Big Chief
Mitch Caddo, a young law school graduate and aspiring political fixer, is an outsider in the homeland of his Anishinaabe ancestors. But alongside his childhood friend, Tribal President Mack Beck, he runs the government of the Passage Rouge Nation, and with it, the tribe’s Golden Eagle Casino and Hotel. On the eve of Mack’s reelection, their tenuous grip on power is threatened by a nationally known activist and politician, Gloria Hawkins, and her young aide, Layla Beck, none other than Mack’s estranged sister and Mitch’s former love. In their struggle for control over Passage Rouge, the campaigns resort to bare-knuckle political gamesmanship, testing the limits of how far they will go—and what they will sacrifice—to win it all.
But when an accident claims the life of Mitch’s mentor, a power broker in the reservation’s political scene, the election slides into chaos and pits Mitch against the only family he has. As relationships strain to their breaking points and a peaceful protest threatens to become an all-consuming riot, Mitch and Layla must work together to stop the reservation’s descent into violence.
Thrilling and timely, Big Chief is an unforgettable story about the search for belonging—to an ancestral and spiritual home, to a family, and to a sovereign people at a moment of great historical importance.
Advance Praise for Big Chief:
“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, author of Hard Girls and Buzz Kill
"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, New York Times bestselling author of Counterfeit
"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, nationally bestselling author of The Storm We Made
“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, author of Bodega Dreams
“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, author of The Ninth Metal, Thrill Me, Red Moon, and Refresh, Refresh
“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, author of National Book Award finalist Where the Dead Sit Talking
"Deliciously ruthless and absolutely huge, Big Chief unleashes the Shakespearean realities of Passage Rouge with seismic ambition and brilliance. A colossal novel of and for our time."—Cody Caetano, author of Half-Bads in White Regalia
"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, author of Giller prize shortlisted Prairie Edge
There, There meets The Night Watchman in this gripping literary debut about power and corruption, family, and facing the ghosts of the past.
About the author
Jon Hickey is a writer from Minnesota. He earned an MFA from Cornell University and was a Stegner Fellow in fiction at Stanford University. His short stories have appeared in numerous journals such as Virginia Quarterly Review, Gulf Coast, and the Massachusetts Review, among other places.
He is a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Chippewa Indians (Anishinaabe). He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two sons.
Contact Me
Literary Agent: Michelle Brower at Trellis Literary Management mbrower@trellisliterary.com
Publicity: Maggie Southard Gladstone, Simon & Schuster
Film/TV Rights: Jason Richman, United Talent Agency
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