Fools Crow

James Welch’s Fools Crow (1987) is an historical novel that retells the Anglo conquering of the American West and, specifically, the events leading up to the Marias Massacre in Montana, in 1870, from the perspective of the Blackfeet (Pikuni) people. The novel chronicles the experiences of the Pikuni as they struggle to maintain their traditions in the face of smallpox, violent persecution, and shrinking numbers of buffalo as more white Americans–the Napikwans–move onto their lands. The novel centers on the coming-of-age of Fools Crow, a young Pikuni man who overcomes his unluckiness as a youth to become a well-respected leader in his community.

At the beginning of the novel, Fools Crow–then known as White Man’s Dog–has reached eighteen winters of age without having established himself as an important man in his community. When his friend Fast Horse invites him to take part in a raid to steal horses from the Pikuni’s enemies, the Crows, who are led by the warrior Yellow Kidney, White Man’s Dog is eager for the chance to prove himself but worries that his unluckiness will bring misfortune on himself and the raid. Before departing on the journey, he visits the Lone Eaters’ healer,

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