Sun Dancer: A Novel

Sun Dancer: A Novel by London, David. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780684814582.

Clem Blue Chest - a man long broken by the senseless death of his daughter and by the alcohol that dulls his grief - is uplifted by a vision he receives on a highway one night in the summer of 1990. Embarking on a grueling quest for more vision, and guided by what is revealed to him in an unusual sun dance, Clem leads his reservation neighbors to regain their most sacred ground, the Black Hills of South Dakota. But federal agents oppose him at each step, and a militant faction of tribesmen seeks to co-opt part of the vision, hijack his following, and use grossly different means. Nevertheless, Clem pushes on into the lush and sacred territory once guaranteed in perpetuity to his people. Fast-moving and filled with wakan (the power-mystery-wonder), which pervades the Lakota world, Sun Dancer evokes the lives of many people on and off the reservation. Among them are Clems strong and resilient wife, Linda, who guards the old values and ways; Clems cynical half brother Joey Moves Camp, who fought in Vietnam and who is torn between the white world and the reservation, and between belief and disbelief; Joeys free-spirited white girlfriend, Frannie; her rancher father, who seeks revenge with ruthless overkill; Quinn Bacon, a Jesuit-turned-militant who wants to help bring back the ancient warrior society of the Kit Foxes; and Bear Dreamer Bordeaux, the holy man who helps Clem on his quest for a vision.