#Native American Cowboy Fiction

[its-suanneschafer-author]

BOOK REVIEW: #DreamWheels by #RichardWagamese. An extraordinary story, cowboys and Indians with a twist. Gorgeous prose. 

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The First Day of Eternity by Charles G. West

The Hunters #2

Solid story set in the Bitterroot Montana Territory sees Cody “Crazy Wolf” Hunter find out he was not an orphan after all, going to surreptitiously see how his relatives are doing, and then becoming their guardian though the youngest of the bunch. I have to admit that I did not read book one in the series and felt at times I needed more background to flesh out Cody and perhaps that book might have given more information about his family, too.

Cody’s father and older brothers have established the Triple H ranch with a large herd of cattle roaming their and government land. They are on good relations with settlers, farmers, and the citizens of the nearby town BUT a new bunch of cowboys is in competition with them – the Kincaid brothers – and they are ruthless killers with a team that works for them that knows more about guns and killing than herding cattle. A range war is brewing and Cody arrives just in time to assist and weight the Triple H’s chances against the encroachers in a very positive way.

Cody becomes the target as he plays cat and mouse with those out to kill him while also protecting his family. He does what he learned to do best while with his Indian family and works as a one-man weapon to downsize the number of the enemy.

There was a bit of romance, a lot of family, discussions by good and bad men, a lot of killing, and the beginning of getting to know one another by the Hunters. The bones were there to the story but I wanted more information about Cody, the Hunters, the reasons behind what was going on, memories of the time the Hunters were together before they get together again, their thinking while the situation was brewing, what the women were thinking, and more interaction between characters. I never really engaged with or identified with any of the characters and wish I had been able to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Pinnacle Books for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

BLURB

Raised by Crow Indians. Enlisted by the US Army. Legendary scout Cody Hunter returns to the mountains where he lost his family—and makes a shocking discovery that will change his life forever . . . THIS WOLF HUNTS ALONE His Crow name was Crazy Wolf. Orphaned after losing his family in an Indian attack, young Cody Hunter found a loving home among the Crow people—and learned the ancient ways of the Crow trackers. His well-honed skills earned him a place in the U.S. Army as a valued scout. But now, after fifteen years of living his life as Crazy Wolf, Cody is ready to face his painful past. He will return to the place that still gives him nightmares—and where the dreams of his father ended in bloodshed . . .   High in the mountains of Montana, Cody finds a stone memorial erected by the survivors of the families slaughtered there. The site of the attack triggers Cody’s darkest memories—and leads him to a stunning his father and two brothers did not die on that day. They may still be alive. And he will stop at nothing to find them again. To follow in their footsteps. To track them down on the treacherous journey west. A search this deadly may be the craziest thing Crazy Wolf has ever done. But he is a born Hunter—and he’s willing to die that way. . . .   Second in the explosive series by Spur Award-winning author Charles G. West!   “Rarely has an author painted the great American West in strokes so bold, vivid, and true.” —Ralph Compton

[hadesoftheladies]

FEMALE MOVIE/TV RECS (PART 2 / HISTORICAL FICTION/NON-FICTION)

got inspired from a recommendation post so decided to make a list of movies and shows with female-centric stories/female protagonists. since i can't post all of the genres in one post, i'll split it into multiple posts and y'all can save or add to the list as you wish. (disclaimer: i have watched most of these, but i only know about the existence of others. not every movie/show on these lists will be my recommendation. my recommendations will be beneath the list with reasons. also some of these are way better than others in terms of storytelling/performance--which is why i'll list my faves separately):

Common Themes of Media in the List:

-Workplace/general sexist discrimination

-Husband being pieces of shit and whiners

-Strong emphasis on sisterhood

-Romance plays a large part (both hetero and homo)

-Female genius and triumph

-Scheming mothers (always scheming)

-Grief, loss, and growth

-Motherhood is difficult but we pull through TM

HAVEN'T WATCHED:

Mozart's Sister

Lessons in Chemistry

The Conductor

Lizzie

Radioactive

Cable Girls

The Great

The Queen's Gambit

Britannia

Harriet

Mary Queen of Scots

ONES I LOVEDDDD:

A League of Their Own (9/10) (a favorite!)

Hidden Figures (8/10)

The Woman King (8/10) (a favorite!)

Anne With An E (9/10) (a favorite!)

Dickinson (8.5/10)

The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel (9/10) (a favorite!)

Gentleman Jack (8/10)

The Gilded Age (7.5/10)

HONORABLE (NON-LISTED MENTIONS)

The English (an english woman teams up with a native american cowboy to take revenge on the men who hurt them)

The World to Come (two women isolated by the wilderness and their husbands fall in love)

The Pursuit of Love

Colette

PERSONAL NOTES:

The Buccaneers is pretty feminist and wholesome, although oftentimes childish and full of Netflix cliches (even though it's an Apple TV original). It tries very hard to be Dickinson and Little Women but is a far cry away from Dickinson's edge and fierceness and Little Women's maturity and realism. It's more interested in appealing to Bridgerton audiences and its worse for it. But it's still full of the nice stuff, like strong female friendships and sisterhoods. Ooh, and lesbians! It's adamantly female-centric.

As for Little Women, I prefer the 90s version with Winona Ryder, but Greta did more justice to the source material than Louisa May Alcott herself in the new version.

The Book Thief and The World to Come are also tragedies, so you know. Ammonite, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Summerland and The Favourite are lesbians and bisexuals in their full glory, although all of them have vastly different tones (The Favourite is a dark comedy, I believe).

Speaking of The Favourite, Mary & George is like that but it's men vying for the affections of the king. Don't get it twisted though, Mary, George's mom, is the protagonist and primary mover of the show. It starts and ends with her. Also, more lesbianism! (I don't get tired of pointing that out.)

Belle is one of the few autobiographical historical fictions of a black woman. My dad and I love it. It, however, does not surpass The Woman King. The Woman King is like . . . one of the best historical movies on African women I've ever watched! Or just in general! It gives so much agency to African people in the colonial age and tells the story with nuance and perspective--it is a decolonized view on the slave trade that places West African people at the center. It's pretty intense and gory, though. Like it's dark, but like the performances are insanely good, and so is the story. Real life Wakanda and all that!

[velvetvexations]

Memoirs to Prove the Existence of the Devil

Nursed With Kerosene

Zoe Grail is best friends with the Righteous, a group of 'scoobies' who deal with supernatural threats that no one wants to discuss in public. A mysterious man offers to tear off the veil and show her what the Righteous get up to.

In-progress serial novel. 01

Six Underground

Anh Coleman and their husband spend some much needed quality time together while trapped underground, and Anh doesn't think they're alone.

Published in Beyond the Bounds of Infinity.

New Coke

Paul Conrad is the yuppie son of a billionaire who's gone through a streak of bad, bad luck, and hasn't felt like himself in awhile. When he's sent to Mexico to check in on some financial irregularities, he meets a woman of uniquely terrifying beauty.

Finished novella, unpublished.

Witch Hunt

Gerald Oakman barely remembers Gerhard Eichmann. A strange visitor drops in to remind him of a few key facts.

Finished short story, unpublished.

The Fool's Hike

Azariah and Lizard take their son hiking.

Finished flash fiction, unpublished.

Lips Cold as Ice

Tragedy Syn suffers for his art.

Finished flash fiction, unpublished.

The Feral .454 of Lizard Donner

Other barbarians have savage swords. Lizard Donner walks into fights with an oversized six-shooter, an ax, and a cloak that flows like a flaming shadow.

In-progress short story.

The Black Goat of the Desert

Holly Goodwich and Paris Conrad are two early 20th century lesbians whose relationship has stagnated lately. Hoping to spice things up, they chase a rumor through the desert.

In-progress short story.

The Wendigo?

Dr. John Silence is an arrogant man, albeit not without good reason. He may have to reconsider his conclusions and beg for help if he wants to survive the night.

Planned short story.

Lighthouse, Lighthouse

A paranormal investigator snoops around the simple lighthouse of a small town in Mexico.

Planned short story.

Swimming in a Bottle

A young boy sneaks a bottle away from the party his parents are throwing on their yacht and ends up falling into the water, only to surface in a strange lake under a sky full of black stars.

Planned short story.

Scared

A man is hounded by an entity of unfathomable horror that's out for his blood.

Planned flash fiction.

The History of the Principality of Averoigne

A short history of Averoigne, from it's de facto independence during the French Revolution to the principality that continues to exist in the modern day.

Planned short story.

Zachary Read Something He Shouldn't

It's the 1930s and Zachary Conrad's older brother tasks him with proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that their grandmother, wife of the famous cowboy hero Blue Conrad, was not Native American. As he digs into the family history, however, Zachary learns that their mother kept her own secrets.

Planned short story.

Wow!

An heiress wants nothing more than to use her family's aerospace business to drag humanity into space and meet aliens. This is the story of the worst day of her life.

Planned short story.

Time is the Final Gaol

Calamity wishes the Righteous made more of a difference. But sometimes the big picture doesn't tell the whole story.

Planned short story.

Street Heat

To reward their good behavior, Fenris, Plantagenet, Random, and Elixir are allowed to leave Blackchapel unsupervised so Plantagenet can take them to his hometown of New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but a woman who wears the head of a fursuit 24/7 ends up leading them to uncover a dangerous plot, and with the Righteous out of action, they have to take things into their own hands.

Planned short story.

[yourdailykitsch]

'American Primeval' Gets Its Hands Dirty

Set in 1857 amid the brutal Utah War, the Netflix series spares none of the grime and violence in its attempt to offer a fair and authentic retelling.

Howard Berger, the head of makeup on 'American Primeval,' a Netflix limited series, thought he had achieved the optimal level of grime. He prepared a makeup test - muddied necks, blackened fingernails, dirt painted inside an actor's ears - and showed it to Peter Berg's, the series's director.

Berg was unsatisfied. "'More! More!'" Berger recalled him saying. "Come on, man. Cover him in dirt, like he hasn't bathed in a year."

Berger did. "We went ahead and just kept making it more and more grungy," Berger said.

For a long time, film and TV stories of the American West ere aggressively whitewashed. Here the West is unwashed - muddy, bloddy, cold and mean. In this way, "American Primeval," a six-episode series that premieres on Jan. 9, joins recent films and series like "The English," "Meek's Cutoff," "Power of the Dog" and "Killers of the Flower Moon" in repositioning the emphases and priorities of the western. Yet Berg ("Friday Night Lights," "Painkiller," "Lone Survivor"), a director who tends to both gravitate toward and challenge traditionally macho spaces, insists that the series, set in the Utah Territory in 1857, isn't a western at all.

There are no saloons, no bordellos, no cowboys strutting up and down Main Street, in part because there are no streets. The goal, which can be seen in nearly every begrimed fame, is an unusual, often brutal authenticity, stripped of nostalgia.

"American Primeval" is set amid the real-life clashes between the U.S. Army members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Shoshone, Southern Paiute and Ute tribes. (The series incorporates several real-life characters, including Brigham Young, the church president and a governor of Utah, played by Kim Coates of "Sons of Anarchy.") Disagreements over sovereignty, religious exercise and territory came to a head in 1857, in a series of armed conflicts, including the Mountain Meadows Massacre, depicted, horrifically, in the series's first episode, in which church members and Paiute auxiliaries killed about 120 Westbound pioneers.

Though "American Primeval" is largely fiction, Berg felt that he owed it to this actual, gory history to offer, in painstaking detail, as much realism as he could. "You get a little bit closer to some of the origin stories of how our country was formed," Berg said of the series. "Those origin stories are very violent."

The series was shot on location, in and around Santa Fe, N.M., in 2023, with a break of several months to accommodate the SAG-AFTRA actor's strike, When I toured the set early that summer, I observed an exhaustive and sometimes exhausting commitment to realism. At a reservation near town, an exacting replica had been constructed of Fort Bridger, a trading outpost perched on a tributary of the Green River, in what today is southwest Wyoming. That set, the equivalent of eight city blocks, included an apothecary, a tannery, racks of drying fish and a trading goods store stocked with items that would have been available in 1857. Some were historical artifacts.

"Holding something that is literally from the past makes it easier to put yourself in that time period," said Dudley Gardner, an archaeologist who consulted for the show. By then, much of the fort had been burned, as the real fort was during the Utah War. Charred wood and ash mixed with mud underfoot. Nearby stood the skeletons of tepees, which were originally hung with elk and buffalo hide, dyed and stitched by Native artisans.

"One of the reasons why you don't see this level of authenticity is because it's very expensive," Berg quipped, but he wasn't exactly joking.

The show written by Mark L. Smith ("The Revenant"), centers on Betty Gilpin's Sara, a desperate woman who hires Taylor Kitsch's Isaac, a guide raise by the Shoshone, to take her and her son West. In telling this story, Smith tried not to prettify what life was like in the territory. "It's important that we represent the world as it truly was - good, bad, indifferent, ugly," he said. "Once you cheat that, it doesn't land the same."

The commitment to truth, even in the midst of fiction, extended to every department. The costume department built more than 1,300 garments and hundreds of pairs of moccasins. Artisans worked oil, powders, paints and dirt into the textiles to dye and age them. Berg told the artisans to take the age and dye further.

"It's almost like we had to take it to a theatrical level," Mila Hermanovski, a costume designer, said. "It takes the viewer there, to really feeling how these people are living. It feels oppressive, and it feels hard." Complementing the costumes were grungy makeup and greasy hair, as well as inventive prosthetics to achieve the gorier moments.

When it came to the battle sequences, the sound designers researched the weaponry of the time, creating effects both vicious and accurate. Although a gunshot from a flintlock pistol lasts only an eye blink, the sound is composed of numerous elements: the squeeze of the trigger, the strike of the firing mechanism against the flint, the ignition of the powder, the slug's passage through the barrel, the report, the impact.

On set in Santa Fe, the sound designer Whylie Stateman and his team made field recordings, paying particular attention to the wind. But there were times when authenticity ceded to tone. Berg told him that the sound had to feel tense, haunting.

"He wanted it dark," Stateman said. "So we eliminated all birds. There are no birds in "American Primeval."

Particular attention was paid to the depiction of the Native American characters, whom the western genre has often reduced to cliche or violent stereotype. The producers hired Julie L'keefe as an Indigenous cultural consultant. O'Keefe in turn hired others who could speak to the specific experiences and customs of the relevant tribes.

"The mistake is always made that one Native person knows every single answer to all 564 nations," O'Keefe said. She made sure that the production had necessary access to experts in history, culture and language. One consultant suggested that the production should name a Shoshone leader Winter Bird and not Pine Leaf.

"It's very important that directors, producers and writers see and hear us," O'Keefe added. Derek Hinkey, who plays Red Feather, a Shoshone warrior, is an enrolled member of the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shshone Tribe. He appreciated this attention to detail, especially seeing so many Indigenous actors dressed in tribal regalia. "You walk up on set and it's wild, man," he said. "I grew up among my people. But to be in a different environment where they're all in buckskin and we're all together, it was unreal."

That feeling of realism influenced the non-Native actors, too. "Being in 6,000 layers of petticoats and a corset sprinting through fields and vaulting onto horses gave a pretty quick sense of authenticity to both my hip flexors and consciousness," Gilpin said. She added that the elements - freezing cold at night, extreme heat during a few days of desert shoots - did a lot of the acting for her.

While New Mexico offers dazzling scenery, the show mostly eschews it, preferring tight shots and close-ups. "I want the audience to feel like they're in it with our characters," Berg said. "'Primeval' is not glamorous. These folks are not in a position to sit back and enjoy the vistas. They are trying to stay alive."

On the last evening of my visit, artificial snow decorated the ground and the trees. A filter on the camera lens leached any remaining color from the scene. Kitsch, in a buffalo hide coat, his face scarred and stained, lumbered into frame. A prop gun was checked and declared safe. Then the gun was fired and another character met a sudden end. The scene was ugly, unromantic.

"The violence is [expletive] relentless," Kitsch said during a break. "But it's accurate."

In Berg's vision, that accuracy made it very American. "America was born through war and blood and death," he said. "And that's just reality. That's just the way it seems to go with humans.

[daywalkers-fic]

Hellooo, I'm also writing a story in a setting inspired by late 1800s America but quite different and a bit escapist in some aspects.

I wanted to ask, how do you handle the issue of colonialism in such a story, even when the story itself doesn't strive to be historically realistic. I want to write some decent rep for some indigenous characters but what Im concerned with is..is it an alright to make my setting resemble an American environment of that time but with colonialism missing from that universe..or is it irresponsible and erasure? If I add an equivalent, how do I go about acknowledging it?

I'm sorry,.I'm aware you're not indigenous but I still wanted to ask for your general thoughts on the topic considering you're working with the same genre with a fresh inclusive perspective. Also if you know any indigenous writers/individuals who happen to be into westerns I would love to know!

ooo hi! it’s always really fun to hear about other people’s works-in-progress :’)

to start, I want to plug @writingwithcolor as a total gem of a resource !! it is run by a panel of bipoc writers. I really recommend taking the time to explore their blog: they have research guides, resource recommendations, break downs of sterotypes and tropes + very meaningful answers to many writers sending asks.

one of their moderators, Lesya, is of the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) and Wyandot (Huron) in Canada. they’ve acknowledged that since they are not from territories that have been historically associated with the “old west” (more southwestern and plains), they can’t give specifics. still, they speak as an Indigenous person and writer:

together with the other moderators, Lesya has written many posts that made me re-think a lot of things (quite literally helping reorient myself on the questions of what exactly am I trying to write, why in this setting/time period, and with whom in mind)

Is the Western genre dead?

Destroying imperialism to avoid discussing racism?

On addressing native issues in a cowboy story

Tragedy exploitation and characters of colour

Guide on Cowboys: Cowboys of Colour in the West

Alternate History and Historical Accuracy

(1800s western) non-racist White characters interacting with Black and Native people

Highlighting points from the last linked post (above) that I very much agree with + and adding some notes onto them:

consider the setting of the world, even if it is fictional, where is it inspired by?

Lesya: “the western front is a catchall and has a collection of tropes akin to Fantasy World 29, but if you want to have some grounding in history, pick a state whose history you feel you can work with and do research roughly in that geographic area (e.g what Nation or tribe you are discussing, what the state policies [of genocide] at the time were…)”

I was exited to take this as an opportunity for me to really learn more about Plains and Southwestern Indigenous history since I from the Great Lakes region of North America! I believe a foundational resource is: https://www.whose.land/en/ that gives you a starting point of whose traditional territory is the land you’re on, and/or what region and then subsequently, whose land is inspiring your story. “Indigenous” is not a monolith. Each geographical region has its own peoples, culture, history!

what is your comfort level with writing about colonialism? Is the goal historical accuracy or alternative history?

Lesya: “the 1800s was a period of pure, unadulterated racism”

Yeah 1800s is synonymous with racism. Racism was necessary to justify colonialism. It justified slavery. It justified genocide. Sciences developing “studies” and “proof” in biology and psychology at this time even helped reaffirm the idea that Black and Indigenous peoples were indeed subhuman. This was codified in laws and policies around the world. Meanwhile, industrialization and “development” was paid for with the blood and labour of marginalized peoples (the working class, migrants, and most especially, black and brown people).

Lesya: “If you’re looking for any sort of grounding in historical reality, you’re dealing with that climate. There is absolutely, positively, no way around it. There is no way to make modern anti-racism and modern levels of ignorance fit in anything grounded historically.”

that said, historical fantasy and fluffy escapism is ok, too! again, depends on your goals, capacities, intentions.

Lesya: “It’s okay if you’re not comfortable. But, you’re going to need to start looking at essentially creating a historical AU where the racism at the time was a lot less, which means colonialism at the time would be a lot less, which means ‘The Western Front’ is going to look a lot different.”

After all, the “wildness” of the “west” had in part been defined by the belief that all of this unsettled, traditional Indigenous territory was dangerous. These Lands and its inhabitants were “wild”—savage—and ought to be “tamed”.

Lesya: “If you’d rather write fluffy escapism, make Black and Native people equal for literally no reason other than you want the story to be safe for those groups to read. Pick a rough geographic area just to give your Indigenous peoples around this Western Front town a culture (or three, because the Western front is full of nomadic groups), and you’ll be fine. But it will be historical fantasy, and should really be treated as such”

finally, something I’d keep in mind is that anything you write will be biased because it came from you! After all, you are an individual with beliefs and experiences and ideas. They all impact how you carry yourself and see the world everyday, and these will impact how you interact with a fictional world too. This isn’t inherently “bad”—this should be something to keep in mind especially if you’re writing about a character with a different race, class, health, gender than you. For example, if you hold prejudice in your own life, it will probably be read in how you write certain characters, storylines, etc.

I apologize how long this took me to answer, I really had to sit down and think about this too. I hope you find this of use to you! and on the last part of the ask: I know of James Welch (Blackfoot and A'aninin), an author whose written many books set in 19th century America from the perspective of an Indigenous protagonist. Does anyone else have recommendations? In other revisionist-western/anti-western media, Los Colonos (2023) has been on my to-watch list for sometime!

[cupiidskiss]

I would like to know more about Boone and Isa 👀 What is their story? Are the connected? Are the somehow related to the gang? What are they like?

I would love to hear it!

OKOK they are rdo ocs and no way related to the gang, isa has met charles chatney briefly in a bar but thats besides the point.

isa is a 21 yr old mojave native who grew up in southern california w/ her tribe and they were forced into reservations. mojave natives are nomadic, so isa when she was 17 longed to continue that life and really couldn’t stand the mistreatment of reservation life so she left. isa meets her surrogate father, julius (my friends oc) when shes 19 after she gets into a bar fight in saint denis, years later hes murdered, she sorta goes off the deep end and feels purposeless in life, cuts her hair, its a whole thing. shes pretty stone faced, but julius brought out the good and goofiness i her, they have lots of tender moments that make my found family heart burst

boone on the other hand is a 40 yr scottish american lad, grew up middle class in the dustbowl regions of the united states. moved to the fictional rdr states when he was around 22 and got caught up in organized crime 10 years later (32). if i had to describe boone, hes a mafia cowboy hehe. hes a hitman/gun for hire for all the underground corruption that goes on in saint denis. hes…horrible. micah bell sorta guy in comparison. tall, looming, sadistic son of a bitch. he’d shoot his target in the legs so they couldnt run just so he could get a kick out of their reaction. he has no filter, womanizer (what would you call the masculine version of this? hes that too). idk hes..,something. he has a screw loose but its ok

isa and boone have interacted ONCE thats all. it was brief, no names exchanged. boone had been lounging about in the saint denis bar with some working women, as he does, isa was there too just for a drink. boone being the big talker he is sorta flirted with her, it was indirect, drunkenly and weird. isa insulted him and left, thats really it.

if u have any more questions i’d love to answer

links to oc stuff

oc pinterest board ; https://pin.it/7vcWEsqgs

isa’s playlist ; https://open.spotify.com/playlist/05OjotvrDW2o5raF8pIKN9?si=EeqGjnaxQdCYjFRNVg0iDQ&pi=u--QI__NSLRdy

boone’s playlist ; https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4gJbngAZvRAbetF3C6VRgA?si=BXCZM0mqRXyLElsjoCVdVA&pi=u-xqVLoaMySlSb

isa’s toyhouse ; https://toyhou.se/25994604.isa-mohan

boone’s toyhouse ; https://toyhou.se/27118656.boone-quinn

[hannahsliteraryhaven]

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

by Dee Brown ★★★★☆

I feel as though the genocide of the Native Americans has been massively glossed over, in comparison to other mass genocides. Even this book was once banned in a US school because they didn't want to cause controversy! This gradual genocide began not too long after European settlers were originally welcomed and shown hospitality by the Native Americans when they first arrived on American soil.

I can't name a movie (other than the one made after this book, which I found only after I finished the book) that focuses exclusively on the experiences of the Native Americans. Every cowboy movie I've seen, the Native Americans are always a background nuisance; savages that will kill any white man they see. Brown gives you a much clearer picture of what happened, and why they behaved the way they did, often copying the atrocities committed against them by white soldiers, but that is, of course, wiped out in the white men's narrative. He shares how the whites created false narratives in order to gain support so that they could continue stealing land and sending the Native Americans to reservations.

This book is a good introduction to the main tribes and most notable chiefs during the period of 1860-1890, and what each tribe experienced. I found the book hard to read at times because there is a lot of information and names; quite a lot of names seemed thrown in and I felt like I was expected to know them from the get go, but over time, I got used to how Brown had laid out the chapters - each chapter is essentially a new tribe/massacre/fight and you have to accept that you might not remember all of the white army men's names and their positions, and that's okay because this is definitely a book to come back to, not least because of the many real photographs of the Chiefs and other notable Native Americans. It really helped to bring a face to the people you're reading about; a reminder that you're not reading fiction, but the lives of real people. I read this through my library but I'm tempted to buy my own copy in the future to look back on.

This book has encouraged me to learn even more about the true history of what these incredible people endured, and still endure. It blew me away when I learned that there are still Native American reservations and they experience horrendous poverty. What kind of a world do we live in? I hope for the day when the US government finally put their egos aside, accept their wrongdoings and give back to the Native Americans so that they can lead good lives in their own country. It took until 1978 for Native Americans just to be allowed to practice harmless ceremonies in public! I now see Mount Rushmore as nothing but a huge insult to Native Americans; calving 4 white men into their sacred mountains that they fought so hard to protect. I only recently learned that Native Americans were holding protests against it.

I hope that all of the Native American tribes still around today can continue to share their history, revel in their culture and be unapologetically proud of their heritage.

[thelensofyashunews]

That Mexican OT Shares 'Texas Technician' Mixtape, Twists His Fingers with Moneybagg Yo in New Video

Rolling his r's with reckless abandon as he lays down his rapidfire rhymes, That Mexican OT is Texas to the bone. Today, the Bay City native shares Texas Technician, his new mixtape, and a high-octane tribute to his home state's bountiful rap scene. Refining the all-encompassing sound that he developed for his breakout 2023 album Lonestar Luchador, the new Texas Technician hones in on a sound that has percolated in the Lone Star State for decades–slow moving, warped, haunting, speaker-knocking Texas rap. Along with A-listers from across the country, OT rolls out the purple carpet for fellow Texans, including Trill-era legends like Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Z-Ro, and Propain, and contemporaries like Trapboy Freddy, OTB Fastlane, and his Bay City running mates Drodi and Hogg Booma.

Texas Technician is home to the recent single "02.02.99," a haunting horrorcore heatrock which became one of OT's biggest hits. Released in early January, the song has generated over 34million streams across platforms. "02.02.99" peaked at #74 on the Billboard Hot 100, spending three weeks on the chart. He followed "02.02.99" with "Point 'Em Out," a collaboration with DaBaby that spawned a Pulp Fiction-referencing video. These highlights are joined by 14 new bangers, including the apocalyptic "Chicken Strips & Ass," his latest collab with "Johnny Dang" compadre Paul Wall, the high-rolling "Cowboy In an Escalade" ft. Trapboy Freddy, the screwed-up outlaw story "Crooked Officer" ft. Z-Ro, "Hola," a Fredo Bang-featuring slapper that somehow borrows from both Tejano music and East Coast club, and more. With production from regular collaborators like DJ Skelez and national names like Bankroll Got It, the new tape is an immersive world into OT's day-to-day, filled with dirty syrup, clean Escalades, and an endless parade of sold-out dates.

Another major highlight is "Twisting Fingers," OT's collaboration with Moneybagg Yo, which receives a brand new video today. Produced by Bankroll Got It, "Twisting Fingers" is a low-down, dirty, bass-heavy banger with stabs of horror movie strings, as OT and Bagg each promise to stay loyal to gang no matter how successful they become. Directed by OT's frequent shooter DGreen Filmz, the video is a flashback to the rapper's rambunctious school days. He talks smack on the bus to school, shoots dice in the restroom, and learns lessons in American sign language from Mr. Bagg, aka Moneybagg Yo.

"Point 'Em Out" and "02.02.99" continue OT's hot streak, which started last summer and made him one of the most exciting breakthrough rap stars of 2023. He started his legendary run with "Johnny Dang" ft. Drodi & Paul Wall, which spent 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, earned GOLD status from the RIAA, and appeared on Lonestar Luchador, his acclaimed album. Acclaimed by Pitchfork (7.5), last July's Lonestar Luchador made an immediate impact, reaching #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and peaking at #59 on the Billboard 200. Last fall, That Mexican OT completed the "Lonestar Luchador Tour," the Bay City native's first-ever headlining tour, selling out dozens of dates across the country. The rapper earned "Best Of 2023" notices from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Complex, and Pitchfork,

Recently profiled by the Los Angeles Times, SPIN Magazine, and his hometown Houston Chronicle, and featured on XXL's The Break, That Mexican OT is outta here. Stay tuned for much more from the Bay City, TX rhymer, including a brand new project, as he launches into the stratosphere.

[balanceoflightanddark]

Rivals, Cowboys, and Dinosaurs: a look at Michael Crichton's Dragon Teeth

The name "Michael Crichton" should be familiar with any dinosaur enthusiast. After all, he is the man behind the famous novel Jurassic Park which was adapted into the classic film.

But this was NOT the first time Mr. Crichton took a swing at paleontology. Dragon Teeth was a previously unpublished manuscript that was described by Crichton himself as the forerunner to his second outing with the great lizards.

A historical fiction, Dragon Teeth takes place during the infamous Bone Wars, another name any dinosaur enthusiast or paleontologist should be familiar with. It was sparked by a fierce rivalry between paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope, who, from 1877 to 1892, competed to make the most discoveries, name the most species, and collect the most specimens out of the Wild West. Needless to say, it was a fascinating and dangerous period in paleontological history, particularly with the Indian Wars raging all around them, the almost lawless wilderness far from civilization, and the extreme lengths both men went to denying each other of specimens.

This is the backdrop our main character, William Johnson, finds himself in. Having agreed to a bet to go out west with Professor Marsh, he's later abandoned by the paranoid paleontologist before throwing his lot in with Cope. Our hero soon finds himself in the rough and tumble Wild West in the middle of the Indian Wars, where it turns out hunting for fossils is a lot more dangerous than it is on paper.

To begin with, this book is absolutely drenched in the setting and beliefs of the time. If you want a decent idea of what the Wild West was like at the time, this provides a pretty reasonable look. Especially with how it's woven into the narrative. One of the first big threats that Johnson and Cope have to wrestle with is the approach of Sitting Bull making his way north after having dealt with Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn. And the area as a whole is pretty lawless, with bandits and outlaws being a danger towards the latter portions of the novel.

Paleontology enthusiasts are also going to get their money's worth here. As mentioned before, Marsh and Cope are two of the central characters here and I think they're portrayed fairly well. Marsh being a paranoid recluse who nevertheless prides himself on meticulous work and building a reputation for himself. Cope is the brash and aggressive of the two, often getting into fights, and while his enthusiasm is admirable, he often rushes in making his observations or even just throwing caution into the wind. Course one of the highlights of the whole book is the confrontation between Marsh and Cope, which might as well be a masterclass in who can get as many insults in at each other as possible.

Rivalry and recklessness are some of the driving themes here of the whole novel, specifically how destructive it can be. Johnson got roped into a trip to the dangerous Wild West all on a bet with a school rival. Cope was willing to go to extreme lengths to retrieve fossils all for the sake of his grudge against Marsh that he'll drive his men to work in the face of an impending Sioux attack. Hell, I don't think it's a secret that Custer's brazen attack is given a lot of emphasis here given what the characters are up to. And at the end of the day, the rivalry does ultimately cost both Cope and Marsh everything with them sinking their entire finances and reputations just to one-up the other

Naturally, these aren't the only themes in the novel. Specifically, the colonization of America against the Native Americans is given a lot of weight in this novel. They come across buffalo herds that Cope notes that in a few years may no longer exist. The whole world of the plains Indians is described as a Lost World not too dissimilar to that of the dinosaurs. And there is a recurring theme of religion and Manifest Destiny, that some people believe the settlers were destined to occupy everywhere in America. Cope's struggles with Mormonism is actually a recurring subplot as his admiration of the dinosaurs, the concept of deep time, and evolution clashes with conventional wisdom about God and predetermined creation.

As you can tell, I reeeeeaaaaallllyyy enjoyed this novel. I thought it was a fascinating take on one of paleontology's most turbulent periods that manages to weave the setting and values in with the characters and their arcs. I think anyone who's interested in dinosaurs, paleontology, or historical fiction will appreciate this one. Especially how in some ways, this does feel like a spiritual successor to Jurassic Park. After all, the Bone Wars gave us many of our most famous dinosaurs and helped stir up interest for future generations despite their troubled history.

[tanukifucker91]

Many video games borrow from popular genres of literature or cinema, they pay homage or they "celebrate" them through emulation on some level or through adapting certain aesthetics. Red Dead Redemption (2010) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) however only rarely borrow from the idyllic and romantic American wild west shows or pulp fiction, and when they do, they do so cynically. It borrows-or outright steals-rather from the spagetti western of the 60s, which akin to cowboy fables, tell stories of karmatic retribution on a backdrop of misery and violence. But what they borrow most of all is the story telling techniques, the music, a few character archetypes, especially among the support cast. Red Dead 1 and 2 are not fables, and while spaghetti westerns are ready to engage with matters of live and death, oppression and justice, the larger scope of the world and the state of America is a back drop or seen through glimpses where the viewer is encouraged to simply consider and then no more. Red Dead Redemption 1 and especially 2, go beyond this. They unravel the myth of the Americas. They lay it bare. The man who inherits a fortune but because of his poverty he cannot claim it, only to die. The plantation owner's son who is the head sheriff. The displaced natives who's blood is worth less than the oil on their land. Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 is the story of the foundation of the American police state, how the dehumanizing of criminals in turn transform the poor and the marginalized to second class citizens. In Red Dead 2, these themes are mirrored inside the dynamic of the gang itself; while painting itself as a idyllic found-family style community, it's a hierarchal structure where love and support is highly conditional and only given in exchange for loyalty. I always couldn't help but notice how Dutch only calls Arthur his son when he wants something from him.

And that is why Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 do ultimately not simply "borrow" or "pay homage", unlike the wast majority of video games. Red Dead inherits the western genre. It's not simply a celebration, it's a succession.

[autolenaphilia]

I think this last paragraph simplifies the aesthetic inspirations of both Tolkien and modern RPGs here. There is a lot of "cowboys vs indians" western genre influence in Tolkien, he himself freely admitted to influenced by stories of "red indians, probably James Fenimore Cooper's stories, which is one of the main roots of the western genre. And he also admitted to being influenced by the arch-colonialist adventure fantasy stories of H. Rider Haggard.

That is not to say that the western influence on modern fantasy comes from Tolkien, at least not entirely. And that's because dungeons and dragons, fantasy ttrpgs and video games have other literary influences as well. The influence of Tolkien is undeniable, you can see that in dnd and other games cribbing words and concepts like "orcs" and "halflings" directly from Tolkien.

But the other major literary influence, and arguably the bigger one, is the tradition of pulp fantasy "sword and sorcery" fiction. The stories of Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock are huge influences on DnD and fantasy tabletop and video games. A lot of early published DnD adventure modules are sword and sorcery tales rather than tolkienian high fantasy. The entire idea of lawful vs chaotic alignments is an adaptation of Moorcock's central theme of order vs. chaos.

And i think a lot of the western influences come straight from that pulp fantasy tradition. The pulp adventure story formula was very similar regardless of whether the story was a western, a "Jungle adventure" story, hardboiled detective story, science fiction or fantasy. The famous Lester Dent pulp formula is applicable regardless of genre, which in the pulps was more aesthetic trappings than anything. The genres inevitably influenced each other. Robert E. Howard wrote westerns and actually transitioned into primarily a western writer by the time he died.

That's why your average DnD adventure module reads like a pulp western, it's following a related pulp genre. And that's why dnd-style orcs often feel like the stereotypical native american in western stories, they fulfill the same narrative purpose.

But I mostly agree with the OP, Tolkien's orcs I think are less representative of tribal natives, but of a degeneracy narrative. Merry old England threatened by the degenerating forces of urbanization and industrialization. Racism, anti-semitism and white supremacy are deeply inherent to this deeply reactionary narrative. But it's a different racist narrative from the colonialist narrative of bringing the benefits of industrial civilization to the primitives. I suspect the reason Tolkien loved stories of native americans was because he loved seeing them portrayed as the noble savage which rhymed with his reactionary primitivist anti-modern outlook.

I saw this mentioned as a bit of an aside on another post but since it was a little bit besides the point of that post decided to make my own post about it instead of derailing that one.

It IS very interesting how in Lord of The Rings orcs are the soldiers of a (compared to the rest of the world) highly industrialized and technologically advanced military force, yet pretty much every high fantasy media that has borrowed the concept of orcs since then has instead given them the "tribal savages" treatment, and i don't know how I failed to realize that difference until I saw someone else bring it up.

Like of course this is not saying that the depiction of orcs in LoTR is not problematic for a lot of different reasons (there have been years of discussions unpacking that) but it IS an interesting change and I think a pretty ideologically loaded one.

Thinking about it makes me remember this article I read a few years ago about how, regardless of genre trappings, a lot of high fantasy (especially in ttrpgs and videogames) actually has a lot more in common narratively and thematically with wild west ""cowboys vs indians"" films and shows than it has with its aesthetic inspirations. Like once you look at it with that lense in mind it becomes really conspicuous how much these works like giving the "tribal savages" treatment to any sapient creature that exists for the heroes to fight.

[rhetoricandlogic]

HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD by C Pam Zhang

RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2020

A first-time novelist explores timely questions about home and belonging in a story set during the gold rush in a reimagined American West.

Even now, when most of what used to be the Wild West has begun to look like everywhere else—a few big cities spread out among sprawling suburbs full of chain restaurants and strip malls, connected by interstate highways and digital networks—a mythic version of this part of the country endures alongside the reality. That there is a place where anyone can strike it rich or, failing that, at least live free is one of the stories Americans love to tell ourselves. Zhang plays with this duality in her brutally lyrical debut. Lucy and Sam’s family left China for North America with the idea that their father, Ba, would become a prospector. The gold rush is over before they get there, though; he ends up mining coal instead. Sam’s daydreams of being a cowboy exist alongside the naked racism his family endures, but the romantic wish to be an outlaw comes true when Lucy and Sam are forced to flee their small mining village after their father’s death, taking his corpse with them because they lack the means to give it the burial that will let his ghost rest. As they travel through desiccated landscapes littered with the bones of tigers and buffalo, Lucy and Sam meet archetypes we think we know from Westerns, but they are stripped of romance. The journey of these two children—and the backstories of their parents—force us to confront just how White the history we’ve been taught is. Aside from fictions—some fanciful inventions, some hateful lies—about Native Americans, we don’t hear much about the experiences of people of color and immigrants in shaping the West. Zhang asks readers to acknowledge a legacy we have been taught to ignore by creating a new and spellbinding mythology of her own.

Aesthetically arresting and a vital contribution to America’s conversation about itself.

[eugene114]

Adam Beach

was born in Ashern, Manitoba, the son of Sally and Dennis Beach, and was raised on the Dog Creek First Nations Reserve, with his two brothers. A troubled childhood saw his mother killed by a drunk driver, and his alcoholic father drowned only weeks afterward. The three brothers went to live with their grandmother and then with their uncle and aunt in Winnipeg, where Adam joined drama classes and began acting in local theatre productions.

Since then he has appeared in over 60 films and television programs. His performance in the Academy Award-nominated Clint Eastwood-directed Flags of Our Fathers (2006) was phenomenal. He played Ira Hayes, a Pima Native American who was one of the six US Marines to raise the American flag on Iwo Jima and who found the resulting fame hard to handle, subsequently giving way to alcoholism. This alone would have been an emotional role for Adam to play; however, during filming, both his grandmother and best friend passed away. His role as Hayes is both realistic and heartbreaking, earning him two Best Supporting Actor Award Nominations. He stands out well above the rest of the cast.

Adam has been further nominated for three Awards for his role in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (2007) including a Golden Globe. He has put in terrific performances in the comedy film Joe Dirt (2001) and the John Woo World War II war epic Windtalkers (2002) in which he co-starred with Nicolas Cage.

He headlined the cast in the Walt Disney production Squanto: A Warrior's Tale (1994), featured in John Singleton's Four Brothers (2005) and starred with Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig in the science fiction-western smash hit Cowboys & Aliens (2011). He had a starring recurring role in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) and Big Love (2006).

In 2016, he played Christopher Weiss / Slipknot in the supervillain film Suicide Squad (2016).

Adam hopes to be appointed leader of his Lake Manitoba First Nation.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Matt Lee-Williams

[on his role in Arctic Air (2012)] I do a lot of inspirational talks for kids, to motivate them to change their lives and give them hope. And I found that this character shares a lot of those qualities. A lot of the communities I connect to get their inspiration from television and YouTube. I felt that this character could reach out to them and really connect. He's a character who's struggling with himself. He's trying to get back in touch with the person he once was.

[on First Nations people in Canada, and their treaty rights] I'm asking what is anybody doing right now to propel anything? All they are after is how we get that land that the Indians have by using our power to take away our rights. You can't propel a nation to move forward if all you are doing is taking something from them.

I feel I will always have that spirit bear with me, so I will always feel protected.

We're not going anywhere. We are never going to give up our sovereignty. We will always advance and we will always rise above any conflict.

[littleapocalypsekitten]

I feel like I’m being told to spread the word that White Dwarf is a thing that exists.  (I think you can still find it on Youtube and the occasional Walmart bin.  I’ve only ever been able to re-watch it on Youtube).   I am having a devil of a time trying to get people to watch it, though.  When we first got Netflix, I tried looking it up on there and on some of the other streaming services we technically have access to, but nada.  I was trying to get *one* person to watch it with me.  No success.   This is THE most obscure thing that I like.  Once upon a time, in the mid-1990s, FOX ran a science fiction movie that was supposed to be a pilot for a TV show that was rejected.  The pilot was made into a Weekend Special Prime Time movie.  It went up against the Full House finale or something so very few people watched it... I saw adverts for it and it seemed like my kind of thing.  And it was.  Very, VERY weird.  Ahead of its time, too.  Criticisms of it in TV Guide reviews panned it for the “mix of science fiction and western.”   Guess what actually became popular later, with various anime that came out a few years later among the geek-set (*nodding to my Trigun fandom, and the more popular Cowboy Bebop) as well as the smash hit, Firefly.   So, the plot of White Dwarf...  A young Earth doctor goes to the small planet, Rusta, to fill out a “frontier / third-world country” work requirement in order to qualify to open his own fancy-pants practice.  Rusta is a planet orbiting a white dwarf star and it is tidally-locked, which means that one side is in perpetual light and one side is in perpetual darkness.  Climate is regulated by machines that mysterious alien precursors left behind.  The machines are starting to break down.   Rusta’s population as a few different alien / native species, but is mostly made up of humans who have adopted the veneer of various past cultures.  The Light Side is mostly old American West.  People live a frontier-western lifestyle with wells and buckboards and that type of thing.  There is one magistrate / noble in the Light Side who tries to recreate Ancient Rome at his estate, but it’s mostly Old West there.  On the Dark Side, people live like Medieval Europe, with castles and are ruled by a king.  It is constantly stormy there and they hunt these native black panthers that reportedly taste delicious.    There has been an ongoing war between the Light Side and the Dark Side, which is why the young doctor is there - this is supposed to be his frontier adventure treading sword and arrow wounds and so forth.  The doctor he replaces gets ambushed and murdered by Darksiders on the way to the spaceport. One of the opening scenes is the murder of a frontier-family by Darksider bandits on a raid, which is why their twin girls, who were at school at the time, live at the hospital the young doctor stints at, as well as this boy with a shapeshifting disease who was abandoned there by his parents.   The planet is called Rusta because its ocean has a high iron content, which makes the water look rusty, like blood.  There’s a native parasitic worm that once it gets inside you will eat your brain and possibly your soul.  If you look up this series on Youtube, if you don’t find the movie, you will probably find the scene with the Tissue Gloves (gloves used by doctors to do cut-less surgery, used in a scene to extract a worm.  It’s the one clip people kept around because it’s WEIRD).   This...movie... pretty much tossed EVERYTHING at the wall to try to see what sticks.  It’s BONKERS.  It pretty much was a TV pilot for a series that was going to reveal all of these cool ideas / amazing world over the course of a series, but didn’t get the chance.  This is sad for me, because I would have watched the HELL out of it.   And now I feel like “I’m the only one who knows what this thing even is, aren’t I?”  Although...yeah, I did find it on Youtube a while back.    Hey! I found it!  Go watch it!   White Dwarf   I wanna become a tumblr cult-movie cult leader!  

Sometimes a cult classic is a movie I love and get like 4 people to watch. I’m the cult leader

[lonetrailwriter]

An Excerpt from "Riding the Cinematic Range"

In the expansive world of Western cinema, the canvas upon which a director paints is not merely a blank slate but a rich tapestry woven with threads of history. To embark on the journey of crafting an epic Western, the director must first pioneer the frontier of historical accuracy, meticulously recreating the bygone eras that define the Wild West.

The Essence of Pioneering: At the heart of the Western genre lies the spirit of pioneering—the relentless pursuit of new horizons, the clash of cultures, and the shaping of a nation. In this chapter, we delve into the essence of pioneering, understanding the historical forces that propelled individuals into the vast unknown. From the Oregon Trail to the gold rush fever, the director immerses themselves in the narratives that define the era, capturing the pioneering spirit that breathes life into the Western canvas.

The Cultural Cauldron: The Wild West wasn't a monolithic landscape but a melting pot of diverse cultures, each contributing to the vibrant mosaic of frontier life. The director explores the intricate cultural dynamics between settlers, Native Americans, and immigrants. Through meticulous research, they uncover the nuances of language, customs, and traditions, ensuring that the historical canvas reflects the kaleidoscope of identities that coexisted in the West.

Frontiers and Foes: As the director pioneers the historical canvas, they confront the challenges that defined the frontier. Outlaws, lawmen, and the struggles for survival become integral components of the narrative. The historical reality of gunfights, cattle drives, and the ever-present tension between order and chaos is woven into the fabric of the director's vision. By understanding the frontiers and foes of the Wild West, they authentically portray the conflicts that shaped the landscape.

Landscapes of Change: The historical canvas extends beyond human interactions to embrace the evolving landscapes that bore witness to transformation. From the expansion of the railroads to the encroachment upon indigenous territories, the director studies the geographical shifts that echo the societal changes of the time. The land itself becomes a character, reflecting the scars of progress and the relentless march of civilization into the untamed wilderness.

Characters in the Dust: In the dust of history, characters emerge—real and fictional—whose stories embody the pioneering spirit. The director delves into the lives of explorers, homesteaders, and those who defied the status quo. By studying the biographies of historical figures and drawing inspiration from their struggles and triumphs, the director populates their canvas with characters who resonate with authenticity and depth.

The Dialogue of Time: Language is a crucial brushstroke on the historical canvas, and the director meticulously crafts the dialogue to capture the cadence of the era. Slang, idioms, and the unique lexicon of the Wild West are harnessed to transport audiences into a time where every word is laden with the weight of history. The dialogue becomes a time machine, bridging the gap between the present and the past.

Authenticity in Details: Pioneering the frontier demands an unwavering commitment to authenticity in details. From costumes to props, every element on the historical canvas is a testament to the director's dedication. Through collaboration with costume designers, historians, and set decorators, the director ensures that even the smallest details, from the cut of a cowboy's vest to the design of a saloon door; transport the audience to an era long gone.

Challenges of Representation: As the director pioneers the historical canvas, they confront the challenges of representing a complex and often controversial period. The delicate balance between historical accuracy and cultural sensitivity becomes a tightrope walk. By acknowledging the nuances of the past and presenting it with a critical lens, the director navigates the potential pitfalls of misrepresentation, ensuring a thoughtful and respectful portrayal.

Research as a Creative Catalyst: In the realm of historical filmmaking, research is not merely a scholarly pursuit but a creative catalyst. The director immerses themselves in primary sources, archival materials, and accounts of the time, finding inspiration in the forgotten corners of history. By transforming research into a wellspring of creativity, the director breathes life into their historical canvas, infusing it with vitality and resonance.