Here is a third party review from Publishers Weekly/Booklife
Buffalo Dreamers is Newman’s novel about the way of the buffalo—and about those looking to preserve this way of life, and those looking to thwart it. Set in rural Montana, it opens with Sam Comstock, an Iraq war veteran looking to heal past traumas in his new job with the Montana Fish and Game Department. Sam starts off killing migratory buffalo presumed to have an infectious disease, but a slew of unexpected encounters transform both his outlook and the task he has set for himself. His run-in with Lakota-Indian tribe woman turned-PhD-graduate Kate, tribal leader Crazy Wolf, and scar-faced Medicine Dog soon hurl Sam onto the way of the buffalo, his life’s mission becoming to save these wild animals, come what may.
Right from the start, Newman draws a contrast between two ways of life: on the one hand are the Lieutenants and cowboys and wildlife service officials who embody a distinctly Western sensibility that sees the buffalo as a nuisance to be eradicated. On the other are Native American tribesmen and women, whose “whole identity as a people is embedded in the buffalo living free.” Newman deftly establishes perspectives of each side, attentive to drifts of mind and language. The novel teems with army and Marine jargon, as well as references to Native American tribes, customs and rituals, giving the narrative a raw authenticity.
At times, the storyline can get a bit convoluted, and even far fetched. But overall, Newman exhibits a strong hold on the subject matter and a deft hand for summoning the mud and majesty of his terrain in language. His knowledge of wildlife and the terrain is clear, and lends the story robust, lived-in detail and a strong sense of verisimilitude. Lovers of wildlife and adventure stories, and those who enjoy stories of personal growth and transformation will relish this book.
Takeaway: Lovers of wildlife and adventure stories will relish this novel about the way of the buffalo.
Great for fans of: Adam Shoalts’s Alone Against the North, N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: B
HISTORY IS YOUNG
The Battle at Little Bighorn in June, 1876, and the Fort Robinson Outbreak Massacre in September of 1878, seem very long ago, almost like ancient history. These important historical events took place on horseback, at a time when Montana and the west was occupied and ruled by sovereign native tribes, but facing an invasion from American and European miners, traders, soldiers, and settlers. In retrospect, the outcome of that genocidal conflict seemed inevitable. And too often, history is written by the victors not the victims. But at that time, and in those places, native people and their leaders resisted, fought, and succeeded both physically and spiritually, to assert their independence.
I was in Pine Ridge some years ago and shook hands with Chief Oliver Red Cloud, the great grandson of Chief Red Cloud who signed the Treaty of Fort Laramie, and planned the battle at Little Bighorn. Chief Oliver spoke to a group of young natives and described hearing firsthand about the battle. He also emphatically exhorted them to never go back on their treaty rights. I realized he was speaking with the power of someone who had direct personal experience of history. On another occasion, I met Grandma Jenny Seminole Parker, whose Cheyenne father was a survivor of the Ft Robinson Breakout. She told me that as a young woman she did not like white people, because of the terrible things they did to her people. Later, she married a white man and softened her views, but the fire still burned hot in her heart. She spoke to the participants of the Spiritual Run and told them to never forget the sacrifices made by their ancestors to guarantee them a tribal homeland.
I felt honored to stand with both these individuals and have the opportunity to speak personally with them.
Buffalo Dreamers 