I’m thrilled to share that Reclaiming Mni Sota has been reviewed in Volume 36 of War, Literature & the Arts by Capt. Rebecca Layng. Capt. Layng is an Instructor of English in the Department of English and Fine Arts at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. We first met years ago at the AWP Conference in San Antonio, and since then, she has contributed a powerful short story to my press, History Through Fiction, along with insightful blog content—like her piece “5 Famous Literary Quotes Explained: ‘‘Tis Better to Have Loved and Lost Than Never to Have Loved at All.’”

I’m especially honored by Capt. Layng’s review because of the care and depth with which she approached the novel. She thoughtfully interrogates the thematic heart of Reclaiming Mni Sota, exploring its setting, characters, and my motivation for crafting an alternate history of the U.S.–Dakota War.

One of the most striking elements of her analysis centers on a quote from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass: “I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person.” Featured in the novel, this line becomes, as Capt. Layng argues, a central lens through which to understand the book’s purpose—an effort to “become the wounded person” and offer an empathetic reimagining of historical narratives.

She also highlights the contrast between my two protagonists—Waabi, an Ojibwe boy from Madeline Island, and Samuel, a settler-colonialist from Vermont. As she writes, this juxtaposition “presents a clear delineation between white and Native experiences while also blurring the lines that keep humanity from seeing themselves in one another,” ultimately guiding readers toward deeper empathy. She notes how scenes in Waabi and Samuel’s lives intentionally diverge in ways that, as she puts it, serve as a deliberate “authorial move” to foster understanding in the reader.

Ultimately, Capt. Layng articulates the core question that I hoped would resonate through the novel. Reflecting on the contrast between nature’s beauty and the brutality of war, she writes, “It wasn’t meant to be this way… and perhaps even still it doesn’t have to be.” She concludes with a poignant observation: “Along with the heartbeat question pulsing throughout the novel, these scenes of war, destruction, and death held up against the beauty and vitality of nature appear also to ask, ‘what if?’”

I’m deeply grateful for Capt. Layng’s thoughtful reading and interpretation. You can read her full review of Reclaiming Mni Sota in Volume 36 of War, Literature & the Arts.

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What if Minnesota was Mni Sota Makoce, a Native held and governed land?

A creative re-imagining of the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862, Reclaiming Mni Sota is an eye-opening portrayal of one of America’s most tragic, regrettable events. Told through dual narratives from each side of the conflict, Reclaiming Mni Sota confronts America’s history of settler-colonialism while illuminating the personal stories and heartrending choices that men and women, white and Native, were forced to make. Based on real events told through descriptive detail and fully developed characters, Reclaiming Mni Sota reveals the truth of our history while connecting it to the present and asking readers to question how things could have been different.