This book is about Chief Standing Bear and the Ponca Tribe. I had never heard of this particular tribe, and I was interested in learning more about Natives. The Ponca were not a large tribe, but their small numbers were further decimated thanks to smallpox. They were generally farmers, but did hunt seasonally. Like many other tribes, the Ponca were forcibly removed from their homelands. Many of them died on that death march to their new reservation, or fell seriously ill. Chief Standing Bear left the reservation, breaking the rules, to return home to bury his son in their ancestral lands. He was subsequently captured and faced trial... I will not spoil the book by discussing the trial, but Chief Standing Bear was certainly a brave and determined man. 

This book came up on a suggested list when I was buying other books off of the Book Outlet site, and I was not disappointed in it. I have always had the desire to learn the real truth about Native peoples and the way there were treated by colonizing governments. I know that a lot of the history surrounding Native people in the United States that I was presented in school, especially elementary school, was incorrect of half true...obviously with the United States government and colonizing people as morally upright and fair. The treatment of Native people throughout the United States, and certainly other places, has been absolutely abhorrent. This book really shines a light on that subject.