjar ana att samma envishet får mig att gå emot mina egna principer. Typ: Läs inte "under 4 på Goodreads"-böckerna, de är statistiskt bevisat (nåja...) inte bra.
Som den här. Trots att den är så nyutkommen att det finns få recensioner, ligger den lågt. (För er som inte hänger lika mycket på Goodreads som en annan: Det brukar vara tvärtom. Att betalda förhandsläsare och författaren själv ger femmor de första veckorna.) Men jag tänker - envist - att jag nog vet bättre. Särskilt som de som ger lägst betyg främst gnäller på att det är en ung berättarröst - sånt gillar en ju!
Och där har jag rätt. Berättarrösten, med sina små språkliga quirks (många ord som inte brukar sluta på -ful slutar på -ful, t.ex.) funkar helt okej. Barnets blick på den historiska perioden, och pojkens blick på kvinnorna, ger berättelsen ett djup den annars hade saknat. Den historiska perioden i sig känns också ny för mig, som trots jag läst många romaner med nordamerikansk (och då även kanadensisk) ursprungsbefolkning i huvudrollerna, sällan har befunnit mig i 1800-talets Kanada.
Men sen... är det inte särskilt intressant. Eller bra skrivet. Eller balanserat berättat.
Slutet exploderar helt plötsligt i någon slags brinnande Western-scen, där jag inte kan se framför mig vem som kastar vilket lasso mot vilken häst, typ. Men det största problemet är: Jag bryr mig inte ens. Det kan gå hur som helst med både pojkar och mödrar och hästar (okej, lite bryr jag mig om hästarna...).
Så knowledge of the crowd (vi 20 som läst boken...) funkar fortfarande.
Som den här. Trots att den är så nyutkommen att det finns få recensioner, ligger den lågt. (För er som inte hänger lika mycket på Goodreads som en annan: Det brukar vara tvärtom. Att betalda förhandsläsare och författaren själv ger femmor de första veckorna.) Men jag tänker - envist - att jag nog vet bättre. Särskilt som de som ger lägst betyg främst gnäller på att det är en ung berättarröst - sånt gillar en ju!
Och där har jag rätt. Berättarrösten, med sina små språkliga quirks (många ord som inte brukar sluta på -ful slutar på -ful, t.ex.) funkar helt okej. Barnets blick på den historiska perioden, och pojkens blick på kvinnorna, ger berättelsen ett djup den annars hade saknat. Den historiska perioden i sig känns också ny för mig, som trots jag läst många romaner med nordamerikansk (och då även kanadensisk) ursprungsbefolkning i huvudrollerna, sällan har befunnit mig i 1800-talets Kanada.
Men sen... är det inte särskilt intressant. Eller bra skrivet. Eller balanserat berättat.
Slutet exploderar helt plötsligt i någon slags brinnande Western-scen, där jag inte kan se framför mig vem som kastar vilket lasso mot vilken häst, typ. Men det största problemet är: Jag bryr mig inte ens. Det kan gå hur som helst med både pojkar och mödrar och hästar (okej, lite bryr jag mig om hästarna...).
Så knowledge of the crowd (vi 20 som läst boken...) funkar fortfarande.
June 2, 2026
This book feels like one in which the author purposely did the opposite of whatever critique & advice proffered, out of spite. While following one's heart in one's writing can prove to be both satisfactory to the author and beneficial to the storytelling, there's a definite difference between ignoring what's critiqued for taste versus is critiqued to improve one's writing. Yoxall evidently ignored the latter.
Beyond stylistic choices; the lack of depth in the protagonist in particular, but also the cast of characters in general & their setting; and pacing, I had most issue with the historical inaccuracies/anachronisms. For a work set in historical 1885 rural Canada, phrases such as "winner winner chicken dinner" and "bonkers" (which originate well into the 20th century) are out of place, and overall it was extremely off-putting for such instances to continue cropping up.
I would like it noted I do think the author made a good attempt at some bold stylistic choices. But the work is plagued by poor decisions in execution.
Also, I feel this should not be put within Western genre: it feels & reads as Mystery. And as someone who has read Anna North's Outlawed more than once, I disagree with the comparison to its "pace and punch" as per the Goodreads description of Treat Them as Buffalo.
I wish I could bring myself to give a more thorough and concise review but even after having sat with this book a while before attempting to draft one, I cannot find it in me to care enough about the work to do so.
Beyond stylistic choices; the lack of depth in the protagonist in particular, but also the cast of characters in general & their setting; and pacing, I had most issue with the historical inaccuracies/anachronisms. For a work set in historical 1885 rural Canada, phrases such as "winner winner chicken dinner" and "bonkers" (which originate well into the 20th century) are out of place, and overall it was extremely off-putting for such instances to continue cropping up.
I would like it noted I do think the author made a good attempt at some bold stylistic choices. But the work is plagued by poor decisions in execution.
Also, I feel this should not be put within Western genre: it feels & reads as Mystery. And as someone who has read Anna North's Outlawed more than once, I disagree with the comparison to its "pace and punch" as per the Goodreads description of Treat Them as Buffalo.
I wish I could bring myself to give a more thorough and concise review but even after having sat with this book a while before attempting to draft one, I cannot find it in me to care enough about the work to do so.
June 29, 2026
This was a bit of a miss for me. The premise is undeniably catchy and has tons of promise: set amongst the backdrop of the North-West Rebellion in present day northern Saskatchewan, young Métis boys are going missing in the small town of Lac-aux-Trois-Pistoles. With an apathetic police force, it's up to the powerful women of the community to find the missing boys and hunt down the monster responsible.
The story is narrated by a 12-year old boy, Niko, whose cousin's abduction kickstarts the book. Niko is a precocious narrator and while I typically have enjoyed adult books narrated by children (Miriam Toews, looking at you!), it didn't really work for me here. The narration is inconsistent; Niko will use words like worser and ginormongous (which, sidenote, is a portmanteau of two words that hadn't even been coined in 1885 when the book is set) that seemed to age him down, but then suddenly would present some wise musings or mature descriptions that would clash with his voice. This book also contains some really graphic depictions of violence that, while I get it speaks to his forced loss of childhood, I did find quite jarring coming from Niko's voice.
I'm glad I read this; I tend to gravitate towards and love CanLit, generally, and love being able to read an OwnVoices story during Indigenous History Month. But it wasn't my favourite and I don't know that I'd recommend.
The story is narrated by a 12-year old boy, Niko, whose cousin's abduction kickstarts the book. Niko is a precocious narrator and while I typically have enjoyed adult books narrated by children (Miriam Toews, looking at you!), it didn't really work for me here. The narration is inconsistent; Niko will use words like worser and ginormongous (which, sidenote, is a portmanteau of two words that hadn't even been coined in 1885 when the book is set) that seemed to age him down, but then suddenly would present some wise musings or mature descriptions that would clash with his voice. This book also contains some really graphic depictions of violence that, while I get it speaks to his forced loss of childhood, I did find quite jarring coming from Niko's voice.
I'm glad I read this; I tend to gravitate towards and love CanLit, generally, and love being able to read an OwnVoices story during Indigenous History Month. But it wasn't my favourite and I don't know that I'd recommend.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Blair Palmer Yoxall places his story in the voice of Niko Ericksen, a young Metis boy growing up in Manitoba at the time of Louis Riel's resistance movement of 1885. Niko is twelve, still playing at being buffalo hunters with his cousin, Cousin. Cousin disappears during one of their games, the first of several young boys to vanish in their town. Niko is a lively narrator albeit pretty darn unreliable.
What works in this. novel is the setting and many of the characters. The Metis people (Native and European) are fascinating in themselves and learning about their lifestyle and beliefs is the richest part of the novel. Treat Them as Buffalo gets off to a good start but the story starts to unravel pretty early on leading to a disappointing end, sort of a mashup of Native nightmare and Scandinavian noir.
The female characters in this book are fantastic. How often as a reviewer do I get to say that? I hope Yoxall continues to write about the Metis community because there is a lot of fresh and worthy subject matter to explore.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
What works in this. novel is the setting and many of the characters. The Metis people (Native and European) are fascinating in themselves and learning about their lifestyle and beliefs is the richest part of the novel. Treat Them as Buffalo gets off to a good start but the story starts to unravel pretty early on leading to a disappointing end, sort of a mashup of Native nightmare and Scandinavian noir.
The female characters in this book are fantastic. How often as a reviewer do I get to say that? I hope Yoxall continues to write about the Metis community because there is a lot of fresh and worthy subject matter to explore.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital review copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
June 23, 2026
✨ Review ✨ Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall
Thanks to Algonquin Books and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!
This is described as an anti-Western that's like Outlawed meets The Only Good Indians and this is such a solid comparison. This book is violent and haunting and will leave you thinking for a long time after you finish.
The book is narrated by Niko, a kid in a great plains Métis community in 1885. He's out playing buffalo hunter (even though buffalos have been gone for years), when his cousin goes missing, along with several other young boys. The community rallies trying to find the boys when local law enforcement obstinately rejects their calls for help. Niko's surrouded by badass women, including his mom and aunt ad local legend Kate McCannon.
The book is gruesome -- there's definitely horrific violence here, but I was captivated with the way this community came together. With the narration through a kid's eyes, I think this became even more impactful. Themes include colonization and violence, corrupt law enforcement, and other late-19th century changes, as well as reflection on the power of family and community in safeguarding people amidst these changes. While the book was a little rough around the edges, I found the story really powerful, and am excited to see more from this author.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: historical fiction + real-life-horror/thriller
Setting: Métis community in Canada
Pub Date: May 2026
Read this if you like:
⭕️ Indigenous/First Nations perspectives
⭕️ female-lead stories
⭕️ narratives about the impact of colonization
Thanks to Algonquin Books and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!
This is described as an anti-Western that's like Outlawed meets The Only Good Indians and this is such a solid comparison. This book is violent and haunting and will leave you thinking for a long time after you finish.
The book is narrated by Niko, a kid in a great plains Métis community in 1885. He's out playing buffalo hunter (even though buffalos have been gone for years), when his cousin goes missing, along with several other young boys. The community rallies trying to find the boys when local law enforcement obstinately rejects their calls for help. Niko's surrouded by badass women, including his mom and aunt ad local legend Kate McCannon.
The book is gruesome -- there's definitely horrific violence here, but I was captivated with the way this community came together. With the narration through a kid's eyes, I think this became even more impactful. Themes include colonization and violence, corrupt law enforcement, and other late-19th century changes, as well as reflection on the power of family and community in safeguarding people amidst these changes. While the book was a little rough around the edges, I found the story really powerful, and am excited to see more from this author.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: historical fiction + real-life-horror/thriller
Setting: Métis community in Canada
Pub Date: May 2026
Read this if you like:
⭕️ Indigenous/First Nations perspectives
⭕️ female-lead stories
⭕️ narratives about the impact of colonization
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Treat Them as Buffalo
By Blair Palmer Yoxall
I had a hard time getting into this book. It is the story of the Metis community near Manitoba in the late 1800s, when young boys were being abducted – but by whom and for what purpose?
When law enforcement refused to get involved, a coalition of community members, led by rifle toting rancher Kate McCannon, square off against the Mounties to investigate the situation. As so often happened – and still happens today – the concerns of indigenous people are ignored by the ruling body. Thus violence – leading to more violence – erupts.
I had two problems with this book. First is the fact that the unreliable narrator is a twelve year old boy. Secondly, in trying to make his narration authentic, the author has degraded the boy's language skills to the point of being distracting.
My rule of thumb is that, if I am not engaged within the first 100 pages, I stop reading. That is what happened here.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.
By Blair Palmer Yoxall
I had a hard time getting into this book. It is the story of the Metis community near Manitoba in the late 1800s, when young boys were being abducted – but by whom and for what purpose?
When law enforcement refused to get involved, a coalition of community members, led by rifle toting rancher Kate McCannon, square off against the Mounties to investigate the situation. As so often happened – and still happens today – the concerns of indigenous people are ignored by the ruling body. Thus violence – leading to more violence – erupts.
I had two problems with this book. First is the fact that the unreliable narrator is a twelve year old boy. Secondly, in trying to make his narration authentic, the author has degraded the boy's language skills to the point of being distracting.
My rule of thumb is that, if I am not engaged within the first 100 pages, I stop reading. That is what happened here.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.
June 29, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.
I was excited to listen to a book written with a Métis theme from 1885.
Although, overall I enjoyed the book, I have concerns with it that keep it from being really high leve.
First, there are editing issues around language that need to be fixed.
Second, time period. There are terms used in this book that would not have existed in 1885. A example that stuck out was “winner, winner, chicken dinner.” Could this be on purpose? To keep it modern? Either way, it’s a mistake.
Third, again, about time period. There was an opportunity to really highlight the prevailing viewpoint of White Canada about Indigenous and Métis people. I think the author missed. Obviously the lack of interest for the RCMP to be involved in this case showed some of the negative bias but the time period was marked by a prevailing viewpoint, whether man, woman, child, there were significant stereotypes and poor treatment. I did not feel that enough for this story.
But, this was a good debut for this author. I look forward to more.
I was excited to listen to a book written with a Métis theme from 1885.
Although, overall I enjoyed the book, I have concerns with it that keep it from being really high leve.
First, there are editing issues around language that need to be fixed.
Second, time period. There are terms used in this book that would not have existed in 1885. A example that stuck out was “winner, winner, chicken dinner.” Could this be on purpose? To keep it modern? Either way, it’s a mistake.
Third, again, about time period. There was an opportunity to really highlight the prevailing viewpoint of White Canada about Indigenous and Métis people. I think the author missed. Obviously the lack of interest for the RCMP to be involved in this case showed some of the negative bias but the time period was marked by a prevailing viewpoint, whether man, woman, child, there were significant stereotypes and poor treatment. I did not feel that enough for this story.
But, this was a good debut for this author. I look forward to more.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Ji taan amoor with this book! I love being treated to other Mètis creatives and this was such a joy to get in my box from Haper Collins. During a game of Buffalo Hunters, Nikosis Eriksen's cousin goes missing and what follows is a very tense few months with the backdrop of the North-West Resistance of 1885. My family was at Fort Qu'appelle in 1885-86 so I could visualize what Nikosis and his family was like very well! What i truly loved about this book was the majority of the characters where strong Mètis women! Sara and her sister Joséphine to Nikosis' Chapan (great-Grandma) the book is filled with strong Mètis and indigenous women. Mètis women are sometimes overlooked but when the men and sons where out hunting, women ran the homestead. Funny enough my jigging group actually dances to a song called "Daughters of the Country" which is entirely about Mètis women. I definitely recommend picking this up when its out in May but I'll just leave you here :) Maarsii
May 27, 2026
3.5 stars. i have a quaint little spot in my heart made for westerns, and treat them as buffalo fits so beautifully in there! i love a good genre inversion, so this sweeping story against settler colonialism in canada was a welcome treat. yoxall comes at this material with so much love and care, making sure characters and events are depicted historically accurate, while also being treated with grace and dignity.
i loved reading from niko's perspective, even though it was also kind of soul-crushing. treat them as buffalo is a testament to a society's ability to withstand extreme hardship without losing hope, and leading with a child's voice increases the stakes of that struggle tenfold. the buffalo are gone and everything is different, but the future is still coming, and he must persist.
i loved reading from niko's perspective, even though it was also kind of soul-crushing. treat them as buffalo is a testament to a society's ability to withstand extreme hardship without losing hope, and leading with a child's voice increases the stakes of that struggle tenfold. the buffalo are gone and everything is different, but the future is still coming, and he must persist.
May 15, 2026
Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall was a bit slow for me starting off, but I am glad I stuck with it.
The unreliable child narrator made the story slow to get going and sometimes very difficult to decipher. I almost gave up, but I pushed through and the experience was worth it. Once you get used to how our narrator speaks it becomes easier and a much better story.
In the end, it is a really good book that offers a powerful entry way into Métis culture and the many trials the Métis people faced.
I was left wanting more of Kate McCannon, and I really hope there is a sequel or prequel in the works that features her story.
Huge thanks to NetGalley, Algonquin Books, and Blair Palmer Yoxall for the ARC.
The unreliable child narrator made the story slow to get going and sometimes very difficult to decipher. I almost gave up, but I pushed through and the experience was worth it. Once you get used to how our narrator speaks it becomes easier and a much better story.
In the end, it is a really good book that offers a powerful entry way into Métis culture and the many trials the Métis people faced.
I was left wanting more of Kate McCannon, and I really hope there is a sequel or prequel in the works that features her story.
Huge thanks to NetGalley, Algonquin Books, and Blair Palmer Yoxall for the ARC.
June 28, 2026
This three star rating is a generous one. It's read from the perspective of 12-year-old Metis boy Niko Eriksen during the North West Resistance of 1885. As a result, some of the words and behaviours seem believable for a 12 year old, while other parts seem like a convenient stretch. I read another review that said there were so many other characters who would have a more interesting perspective with a lot more action and backstory, but instead Niko just explains the drama going on around him and gets told to stay home, so there's a lot of sulking. That's entirely accurate. By the time you actually do get any first-hand accounts of Niko directly participating in the plot it's near the end of the book and the violence that's depicted around him is just revolting. I understand that it's historical fiction and the any type of war is going to be gruesome and bloody, but this level of gore at the end did not need to be explained in such precise detail. Turned me right off the book and made me glad it was over. I don't recommend this one.
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