Crow Mary: A Woman You'll Cheer. A History That Hurts.

Novel by Kathleen Grissom

When I was a senior in high school, each student in my English class had to write a term paper on a chosen topic. I am not sure why I picked this subject, but I chose to write about the loss of Native American land to the usurping European conquerors using the book. Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee as my primary source.

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee was a benchmark book on the true and painful history of the American West. The nonfiction book depicted the subjugation of Native Americans by taking their land through broken treaties, defeating them in lopsided battles, guns going against arrows, and obliterating their way of life. Written by Dee Brown and published in 1970, Bury My Heart changed my worldview forever. Since that time, I have felt ancestral guilt, ashamed of what we did to the indigenous tribes of America.

That book was a brutal exposure to what's happened throughout the world when one nation conquers another.

Crow Mary, a novel by Kathleen Grissom, author of The Kitchen House, echoes the theme of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Coming together of cultures

A young Crow girl grows up with her tribe in Montana in the 1860s. Her name is "Goes First." She is beautiful, courageous, and skilled in the ways of her people, lovingly taught by her grandmother and her great-uncle, Red Fox. But when the brave that Goes First was going to marry is killed, she faces a different future than anything she had ever imagined.

A kind, well-to-do fur trader named Abe Farwell begins visiting the Crows. He is trading for goods that he needs to open up his new outpost in Canada. Farwell is attracted to Goes First, not just because she is pretty, but also because she knows several Indian languages and how to negotiate with different tribes. What an asset she would be to his post!

Goes First and Abe Farwell marry, with Farwell making a big deal out of it being a legal "white" ceremony at which the pastor dubs Goes First with the name, "Mary," like many other native women who begin to live among the whites. Goes First agrees, but only if the word "Crow" can be included in her name so that she retains her family heritage.

The Clash of Cultures

One of the questions I had after reading "Crow Mary" is whether any two people from totally different cultures can have a fulfilling marriage. If your name, your identity, your clothing, your lifestyle is altered to fit the wishes of another, can your marriage ever be satisfying?

All starts out well with Abe and "Crow Mary," but events interfere with the happiness they were building. When soldiers get "liquored up" and attack Native Americans, kidnapping and raping five women, things go awry. Abe doesn't want to offend either group and refuses to help, so Crow Mary rescues the women herself, witnessing horrendous acts of violence and murder.

What follows is a trial, a court system heavily influenced by white military power, and the pursuit of justice by a heroic Native American woman who will never be recognized for her acts of bravery.

A temperance novel?

Much of the trouble in the novel is caused by alcohol. One of the greatest conflicts between Farwell and Crow Mary is his willingness to sell liquor to whoever will buy it. It is, after all, an extremely profitable venture.

The detrimental effect of alcohol on the Native Americans is obvious, as is the violence and uninhibited actions of drunken soldiers.

Reasons to read Crow Mary

If you are reading this review, you may be thinking, "Why would I want to read such a painful story? Why would I immerse myself in history that hurts?"

I am a firm believer that awareness of hurtful history is one of the ways to prevent it from happening again. The Holocaust is one of the most painful, atrocious events in history, but if I didn't read about it and study it, I would be ignorant about what humans can inflict on others and, therefore, unable to fight against those actions.

Not only does knowing about the painful aspects of history help with fighting unfair actions, it also elucidates the courage, conviction, and the little-known heroism of others. Crow Mary is based on a real woman named "Goes First."

But in spite of the painful parts, Crow Mary is a compelling story with strong characters, an interesting plot, and a vivid depiction of what it must have been like to be a Native American woman at a time when her world was irrevocably changing.

---

Melissa Gouty has been fascinated by the American West

since she read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

all those many, many years ago!

---

If you buy a book or product in any format that you’ve discovered through Literature Lust, 

I earn a small commission on the sale. Thank you!   

 Buy Crow Mary from Amazon (online retailer)   

Buy Crow Mary from Bookshop.org (supports independent bookstores)  

 Buy Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee from Amazon (online retailer) 

Buy Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee from Bookshop.org (supports independent bookstores)  

---