Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World

“I wish everyone in western Montana would read this book. It presents an honest and respectful view of Séliš history.”—Johnny Arlee, Salish elder and spiritual leader

“Here is a history of the American West as seen in the intertwined lives of a Jesuit missionary and a Salish chief. Sally Thompson presents an intimate, blow-by-blow description of the transformation of the lives and lands of the Salish people in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley from the 1830s through the turn of the century. It is a story of prophecies gone wrong, good intentions gone bad, and the clash of spiritual beliefs and values. Readers will be captivated by this epic, tragic story and its final message of endurance, survival, and hope.”—Annick Smith, author of Homestead and Crossing the Plains with Bruno

“Sally Thompson has put together an outstanding historical narrative that reveals diligent research and surprising discoveries through imaginative storytelling. The organizational device of employing the two stellar lives of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet and Chief Charlo of the Flathead Nation, opens a rich archival vein of documents, both oral and written. The result of their shared transitional experiences makes for insightful reading.”—William E. Farr, author of Blackfoot Redemption: A Blood Indian’s Story of Murder, Confinement, and Imperfect Justice

“Sally Thompson has an almost supernatural ability to move between the white (Euro-American) and Native worlds with ease, understanding, and empathy. She uses that remarkable talent, along with original Jesuit journals and deep knowledge of Native tradition, to bring new understanding to the American West. Unlike so many portrayals, this West is not a world of good guys and bad guys, but one of complex interactions over many years between different worlds. One of the most distant and last Native nations to face an influx of whites, the Bitterroot Salish and their story, as rendered by Thompson, offer a vivid and emblematic journey through the tremendous cultural shifts that occurred on this continent. Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World is essential reading to understand the American West.”—Peter Stark, author of Gallop Toward the Sun: Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison’s Struggle for the Destiny of a Nation

“As a result of a long Montana residence appreciating the Native peoples—plus much wholly-new research—veteran anthropologist Sally Thompson has written a book no one else has been able to write. A dual biography of Bitterroot Salish leader Charlo and Jesuit missionary/colonizer Pierre-Jean De Smet, Black Robes Enter Coyote’s World lays out two competing ways of seeing the same Earth—one nested in the ancient continent, the other transplanted and utterly certain of its correctness. The result is a great story, beautifully told, with more than a touch of pathos.”—Dan Flores, New York Times best-selling author of Coyote America and Wild New World