Buffalo Dreamer

July 22, 2024
Twelve-year-old Summer is excited to leave Arizona and visit her family on the Cree reservation in Northern Alberta, where she will ride horses and enjoy fish fries with her cousin, kokom, and mosom, who attended a residential school as a child. Shortly before reaching the reservation, however, Summer begins experiencing vivid, persistent dreams about a girl from the past struggling to escape a nearby residential school where, in Summer’s waking world, a crew has begun searching for recently discovered unmarked graves. In the dream narrative, the girl, who identifies herself as Buffalo Dreamer, is given the name Mary at the school, which is attempting to separate students from their Indigenous heritage. Buffalo Dreamer moves quickly in her escape attempt, taking back paths to avoid detection until she’s caught in a snowstorm. Suddenly, the dreams stop, leaving Summer to wonder if she survived. Plains Cree and Taino author Duncan juxtaposes Summer’s intense dreams with the low-conflict nature of her everyday life, which includes detailed descriptions of Native traditions such as picking sweetgrass, making for a brief look into Indigenous customs and history. Ages 10–up.