The Gift of the Great Buffalo

Starred review from November 4, 2024
In a time after “the arrival of the settlers and their iron horses... eliminated most of the buffalo,” Rose’s family gathers with hundreds of other Métis families for a biannual buffalo hunt. Her father, for the first time a captain of the event, has helped to plan it to ensure order and fairness. After a week of hunting, though, Pa sounds discouraged about the lack of buffalo, and Rose—despite her father’s instructions to remain with Ma—leaves camp to scout, donning Pa’s spare wolf skin. Sensate text from Anishinaabe/Métis author Lindstrom (Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior) describes the effort: “As Rose tracked the buffalo, she began to think of herself as the wolf. She sniffed the dirt and the grasses as she prowled, sensing mashkode-bizhiki were near.” The child’s efforts result in a good hunting day, and hope of her involvement in hunts to come. Watercolor and graphite illustrations from McKnight (Why We Dance), an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, incorporates glowing landscapes throughout this engaging account of prairie life. Back matter includes an author’s note and a history of the buffalo hunt. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary.

Starred review from December 1, 2024
Preschool-Grade 2 *Starred Review* In the early 1880s, young M�tis-Ojibwe Rose and her family, along with hundreds of other M�tis families, embark on the biannual buffalo hunt. While Rose helps her mother tend to the camp, her father, a captain of the buffalo hunters, sets off in search of the herds. After several days, the men have not found any buffalo. Knowing her community's survival during the long winter ahead is at stake, Rose heads out on horseback to track the herd, and she succeeds by reflecting on her ancestral connection to the buffalo and honoring traditional knowledge shared by her elders. Lindstrom (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe and M�tis from Red River area in Manitoba, Canada) conveys the importance and sacredness of the buffalo hunt to M�tis-Ojibwe communities and the devastating effects of colonization: millions of bison roamed the prairies until "the arrival of the settlers and their iron horses." In McKnight's (Shoshone-Bannock Tribes) atmospheric watercolor and graphite illustrations, translucent line sketches resembling Indigenous petroglyphs and billowy, cloudlike images of buffalo swirl across the pages as an ever-present reminder of the spiritual and cultural connections. Back matter includes an author's note about the history of the buffalo hunt. This vital and authentic picture book offers an exciting adventure on the prairies not often heard.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2025
Rose, her oshiimeyan (younger sister), and their parents gather with other Metis families for the biannual buffalo hunt. This time will be different both because Rose's pa is one of the hunt's captains and because "the settlers and their iron horses had eliminated most of the buffalo"; the accompanying illustration shows Rose saying a "prayer of gratitude to the buffalo" while a train churns out black smoke, turning the blue sky gray. When scouts are unable to find buffalo after a week, Rose decides to look for them on her own. Her cleverness and bravery lead to success for the whole community. Lindstrom's (Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior, rev. 11/23) engaging text is well paired with McKnight's expansive, atmospheric watercolor and graphite illustrations. Back matter adds useful context; for example, in her appended note, Lindstrom says: "Rose's story is my version of the Little House series. So readers will know that before there was a little house on the prairie, there was a little tipi on the prairie...on the same land where the Little House stories were set." Important terms are defined, and a history of the buffalo hunt is provided. This Metis/Ojibwe perspective of life on the prairie by two Native creators is a moving tribute to a culture and people. Nicholl Denice Montgomery

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from March 1, 2025
A daring Indigenous child embarks on a thrilling adventure. Set in the 1880s, this tale follows young Rose and her family to the biannual M�tis buffalo hunt, where hundreds of families convene in the hopes that "this hunt [will] be better than the last." Rose's pa is one of the captains, and Rose is eager to help him track mashkode-bizhiki. When he instructs her to stay at camp, she listens at first, but after hunters go a week without finding buffalo, the intrepid child goes scouting. Rose's resourcefulness and daring shine as she strikes out on her own and employs the wisdom of her family: remaining determined despite miles without a sign, "thanking the buffalo for the gift of their life," and donning a wolfskin to approach a distant herd without startling them. Rose returns with the good news, to her parents' gratitude and gentle chiding for her disobedience. Lindstrom (Anishinaabe/M�tis) captures the youngster's resolve and excitement, while McKnight's (Shoshone-Bannock) gorgeous watercolor and graphite images bring to life elements of M�tis culture, particularly in stirring depictions of life at camp. Intergenerational basket weaving, elders dancing, roaring cook fires, and children at play--all impart M�tis traditions, set against the beauty of the Plains; readers will be as moved by McKnight's illustrations as they are by Rose's ingenuity. This reverently told story is a true gift. (author's note)(Picture book. 5-9)

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