THE RIVER RUN

A third series entry about a Lakota teen, this time focusing on residential schools.

After the events of The Roan Stallion (2022), Alfred’s calm life changes when U.S. government officers show up at his school to enforce the “Kill the Indian, Save the Man” policy. They require Native children to attend schools approved by the Office of Indian Affairs. Alfred, his younger brother, and some of his friends reluctantly leave for St. John’s Indian School; others are sent to Pierre Indian School. As the seasons pass, Alfred becomes determined to escape the abuse, starvation, and disease. His brother becomes ill and is allowed to stay at home. A yearning for freedom engulfs Alfred, and following a vision in which his grandfather tells him to run to the river, he and two friends end up paddling down the Missouri River. They hitch a ride to Sioux City, Iowa, seeking Alfred’s parents, who have gone missing. The boys find work as carnies, and Alfred meets a man who knows something about the danger his parents could be in. The latest from Beartrack-Algeo (Lower Brule Lakota Nation) is an accessible work for reluctant readers that includes multiple engaging strands as well as an afterword about the Pick–Sloan Act of 1944, which authorized the construction of five dams that destroyed vast swathes of Lower Brule Lakota land.

An action-packed journey offering a peek into the impact of residential schools.