Lake County Gazette

Mary’s Pick of the Week: Big Chief by Jon Hickey

The Passage Rouge Nation of Lake Superior Anishinaabe in Wisconsin serves as a microcosm of small-town politics with the added complexities of being a sovereign nation. “What happens when the rez dog finally catches up with the car” is a question our main character, Mitch, asks himself multiple times throughout Jon Hickey’s Big Chief.

The novel features riots, family drama, a hint of romance, and abundant political intrigue. Mitch Caddo is a political fixer for his friend, Mack Beck. The title works on multiple levels; when we meet Mack, he’s stepping out of a massive bulletproof pickup truck named "Big Chief." The title also hints at questions of identity.

Mitch has lived away from the reservation while earning his law degree and now struggles to find his place in supporting the nation. Complicating matters is Layla Beck—Mitch’s childhood friend and former love interest. Layla works for Gloria Hawkins, who is running against Mack in the upcoming election for Tribal President. Both Layla and Mack were raised by a well-meaning white family, adding another layer of complexity to their relationships.

While Mitch has hardened himself against past trauma, he remains haunted by the ghosts of both his mother and adoptive father, Joe. In one passage, Mitch reflects on this while being gently lectured by an elder:

“The voice of self-reproach sounds an awful lot like her voice. Sometimes it feels like I can’t miss her because her spirit lost in the woods follows me everywhere I go giving me that kind of motherly love that tells me that I’m doing something wrong that I’ve lost my way like she has that I’m just as much of a ghost as she is Or I might as well be ”

Hickey’s writing shows promise; he manages to pack much into the book with skill. However, there are some stylistic quirks such as overuse of certain words like “ursine” to describe Mack.