Crow Mary

Crow Mary is a historical novel by Canadian author Kathleen Grissom that was published in 2023. Grissom traces the life story of Goes First, or Crow Mary, a real-life Indigenous woman of the Crow (Apsáalooke) nation who lived in 19th-century North America. Through her story, Grissom focuses on the Colonial Trauma and Indigenous Survival, The Resilience of Indigenous Women, and Cultural Conflict and Cross-Cultural Understanding. Grissom is a New York Times best-selling author known for her historical novels exploring the history of North America.

This guide refers to the 2023 e-book edition published by Atria Books.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss racism, colonialism and colonial violence, sexual assault, alcohol addiction, death of an infant, and death of a loved one. The text contains offensive terminology against Indigenous people, which this guide reproduces only in quotations.

Plot Summary

In the Prologue, Crow Mary pours strychnine into a whiskey bottle, preparing to kill a man. The narrative then returns to Crow Mary’s childhood and unfolds chronologically. Crow Mary grows up as Goes First with her family in a village of the Crow tribe. When Goes First is a young girl, her grandmother is killed during a battle with neighboring tribes. This loss is painful and traumatic for Goes First, who shared a strong connection with her grandmother. When her grandmother’s brother, Red Fox, returns to the family, he becomes Goes First’s teacher and guide. Goes First desires to be brave like a warrior. Red Fox helps her develop her horse and gun skills, teaching her that bravery is not fearlessness but defiance of fear. Goes First becomes a strong young woman and falls in love with Big Cloud, a young Crow warrior. When Big Cloud dies during a buffalo hunt, Goes First falls into grief. However, she sees Big Cloud in a vision offering her a white dog that will bring her a new life.

Goes First meets Abe Farwell, a white fur trader who seeks an Indigenous wife to help him with his trading post in Cypress Hills. Impressed with Goes First’s strength, Farwell proposes to her. Goes First is suspicious of Farwell’s motives, but when Farwell gives her a white dog as a gift, she believes that it is a sign from Big Cloud. Despite her doubts, she agrees to marry him to overcome her grief.

Goes First feels alienated in her new life with Farwell. She travels to Fort Benton to marry him, and during the ceremony, she is forced to change her name to Mary. Despite this, she continues to affirm her Crow identity. As the couple travels toward Cypress Hills, they spend time close to a Métis village where Goes First meets Jeannie, a young Métis woman who becomes her lifelong friend. Jeannie helps Goes First adapt to her new life, sharing her own experiences and teaching her English. The Métis give Goes First the name “Crow Mary,” which she adopts as a reaffirmation of her identity. As Crow Mary, she sees that her husband is kind, and the two gradually fall in love. Crow Mary also meets Sam Stiller, a wolfer and an old friend of Farwell’s who offers her alcohol and sexually harasses her using racist slurs. Farwell feels connected to Stiller because he saved his life during the Civil War. Crow Mary learns that Farwell illegally trades whiskey to Indigenous tribes, and this information deepens her doubts about his character. Farwell confesses his past alcohol addiction and assures his wife that he is sober.

Farwell’s trading post is built close to Solomon’s fort, which employs whiskey traders and wolfers. The couple settles, but Crow Mary continues to feel alienated from white society, and the wolfers’ presence disturbs her. She supports her husband in trading, but when her dog is killed by wolfers, she is enraged and has a bad premonition.

A group of Nakoda people suffering from cold and starvation arrive at the post. Farwell shelters them, and Crow Mary forms a bond with the women. Days later, a group of wolfers accuses the Nakoda of horse stealing. Farwell defends the Nakoda, but conflict soon escalates. The wolfers' altercation with the Nakoda culminates in a massacre. Crow Mary witnesses the events and sees the wolfers abducting the women. She decides to go to Solomon’s fort, where she sees the wolfers, Stiller included, sexually abusing the Nakoda women. Crow Mary hits Stiller with a gun and saves them.

Farwell decides to pursue justice for the Nakoda massacre through the courts with the help of the mounted police in Canada. His decision isolates him from the community of traders, who call him a traitor for testifying against his friends. Two trials take place, but the court acquits the defendants and ignores Crow Mary’s testimony on the sexual assault of the Nakoda women. In the meantime, Crow Mary also gives birth to three children, whom Farwell names Susie, Bud, and Ella despite Crow Mary’s desire to give them Crow names. After the trials, Farwell befriends Stiller again and gradually relapses into alcohol addiction.

Red Fox sends a letter informing Crow Mary of the new Crow reservation and inviting her family to settle with the tribe. Farwell sees this as a new start and dreams of building a ranch. Upon their return, Crow Mary realizes that things have changed. The government pressures the Crow to become farmers, abandon their traditions, and send their children to residential schools, where they are pressured to adopt white cultural practices. Farwell works hard to build a ranch, but his alcohol addiction escalates, distancing him from his family. He clashes with Red Fox and Crow Mary’s brother, Strong Bull, suggesting that assimilation into white society is their only way to survive. Red Fox spends time with Crow Mary’s children and teaches them traditional storytelling.

Stiller reappears as a new agent interacting with Indigenous people on behalf of the US government and convinces Farwell to send the children to residential school. Farwell arranges their relocation in secret, and Stiller abducts the two children. Crow Mary leads a separate life from Farwell and finds comfort in her third daughter. Stiller appears to threaten Crow Mary, suggesting that Farwell is dying and asking her to live with him, implying that if she refuses to do so, her children will be taken away permanently. After Farwell’s death from alcohol addiction, Crow Mary plans to poison Stiller. Days later, Red Fox visits her and says that he has killed Stiller.

Crow Mary remains at Farwell’s ranch, waiting for her children. One day, Bud returns, having escaped from school. He narrates his experiences and says that Susie will study to be a nurse. The children never forgot their Indigenous identity. After the boundaries of the reservation change, Crow Mary sells Farwell’s ranch and demands new land for her family at the Crow agency. Crow Mary settles close to her family and community, completing her homecoming journey.