The Wolf Is My Brother

by Chad Oliver

It was a long fast, a terrifying wait on Spirit Hill. But on the fourth night Buffalo Tongue earned his reward: Indian manhood. His sacred vision appeared; a voice spoke to him of power, of strength, and of the future.

Now Buffalo Tongue was dead. An entire armed Cavalry company had charged the Indian boy as he was riding proudly home from Spirit Hill, a solitary figure on the hot and empty plains.
"Well, we got one of them. That's something," beamed Captain Taylor.

They had stolen his land, slaughtered his buffalo, and senselessly massacred Buffalo Tongue, the young brave he loved as a son. There was nothing else for Fox Claw to do. He would join Ishtai in the Sun Dance. He would kill the white men. He would burn them from the earth.

The Wolf is My Brother is a dramatic and deeply moving novel of the American plains. Chad Oliver captures the feel of open country, of grass and wind. With rare understanding he unfolds the story of two men -- Indian and white -- caught up in a changing way of life that neither can accept.

Genres: Westerns

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Symmes Chadwick Oliver (30 March 1928–9 August 1993) was an award winning science fiction and Western writer and chair of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. He was also one of the founders of the Turkey City Writer's Workshop.

Reviews

[Mary JL · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but very well written tale of the coflict between settlers and Native Americans in Texas. The two main protagonists--an army officer and a warrior called Fox Claw are both well drawn.

Chad Oliver, the author, is a Professor of Anthropology and the University of Austin. His books are exact in details and well-written. I found his writing style intense and poetic.

He has written very few books--he is better known for his science fiction--but he is always worth reading.

This book is hard to find--I searched for a while--but well worth the effort. Another book by him I am searching for is "Broken Eagle".

Definitely a cut above the average "Western".

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so depressed now. :[

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've loved Oliver's anthropological science fiction. I'm not so sure he's fully qualified to write from the perspective of a Comanche, though. I think I'll finish (it's short and the style is marvelous) but I hope that real people of the Comanches don't feel insulted or disturbed by this attempt. Oliver definitely is attempting to show respect and affinity for all his characters; I hope that counts for something.
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Ok done. Literary historical fiction, not, I think, genre Western. (Though it's only the third book I've read that was tagged Western, and one of the other two was The Ox-Bow Incident which is also literary, so I'm no expert.) Quite brilliant, this exploration of the extermination of the last free Indians, and what that act meant for some of men (and women) responsible for it.

From Fox Claw's perspective: "... stories all began the same way: 'One day there were a couple of Comanches out looking for trouble and...'"

From Curtis's perspective: "First, the army had to remove its weight from its collective saddle sores and take the offensive against the Indians...."

[Alton Motobu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fictional characters but based on actual events in history. President Grant and his fellow Union generals have established a policy of exterminating the Kiowas, Comanches and Cheyennes from Texas in 1874. Cavalry troops hunt down and eradicate every Indian man, woman, child, dog, horse and mule they can find. The lone survivor, a warrior named Fox Claw, suffers through starvation, freezing temperatures, and excruciating pain to wage a one-man last stand against the cavalry.