Treat Them as Buffalo

by Blair Palmer Yoxall

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. 

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Westerns, Mystery, Indigenous, Historical, Canada

269 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2026

Reviews

[K.S.C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Spencer Perreault · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Yalla Balagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.
❤️ 🇮🇱

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Xochitl · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Leah M · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Tara Breuer · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Meg Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Liselotte Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader 2.0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Cec · Rating 4 out of 5]

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

[Andrew Bienka · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Abigail Singrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This is gritty, violent and disturbing all at once. It brings the reader to the middle of an uprising, where Indigenous people are getting harmed for no reason. Young Nikosis’ innocence is shattered when Cousin is kidnapped while playing Buffalo Hunters with him. As young boys keep disappearing, his mother and aunt team up with Kate McCannon, a tough-as-nails frontier woman who believes in her own form of justice.

The narrator is compelling, and his youthful voice adds to the horror of what happens. The ending left me unsure what to think.

[Jifu · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Note: I received an advanced reader copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley)

Treat Them As Buffalo hit the ground running, drawing me in immediately and never letting up its breakneck pace. And not only was this a fantastically thrilling historical fiction read, but writing as someone who also appreciates a literary opportunity to know a new time, place, and people better, I frankly loved how immersively, proudly, and unabashedly Métis the entire experience was.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

No words. Flawless book, the women in this book are some of my favorite characters. I wish the ending had some better closure but overall a phenomenal book. This is a timeless read that should be read by all.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The core story in this book is really engaging, but I had a hard time with the writing style. I felt like the main character frequently said things that would not have been said in the 1800s, and that threw me off.

[Amber Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 = I really liked it

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anti-western told from the perspective of a ten-year-old whose cousin as well as a number of other young boys go missing, resulting in Niko's family joining a posse to free them.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

An early look via publisher.

Great book -- albeit not a pleasant read in sense of what it is about, or the time it was set, or the cultural reality reflected.

[halfserious]

There are good books written from the perspective of children, and i have written more on the topic in my review of the upcoming novel The White Rabbit. This is not one of them, and life is too short to read books that don’t resonate with you for whatever reason.