Mitch Caddo started out with the best of intentions—after his mother’s sudden death in a car crash, he finished law school and returned to Passage Rouge, the reservation where she grew up. Though an outsider to the tribe himself, he sought to help his new community by representing disadvantaged families in tribal court. But that was before--before he got sucked into the world of Mack Plum, his charismatic childhood friend. Before Mack ran and won the race for Tribal President as an underdog populist. Before he and Mitch became the people who would do anything to keep Mack at the head of the tribal council. And before he came face to face once again with his teenage flame Layla Plum, none other than Mack’s sister, who had returned to Passage Rouge for her own reasons.
Now on the eve of Passage Rouge’s next tribal election, Mitch finds himself torn between two rivals: he’s unsettled by Mack’s abuses of power and his own complicity in them, but he doesn’t quite trust Gloria Hawkins, Mack’s opponent--a nationally known activist and politician who has Layla running her campaign. When an accident claims the life of a central figure in the reservation’s complicated political landscape, the election descends into chaos, and Mitch and Layla find themselves trying to stop the tribe’s slide towards all-out violence while doing their best to correct the wrongs of the past.
Big Chief tells a story about the search for belonging, not just as an individual, but as a sovereign people at a moment of great historical importance.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Now on the eve of Passage Rouge’s next tribal election, Mitch finds himself torn between two rivals: he’s unsettled by Mack’s abuses of power and his own complicity in them, but he doesn’t quite trust Gloria Hawkins, Mack’s opponent--a nationally known activist and politician who has Layla running her campaign. When an accident claims the life of a central figure in the reservation’s complicated political landscape, the election descends into chaos, and Mitch and Layla find themselves trying to stop the tribe’s slide towards all-out violence while doing their best to correct the wrongs of the past.
Big Chief tells a story about the search for belonging, not just as an individual, but as a sovereign people at a moment of great historical importance.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Big Chief is an explosive exploration of power and its corrupting effect. Jon Hickey takes us on a feverish journey in the days leading up to a hotly contested tribal election, where loyalties are being sharply tested, and the lines between right and wrong have become blurred. I found myself holding my breath as I turned the page -- as the characters struggled to figure out how to be on the right side of history. This book is an astounding achievement." - Vanessa Chan
"Taut, timely, and brimming with suspense, Big Chief questions our notions of power and morality, holding a mirror to our crooked, calculating world. This is a monumental debut." - Kirstin Chen
"A compelling and strong Native American novel about politics and power and how far some people will go to hold on to what they have." - Brandon Hobson
"A must read, Hickey brings us into the chaos and catastrophes that the colonial imposed electoral system creates in Indigenous communities but also shows the reader how community, a sense of belonging, and family is what really matters in the end." - Conor Kerr
"Big Chief is a marvel: unflinching yet nuanced, this story about power and politics on a reservation in Wisconsin shows the potential for corruption, and courage, in all of us. Hickey writes with precision and elegance, exploring what it means to belong to a family, a community, and a history. A family saga as well as a political drama, this book is a propulsive inquiry into how personal and cultural identity can be created and erased." - Gwen E Kirby
"All politics is local meets all unhappy families in this comical, humane, and profound debut - a deftly observed meditation on what it means to be a brother, a son, a leader, and a man. Jon Hickey is a newly minted master of slapstick American misery, and Big Chief a big-hearted book, a big mood for the big mess we're all in." - J Robert Lennon
"Big Chief is explosive. It's a political novel in the best way possible: the way Rachel Kushner's Telex from Cuba or Mavis Gallant's Paris Notebooks are. Hickey's novel shows us what unease in a particular body politic looks like, what it feels like." - George McCormick
"Big Chief features all the twisty chessmanship - the familial feuds, the financial games, the political maneuvering - of Succession and sets it against the backdrop of Indian country. Jon Hickey has written one hell of an addictive and important debut novel." - Benjamin Percy
"An instant American classic! Out of the dark fields of the republic, Mitch Caddo rises to great heights, only to lose his soul in the process. But like all great American novels, there is hope--in the end, there is always hope. Jon Hickey locks arms with Alexie, Silko, Orange, Erdrich and others who are taking back a landscape that was once all theirs." - Ernesto Quiñonez
"We've been waiting for the great Native American political novel, and here it is - a gripping story that illustrates the intricacies and intrigues of reservation politics. The book examines Native sovereignty, power, and corruption at the fictional Passage Rouge Nation, as well as issues of Indigenous community, family, and identity. Not to mention, Jon Hickey creates fantastically compelling characters and weaves in a healthy dose of Native humor. A tremendous debut." - David Heska Wanbli Weiden
"Big Chief is bursting with tribal politics, old family entanglements, and is simply put, one hell of a story. For fans of Erdrich, you can't go wrong." - Erika T Wurth
"Taut, timely, and brimming with suspense, Big Chief questions our notions of power and morality, holding a mirror to our crooked, calculating world. This is a monumental debut." - Kirstin Chen
"A compelling and strong Native American novel about politics and power and how far some people will go to hold on to what they have." - Brandon Hobson
"A must read, Hickey brings us into the chaos and catastrophes that the colonial imposed electoral system creates in Indigenous communities but also shows the reader how community, a sense of belonging, and family is what really matters in the end." - Conor Kerr
"Big Chief is a marvel: unflinching yet nuanced, this story about power and politics on a reservation in Wisconsin shows the potential for corruption, and courage, in all of us. Hickey writes with precision and elegance, exploring what it means to belong to a family, a community, and a history. A family saga as well as a political drama, this book is a propulsive inquiry into how personal and cultural identity can be created and erased." - Gwen E Kirby
"All politics is local meets all unhappy families in this comical, humane, and profound debut - a deftly observed meditation on what it means to be a brother, a son, a leader, and a man. Jon Hickey is a newly minted master of slapstick American misery, and Big Chief a big-hearted book, a big mood for the big mess we're all in." - J Robert Lennon
"Big Chief is explosive. It's a political novel in the best way possible: the way Rachel Kushner's Telex from Cuba or Mavis Gallant's Paris Notebooks are. Hickey's novel shows us what unease in a particular body politic looks like, what it feels like." - George McCormick
"Big Chief features all the twisty chessmanship - the familial feuds, the financial games, the political maneuvering - of Succession and sets it against the backdrop of Indian country. Jon Hickey has written one hell of an addictive and important debut novel." - Benjamin Percy
"An instant American classic! Out of the dark fields of the republic, Mitch Caddo rises to great heights, only to lose his soul in the process. But like all great American novels, there is hope--in the end, there is always hope. Jon Hickey locks arms with Alexie, Silko, Orange, Erdrich and others who are taking back a landscape that was once all theirs." - Ernesto Quiñonez
"We've been waiting for the great Native American political novel, and here it is - a gripping story that illustrates the intricacies and intrigues of reservation politics. The book examines Native sovereignty, power, and corruption at the fictional Passage Rouge Nation, as well as issues of Indigenous community, family, and identity. Not to mention, Jon Hickey creates fantastically compelling characters and weaves in a healthy dose of Native humor. A tremendous debut." - David Heska Wanbli Weiden
"Big Chief is bursting with tribal politics, old family entanglements, and is simply put, one hell of a story. For fans of Erdrich, you can't go wrong." - Erika T Wurth
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