Crow Mary

Content Warning: This section discusses racism, colonialism and colonial violence, sexual assault, alcohol addiction, death of an infant, and death of a loved one. The text contains offensive terminology against Indigenous people, which this guide reproduces only in quotations.

The story opens with Crow Mary in her ranch’s barn, searching for strychnine and wondering how much it would take to kill a man. She pours the substance into a whiskey bottle. She hears horses whinnying out in the corral and wonders if Stiller has arrived. She feels scared but remembers what he did to Song Woman and what could happen to her little daughter, Ella. Finally, she opens the barn door to face him.

In 1863, seven-year-old Goes First lives in the Crow village with her family. Red Fox, her grandmother’s brother, returns injured from a Sioux raid. Goes First’s father, Chief Horse Guard, informs him that his sister was killed during another battle. Goes First’s mother tends to Red Fox’s wounds and sets up a tipi for him with the help of other women. Goes First is troubled by memories of her grandmother’s death. Later, Red Fox refuses to take a broth from his sister but accepts it from Goes First.