Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Penguin (Non-Classics) (1987), Paperback, 400 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. Western. HTML:The year is 1870, and Fool's Crow, so called after he killed the chief of the Crows during a raid, has a vision at the annual Sun Dance ceremony. The young warrior sees the end of the Indian way of life and the choice that must be made: resistance or humiliating accommodation. "A major contibution to Native American literature." �??Wallace Stegner. Cover image courtesy of Walter McClintock Papers. Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Media reviews
On the most immediate level, Mr. Welch, himself part Blackfoot, details the intricacies of coming of age in a time and society that are long gone. To a rather loose and, some might argue, episodic plot involving Fools Crow's comings and goings on buffalo hunts and so forth, Mr. Welch fastens more
Show More
compelling aspects of the culture - the prayers, ghosts, dreams and waking visions that make up a warrior's spiritual life. In their fascination with exotic religions, outsiders tend to separate them from everyday life. As Mr. Welch shows to the contrary, Native Americans didn't hike up to mountaintops on empty bellies simply to have the pleasure of chromatic hallucinations.... Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member tncs
slow start, but man did it finish with a bang. great book; beautiful imagery, linguistically stunning, and authentically devastating.
LibraryThing member ehimes
If you have never read a book about Native American life during the days of the wild west, pleeeassse read this book. It is the story of a tribe told from the perspective of an outcast boy who grows up to be a leader in uncertain times. It is full of beautiful descriptions of Native American life
Show More
and practices and the American frontier as well as just a touch of Native American mysticism. Nature around them is truly a living conscience part of the universe and something they have great respect for in the most religious sense. This story is about their struggle to hold on to these things as American settlers move west. A beautiful, moving story. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife
Fools Crow by James Welch is an historical novel which culminates in the Baker (or Marias) Massacre of 1870. For those who are unfamiliar with this massacre it was the end result of a series of events involving the Pikuni Owl Child and Major Eugene Baker. The slaughter covered 217 of the Pikuni,
In Fools Crow, we're introduced to White Man's Dog, a young Pikuni man who has yet to distinguish himself within the tribe. Through a series of events, the major characters of the book are introduced to White Man's Dog, and in a sort of coming-of-age story, we follow the progress not only of White Man's Dog, but also the Pikuni tribe as they struggle against the changes being brought by the United States Government.
Fools Crow provides eye-opening examples of the importance of dreams to the Pikuni culture, the horrors of assimilation of one culture into another, and the injustice of the actions against the Native Americans during the building of the United States as we know it.
Reading this book should be done slowly and thoughtfully, as the story itself (while interesting) holds so many meanings revealed through careful inspection of the dreams and connections drawn from them to the narrative.
Show More
most of whom were women and children.In Fools Crow, we're introduced to White Man's Dog, a young Pikuni man who has yet to distinguish himself within the tribe. Through a series of events, the major characters of the book are introduced to White Man's Dog, and in a sort of coming-of-age story, we follow the progress not only of White Man's Dog, but also the Pikuni tribe as they struggle against the changes being brought by the United States Government.
Fools Crow provides eye-opening examples of the importance of dreams to the Pikuni culture, the horrors of assimilation of one culture into another, and the injustice of the actions against the Native Americans during the building of the United States as we know it.
Reading this book should be done slowly and thoughtfully, as the story itself (while interesting) holds so many meanings revealed through careful inspection of the dreams and connections drawn from them to the narrative.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Gwendydd
Fools Crow is a fascinating depiction of Native American life at the end of the 19th century. It tells the story of Fools Crow, a young man who is initially a bit of a bumbling outcast, but gains confidence and the trust of his tribe as he succeeds in horse raids, hunting, and medicine. Fools Crow
The depiction of Native American culture is very vivid and in-depth: marriage practices, dream visions, hunting, raiding, discipline, relations between tribes. It is a very complete view of Native American life. Unfortunately, there is less coherence in the story line. The story meanders, and the ending feels very sudden and unsatisfactory.
Overall, this was a very interesting book, and I'm glad I read it, but it was more interesting as a study of Native American life than as a story.
Show More
and his tribe are dealing with the incursions of white people into their territory: the book portrays the culture clash between the Native Americans and the whites, and the utter hopelessness and bafflement of the Natives in dealing with whites. The depiction of Native American culture is very vivid and in-depth: marriage practices, dream visions, hunting, raiding, discipline, relations between tribes. It is a very complete view of Native American life. Unfortunately, there is less coherence in the story line. The story meanders, and the ending feels very sudden and unsatisfactory.
Overall, this was a very interesting book, and I'm glad I read it, but it was more interesting as a study of Native American life than as a story.
Show Less
LibraryThing member LyndaInOregon
This leisurely-paced and character-driven novel tells the story of a young Blackfeet man coming of age at the time when his tribe’s way of life is slipping away from them as white settlers steadily encroach on their Montana homelands. Though Welch does not take the timeline as far as the Little
Although to overall sweep of the novel is tinged with the foreshadowing of the end of the great tribal plains society, the individual scenes are often sweet, quiet, domestic ones. Violence is also there, as matter-of-fact as the rising and setting of the sun. His characters follow the traditional ways, or depart from them to their grief, and each one works out his own destiny inside the circle of seasons.
Overall, it's a somewhat melancholy read, but well worth the journey.
Show More
Big Horn battle, it looms on the horizon.Although to overall sweep of the novel is tinged with the foreshadowing of the end of the great tribal plains society, the individual scenes are often sweet, quiet, domestic ones. Violence is also there, as matter-of-fact as the rising and setting of the sun. His characters follow the traditional ways, or depart from them to their grief, and each one works out his own destiny inside the circle of seasons.
Overall, it's a somewhat melancholy read, but well worth the journey.
Show Less
LibraryThing member b.masonjudy
Fools Crow is a truly excellent novel. Although it took me a few chapters to really get into the rhythm of the novel, Welsh maintains a distinct tone throughout the narrative that is distinct and feels like a first-hand account of the events. The pacing was excellent and the end of the book
Show More
encapsulates the sorrow at the changing future and the hope and resilience of this tribe of Blackfeet. Show Less
Awards
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Fiction — 1987)
American Book Award (1987)
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award (Winner — 1987)
Language
Original publication date
1986
Physical description
400 p.; 7.76 inches
ISBN
0140089373 / 9780140089370