Five Little Indians Kootenai Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield

Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil

From nightmarish visions of the Spanish that preceded their arrival to the subsequent return of the Spanish and their continuing effects on the Pueblo people

“Erdrich spins a powerful

religious freedom

Five Little Indians Kootenai Opal Viola Victoria Bear ShieldTaken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention. Alone and without any skills, support or families, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver, where they cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world