All I See is Violence by Angie Elita Newell
Thank you to Greenleaf Book Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read a preview copy of Angie Elita Newell’s fierce and compelling novel All I See is Violence. The story features several different narratives that span nearly 100 years, yet are interrelated. The novel starts out with Nancy Swiftfox’s story, introducing us to her struggles as the wife of an incarcerated man trying to work as a professor and raise her four sons with the help of her father-in-law, George Swiftfox’s father. We also learn that they live on the Rosebud reservation, and it is in the mid-1970s when Dick Wilson’s goon squad reigned terror on the reservation. Nancy and George’s oldest son, Timothy, is a Vietnam veteran who returned from the war with the loss of an arm and some undiagnosed PTSD. To further complicate their relationship, Timothy’s father has been locked up for some time while Nancy works in a college nearly 3 hours away. Timothy seems to have latched on to members of the AIM (American Indian Movement), the group that Dick Wilson’s violence sought to counteract in Rosebud. While both Nancy and her father-in-law grow increasingly concerned about Timothy’s well-being, he ends up traveling with the group of AIM members that occupied the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs in DC. Although seeming to make a statement, the real events had limited impact on policy, and Timothy returns to Rosebud dejected, angry, and further upset that his mother has found a new love interest with a white colleague at the college, Joshua. Newell not only establishes the complications of the main characters, but also paints a rather bleak winter setting on the reservation homes, as Nancy and her children battle rats and poor living conditions. Furthermore, Newell also uses real events and figures from history and the AIM movement (and its violent counterpart, the goon squad) the develop a kind of historical narrative fiction from the last 50 years.
Chapter 2 follows a similar pattern where we meet Little Wolf, a Cheyenne warrior who has lost most of her family, but has become a skilled shooter and is determined to save the remaining members of her tribe from starvation and the forced displacement that seems imminent from the advancing US Army. It is nearly 100 years early, around 1876, and the US government is looking to take over the Black Hills, despite previous treaties securing the land for indigenous people. Little Wolf wants to ensure that her people are not relocated to the Red Cloud Agency, but violence is often the answer from the US Army for anyone resisting this forced relocation. In these alternating chapters, we meet some historical figures like Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, while we meet Custer, his family, and other members of the 7th Cavalry in a third alternating narrative that tells the story of the Army’s pursuit of the land and forced relocation from the white man’s perspective. Little Wolf eventually meets with Swift Fox, another warrior who is also refusing relocation and is looking to maintain the land of their ancestors with other warriors like Crazy Horse. Swift Fox is also the surname of Nancy’s husband, George, so we can see that George (and his children, including Timothy) are descended from warriors, and there is a connection among the past and the present in these narratives.
Newell’s use of both
historical fact and individuals from history helps to establish the reality of
the story, while also helping to establish links between the fight to maintain
their land from US Government usurpation and the American Indian Movement of
the 1970s. Although I have read a little about both the AIM movement and events
like Little Big Horn, Newell’s book made me want to learn more about the
figures from these historical events, especially whether some of the minor
characters in the story were real or invented for the story. Her writing definitely
provides some dynamics for them and imbues them with life. In particular, I was
wondering about some of the grabbers and scouts who ended up working more with
Custer and the Army, and whether these were real figures. Regardless, Newell’s
research and attention to detail with ceremonies like the Sundance, clothing,
and weapons provide interesting insight into the life of the People of the Plains.
It was also interesting to see how the threat of white encroachment and
violence (as well as forced relocation) brought many of the different tribes
together to fight a common threat. I found myself more engaged with the Little
Wolf chapters more than any of the others. I really enjoyed her perspective and
storytelling, as well as her observations and experiences with the Sundance and
other ceremonies she participated in. There are some moments of violence when during
a ceremony she recalls losing her brother as well as the rape of her mother at
the hands of Custer’s men. It’s a pretty brutal scene, but also captures the
cruelty and barbarity of the men that Custer led (and most likely influenced).
I tended to be the least engaged with Custer-focused chapters, where the
perspective was either from Custer or one of the men in his Cavalry (some were
his brothers or nephews). I’m not sure if that was the purpose, to kind of see
how unlikeable these characters were or to possibly try to understand their
motivations or perspectives, but I was wondering why Newell included them in
the book. However, Nancy’s chapters were more interesting and engaging than the
Custer focused chapters. I felt Nancy’s stress and struggles, but it also
seemed like her romance with Joshua progressed rather quickly. I can understand
that she neglected her own needs to focus on those of her kids while also
trying to stay true to her husband, George, even if he wouldn’t grant her a
divorce. One of the most unique chapters is when Joshua somehow convinces Nancy
to visit George in prison with him. It’s strange, but I was impressed with Nancy’s
response. I won’t spoil it here, but I loved the way Newell navigates this
strange encounter to bring readers to an understanding about the lack of
options for many indigenous men in the 1970s. I was also a little sad to see
that Nancy’s story kind of ended suddenly. The last few chapters focus on the
Battle of Little Big Horn, and these were some of the most exciting and
compelling chapters in the book, as we see how the Indigenous People created a
strategy to attract and eventually trap Custer. We see these experiences from
both Little Wolf’s perspective and that of Custer’s men. However, Nancy’s
chapters end shortly after her visit to George in the prison, and I wanted to
learn more about what happened with the birth of her daughter with Joshua. However,
I can also appreciate that Newell may be allowing readers to develop their own
conclusions about the continuous struggles that indigenous women face and how
they are often the warriors as well, fighting with men to maintain not only
their land but also their traditions, culture, and their ancestors. Towards the
end of the book, Swiftfox and Little Wolf are talking about the upcoming
battle, and Swiftfox says “ ‘Things only die if you forget them,’…His words ring
through my soul. I let my family, my ancestors, die because I had lost the
courage to remember them.” There were some other lines like this as well as how
these stories and tales about our ancestors help to keep them alive. In many
ways, this reminded me of Toni Morrison and Beloved, how stories
nourished Sethe’s children, and even brought the dead back to life. It seemed
like Newell’s stories and narratives also serve a similar function that moves
beyond entertainment and focuses on the kind of re-memory that Morrison employs
in Beloved. It not only keeps the past alive, but it
also honors and nourishes them. However, Newell also helps to show how this
kind of generational trauma is passed on through the kind of systemic violence
and racism that has been employed by the US government. I really enjoyed this
story, and Newell’s writing made me want to learn more about the events
surrounding Little Big Horn. I look forward to not only learning more about the
past, but also reading Newell’s future work.
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