by Rich Wandschneider | Nov 21, 2023 | Elliott West, General Howard, General Miles, Indian history, Indian Horse, Indian wars, Isaac Stevens, Joseph, Joseph Band, Lewis and Clark, Nex Perce history, Nez Perce, Nez Perce treaty, Nez Perce War
Elliot West’s “The Last Indian War” was published in 2009, so it has been around. I’d not read it, but it was handy and I needed to check a date or name, so picked it up. And read a page or two. And decided I should read it. Read it because what West does is put the...
by Rich Wandschneider | Nov 16, 2021 | Beth Piatote, Bobbie Conner, Indian Horse, Louise Erdrich. Turtle Mountain Reservation, Momaday, spalding, whitman, Whitman College
Here’s how I found my way to The Way to Rainy Mountain For the past few years, the Josephy Center has had a book group. It started with small, in-person meetings, and moved online with the coming of Covid. Our last book was Murder at the Mission: A Frontier Killing,...
by Rich Wandschneider | Jul 18, 2021 | Alvin Josephy, Beth Piatote, boarding schools, David Treuer, Indian Horse, Jack Loeffler, Philip Deloria
I don’t know very many Nez Perce words, and will never be a speaker, but it I love the sound of the language and hope to learn a few more. For now, Good Morning and Thank You are enough. Tac meeywi to all, and qe’ci’yew’yew’ to the many who responded to my blog post...
by Rich Wandschneider | May 31, 2021 | Cahuilla, California Indians, Indian history, Indian Horse, Indians
The descriptions of a church-run Canadian boarding school for Indians in Richard Wagamese’s brilliant novel, Indian Horse, were brutal. The book was published in 2012; a movie released in 2017. In today’s news stories, echoing Wagamese’s book, a mass grave containing...
by Rich Wandschneider | Jan 6, 2021 | David McCullough, Ibram X. Kendi, Indian Horse, James Baldwin, Jill Lepore, Kent Nerburn, Louise Erdrich. Turtle Mountain Reservation, Nez Perce, Night Watchman, Richard Wagamese, These Truths
Turning the page is a common metaphor for beginning a new year—often implying that we are leaving what was unpleasant in the last year behind. There was plenty of unpleasant in 2020, but some good things happened too, sometimes in spite of or even as a result of the...
by Rich Wandschneider | Oct 8, 2020 | boarding schools, Canadian hockey, hockey, Ibram X. Kendi, Indian boarding schools, Indian Horse, Milkweed, Ojibwa, Richard Wagamese
The name—its explanation comes on the first pages of the book—pulls you into the story. The writing is measured and strong and beautiful—“The Old Ones say that our long straight hair comes from the waving grasses that thatch the edges of bays. Our feet and hands are...
