All I See Is Violence
A Novel
Available Now
A woman warrior, a ruthless general, and a single mother—three stories deftly braided into the legacy of a stolen nation
An Indigenous woman has penned an award-winning, critically-acclaimed, thought-provoking book, All I See Is Violence (Greenleaf Book Group Press) that has captured the attention of a lot of people. Several viral posts on Tik Tok about her historical novel have been viewed millions of times and on Instagram, hundreds of thousands. Author Angie Elita Newell has written an intense, poignant, action-packed dramatization of history that leaves readers seeing Indigenous people and history forever differently.
The United States government stole the Black Hills from the Sioux, as it stole land from every tribe across North America. Forcibly relocated, American Indians were enslaved under strict land and resource regulations. Newell brings a poignant retelling of the catastrophic, true story of the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn and the social upheaval that occurred on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1972 during the height of the American Indian Movement.
Cheyenne warrior Little Wolf fights to maintain her people’s land and heritage as General Custer leads a devastating campaign against American Indians, killing anyone who refuses to relocate to the Red Cloud Agency in South Dakota. A century later, on that same reservation, Little Wolf’s relation Nancy Swiftfox raises four boys with the help of her father-in-law, while facing the economic and social ramifications of this violent legacy.
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“The greatest act of rebellion is remembering our heritage and honoring what my ancestors endured,” says Newell. “I am proud that I have not joined the fate of so many Indigenous people of North America who suffer from poverty, addiction, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and incarceration – an epidemic that is the lasting result of colonialism”.
All I See Is Violence weaves love, loss, and hard truths into a story that needs to be told―a journey through violence to bear witness to all that was taken, to honor what all of our ancestors lived through, and to heal by acknowledging the shadows in order to find the light.
“A people’s identity has been structured around falsities that suited a narrative that needed that false version of us actualized, so they could strip us of everything,” asserts Newell, “including our rights to language, spiritual practice and lands. I've spent the past two decades studying these errors, uncovering the outright lies and have chosen fiction as a medium to bring forth the truth, honoring my ancestors and making our cultural truths accessible to all. This is no longer merely an Indigenous story, but this is now everyone’s story. The wisdom of my ancestors is needed now more than ever. My novel, All I See is Violence, is an initiation onto the path of what my ancestors would have called the warrior, and within our cultural context of this era we call it the path of the hero, better known as the hero's journey.”
In an interview, Newell will explore the following:
How we should come to look at the Battle of Little Bighorn on its 150th anniversary.
What we need to understand about the multi-generational, lasting catastrophic impact of war – on both the Indian community and society at large.
The socio-economic and cultural chaos Indians still face today.
Why Indigenous history and a people’s identity have been structured around falsehoods.
What she learned about tribal military history – including the impact of female warriors fighting against the US Army --while conducting extensive research for her book.
Why her book sheds light on the social upheaval that happened a century later, in 1972, on the Pine Rider Reservation, during the height of the American Indian Movement.
Whether there should be reparations to the Indigenous people whose relatives had their land stolen by the United States government.
What her family has suffered and endured over the last few decades because of horrific Canadian government policies toward Indians --and because of prejudice and hate.
How, through the telling of stories and myths, we can still connect on a humanistic level.