(NOTE: I was given this book to review but all opinions are my own.)
Before I talk about this book, I want to very briefly mention the true event that this book is based upon.
In 1851, the United States government negotiated a treaty that forced Dakota-Sioux Indians to live on a 20-mile wide by 150-mile long reservation. The Dakota-Sioux were not to leave the reservation to hunt deer or buffalo for food, to gather wild rice, to fish in other rivers, or trap beaver beyond their reservation. (I can only imagine how confining this must have felt to them since they had been able to move freely on the entire prairie.)
The government agreed to pay them money that they could then use to buy food and supplies at trading posts.
Payment was often late. But more times than not, instead of delivering the money to the Dakota-Sioux, government agents kept the money for themselves. (In fact, one agent saved over one hundred thousand dollars in four years when his yearly salary was only $2,000.)
The Indians became discontented over the land they had to give up, the non-payment of money promised them, past broken treaties, and a food shortage and famine after a crop failure. On August 15, 1862, the Dakota-Sioux went to their Indian Agent expecting their annual payment of money. They weren’t given any.
Two days later, 4 young and hungry Indian braves stole eggs — and killed five white settlers. Fierce fighting then broke out between the Dakota-Sioux and the white settlers. (This became known as the Dakota War of 1862.)
Now about the book.
Dovetails in Tall Grass by Samantha Specks is the story of two girls — Oenikika (Chief Little Crow’s daughter) and Emma (daughter of the attorney for the prairie town of New Ulm, Minnesota).
Oenikika was learning the ways of healing. She searched for roots, herbs, flowers, and trees that had medicinal powers. She dried them, ground them, and stored them in a medicine bag so she could be ready when needed to heal the sick in her tribe.
Emma was restless. She felt that there was more to life than just being a good daughter or a good wife. She yearned to be a teacher. She loved learning, reading, and helping younger student with their lessons. But what would her parents say — especially her mother — if they found out that Emma had secretly written her old teacher asking how she could become a teacher herself?
The book’s chapters alternate between Oenikika and Emma’s point of view. From Oenikika, we learn the ways and traditions of the Dakota-Sioux. We gain an understanding of their hardships caused by relocating to a reservation. We gain insight into how they felt, their mistrust of white people, and possibly the causes for their actions in the uprising.
From Emma, we see what life was like for the Germans settlers of New Ulm. While her family had a homestead, her father was also the only lawyer in New Ulm. Emma went from sometimes helping in her father’s office until she was spending her whole day assisting him with his legal work.
When the fighting begins, we see Oenikika’s struggle to follow her father’s orders. (He’s both her father and her tribe’s Chief. She MUST obey.) We see Emma’s inner struggle to follow her conviction of what is right and what is wrong. She feels she must follow her conscience regardless of the consequences.
This is Speck’s first book. I’ve read lots of first books that made me wonder how in the world the book ever got published. Not so with this book! Not at all. This book stands head and shoulders above those.
Speck has a great way with words. Descriptive. Fresh. For example:
- The late spring night came on like a slow yawn.
- As if the land could be cut up and quartered like the quick cleaning of a doe.
- Grief swirled inside me, fragile as the November ice creeping out on the lake.
Aren’t these wonderful? I think so!
I like the development of the main characters. Both girls start out hesitant, unsure of herself, questioning. They both grow into strong women, ones who can speak the truth in her heart.
I like the ending of the book. I don’t want to spoil anything but just know that the ending is perfect. It’s what it should be. It’s not the path that Emma and Oenikika started down in the beginning of the book but it’s the right one.
Do you like historical novels? Well-written books? Well-developed characters? Books that make you think? Then this book is for you. I give it 2 thumbs up!
Dovetails in Tall Grass will be released on August 24. You can pre-order it on Amazon.
