The Cheyenne Story: An Interpretation of Courage

by Gerry Robinson

WINNER! National Cowboy Museum 2020 Western Heritage Best Western Novel What should a man do when the army sends him to help kill his wife's family? His great-great grandson and Northern Cheyenne tribe member, Gerry Robinson , reaches back through time to unravel the emotional and complex story, delivering a historical fiction account of the events which led to the beginning of the Northern Cheyenne’s exile from their home in Southeastern Montana and Northern Wyoming. Five months to the day after Custer’s defeat by the Northern Cheyenne at the Little Bighorn, the U.S. Army descended on the tribe’s main winter camp. Bill Rowland married into the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in 1850, eventually becoming the primary interpreter in their negotiations with the U.S. government. On November 25, 1876, Bill found himself obligated to ride into the tribe’s main winter camp with over a thousand U.S. troops bent on destroying it. Cheyenne Sweet Medicine Chief, Little Wolf, was told they would come and warned his people to leave for safety. But tradition and the protestations of a hot-blooded young leader prevented his warnings from being taken seriously. This is the balanced and compelling story of the ensuing battle—its origins and the devastating results—told beautifully from the perspective of both Little Wolf and his brother-in-law, the government interpreter, Bill Rowland. Pulled from the dark historical shadow of Custer, Crazy Horse, and the Lakota, The Cheyenne Story vividly brings to life the little known events that led to the end of the Plains Indian War and the beginning of the Cheyenne's exodus from the only home and lifestyle they had ever known. Gerry Robinson —the great-great grandson of Bill Rowland and Little Wolf’s great-great nephew—spent years researching and writing to deliver a historically, culturally, and emotionally accurate retelling of how the Cheyenne were extricated from their Northwest corner of the Great Plains. In a commendable effort to help preserve the Cheyenne language in written word, Gerry worked closely with tribal elders and Cheyenne cultural leaders to accurately and seamlessly incorporate the language into his text. Robinson's characters use the Cheyenne language in their dialogue, and the reader comes to know and understand its meanings contextually and by employing the accompanying glossary of Cheyenne words and phrases found at the back of the book. This book, written by a Native American intent on providing an authentic representation of Native people, provides context to help readers better understand the hearts and minds of our nation’s current indigenous population. It is part of a larger movement by the Northern Cheyenne people, and indigenous people in general, to reclaim their culture and their history.

312 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2019

Reviews

[Michelle Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a little bit to get into the book, but by Chapter 4, I was hooked. I know I'm a bit biased as this book is written by my brother-in-law, and I was fortunate to have lived on the Northern Cheyenne reservation and recognize some of the Cheyenne language and family names. But, what I didn't hear much about, from my time living at Northern Cheyenne, was what happened after the Battle of the Little Bighorn and before they were rounded up and taken to Oklahoma. This puts a human face on the struggles tribal members faced with warring tribes, those who they thought were allies, and the broken promises that came from the "Great White Father."

[Elizabeth Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treasure. Covered a couple of the same events I first encountered in Jim Fergus's One Thousand White Women, but I loved learning about them from an authentic Cheyenne point-of-view. Since this is the first in a planned trilogy, I wish the story would have started earlier, in a time of relative calm for the Cheyenne when we could have seen more of their domestic lives when they weren't on the brink of starvation. But what there is is wonderful and important, to see the complexities of tribal politics and the personalities involved, including a White man who marries into the tribe. His parts felt authentic too. And what a revelation, to have a Native POV in which Crazy Horse is a villain! Complexity as I said. Not even the Whites are cardboard villains. That's true drama and true history.

[Janet Muirhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this gripping, poignant, story down for long. It is my favorite read so far this year, but don't be afraid to let your heart break a little.