Knife River is a captivating debut that centers around a pair of sisters, Jess and Liz, who are anguished over their mother's unsolved disappearance. While one of them (Jess) has taken to running from the tragedy, living a nomadic existence as she skips from city to city, girlfriend to girlfriend, the other (Liz), has remained behind in their hometown, cloistered in their old family home and pouring over missing persons cases.

Fifteen years have lapsed when the call they've been waiting for yet dreading comes through: their mother's remains have been discovered.

This sends Jess back to Knife River in the hopes of finally finding closure. Of having an answer. However, with their mother's bones having been exposed to the elements for so long, any evidence they had hoped to find has run cold, with leads running stale and old suspects haunting them like a specter, leaving them with more questions than ever.

This was more of an atmospheric, character-driven exploration of grief than it was a cold case thriller, but I found that was what gave the story resonance and poignancy. Because of that, the strokes of the plot are more introspective in nature, with more internal rather than external movement happening. It's less about solving the case than it is about readers gaining insight into how this profound trauma has equally, but diametrically, frozen Jess and Liz and time. They're both stuck. Stagnated. Up to their chins in sorrow, and fear, and puzzlement--with neither one of them knowing how to move on.

The story's main strength was demonstrating how the two sisters were tethered by this tragic event. I liked seeing their enduring bond, also the way love and hurt and mystery twisted how they each coped with the loss of their mother. I did think Jess's romantic entanglements left something to be desired, though. They felt disjointed, distracting at times, leaving me feeling unmoored and uninterested. That said, I did think this was an intimate and harrowing portrayal of grief.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for my review.

3/5 stars

Hidatsa Women & Earthlodges of the Upper Missouri River Valley

In traditional Hidatsa society, women constructed, owned, and maintained the earthlodge, or awadi. The women gathered building material during the year, when the snow that covered the Northern Plains made it easier to transport heavy loads. Together, women of a clan constructed the earthlodge, supervised by an older woman who possessed sacred and practical knowledge of earthlodge construction.

They began by placing four cottonwood posts, strengthened with a circular framework of logs, willow branches, dried grass, and sod. The elaborate structure could be built in just 6-10 days and was home to between ten and twenty people, often sisters and their families with several generations.  There were over 100 earthlodges in Big Hidatsa Village, which was established around 1600 and abandoned in 1845.

Note the travois trails in the upper left that led away from the Hidatsa Village (NPS Photo).

Today, shallow depressions remain in the ground to mark the sites of these earthlodges, assisting the imagination in envisioning the layout, size, and development of these former communities. The earthlodge at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site is a powerful interpretive tool for visitors, and a garden and drying racks are reminders of the agricultural practices developed by Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara on the Northern Plains. 

The earthlodge at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site is 40 feet across. The frame of timbers around the circular structure supports the earth and grass on top in a mound shape. The doorway is formed by two rows of vertical logs with logs and earth on top (NPS Photo).

Aspects of the matriarchal order, clan systems, and connection to the landscape persist in contemporary Hidatsa society. The voices of Hidatsa women today are vital to understanding the history of the landscape. 

Special thank you to Alisha Deegan (Hidatsa/Sahnish), Interpretation and Cultural Resources Program Manager at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, for sharing the story with us.

Learn more and plan your visit: 

Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site website

Video: The People (Mandan/Hidatsa flute player and storyteller Keith Bear uses music and story to bring to life the culture of the Upper Missouri)

NPS Cultural Landscapes

Embracing an opportunity to allow myself to be vulnerable and visible, I’d like to introduce you all to a project I’m working on called Knife River.  This documentary is the brainchild of @h-8-c-designandfilm aka my husband’s incredible fondness for ‘going up north’ (as we Minnesotans put it), born from a random happenstance which occurred when he walked into what he thought was a smoked fish shop but was actually a candy store.

The project has grown exponentially from when it was initially started and now we’ve found ourselves in a position of needing more resources than we can cover out of pocket in order to do this documentary justice.  We launched a Kickstarter campaign three weeks ago and have been completely overwhelmed and stand in gratitude for the astounding amount of support we’ve received.  We’ve reached our initial goal and are well on our way to our second (yes, SECOND) stretch goal, but the more funds we receive, the more time and energy we can pour into this passion project of ours.

We are nearing the finish line for the Kickstarter, but the real work is just beginning.  Please consider supporting us in any way possible! Every dollar helps, but a reblog or a like on Facebook can be invaluable too.

North Shore hardcore

look at the second to last pic btw

This was a “would you like to read” from Random House and the description was intriguing enough that I had to say yes. And while it was a mystery (it begins with the discovery of a skull), it is so much more than that. It is also about how differently people handle tragedy and grief and not just the sisters, Liz and Jess whose lives are completely upended when their mother disappears after going…