Reclaiming Mni Sota

“Reclaiming Mni Sota is a well-researched and impassioned tale of an unlikely friendship between two men: Waabi, an Ojibwe destined to reclaim his people’s land, and Samuel, a white farmer from the infant United States seeking a better life on the frontier. A painful, heart-wrenching, yet triumphant read, this is an alternate history in which Mustful paints the ending this country needed, and the Native population deserved.”

– Lindsey S. Fera, Historical Fiction Author

“With a historian’s eye for detail and a novelist’s empathy for individuals, this wonderful novel suggests an alternative ending to the 1862 war, one that inspires contemplation about what could have happened and what did.”

– Linda Ulleseit, author of The River Remembers

“What if the Ojibwa and Dakota conquered old rivalries to fight the U.S soldiers during the 1862 U.S-Dakota War? Many believe their combined forces would have pushed the whites out of Minnesota and changed history forever. Colin Mustful's Reclaiming Mni Sota is an imaginative and intriguing story of what might have happened if this alliance had been made. Reclaiming Mni Sota may give an alternative account of this tragic episode of Minnesota history, but it also leaves the reader pondering race relationships today. It kept me reading to the very last page.”

– Candace Simar, Author of the Spur-Award winning Abercrombie Trail Series

"Mustful brings one of the most tragic events in Minnesota's history to life in this carefully researched book."

– Stephen E. Yoch, author of Becoming George Washington

“As an author and educator, one of my favorite things to do is pose the question “What if?” In Colin Mustful’s novel Reclaiming Mni Sota, he poses this question about the Dakota War of 1862. The answer? A compelling re-imagining of history that is accessible to the reader while also creating empathetic characters from both perspectives of the war.

Beginning with two young men who are learning from their elders how to exist in the world they were born into, Mustful’s deft hand at exposition brings us closer and closer to the penultimate moment with a growing sense of dread. When the historical events diverge into an alternate timeline, I found myself reflecting on the real timeline and questioning the “inevitability” of Manifest Destiny when the choices of two characters had the power to shape Minnesota into something much different.”

– Jason Lee Willis, Author and Educator

Simply stated, "Reclaiming Mni Sota: An Alternate History of the U.S. - Dakota War of 1862" is an inherently fascinating read from first page to last. One of those unusual novels that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader long after the book has been finished and set back upon the shelf, "Reclaiming Mni Sota" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to community and academic library Historical Fiction, Native American Fiction, and Literary Fiction collections.

–Midwest Book Review