Sign-In
Cart
A Nation Without Reservation: The Nations of the Plains Series -book 1
Paperback
Series: The Nations of the Plains, Book 1
Publisher: Alan Maas
Published: Mar 16 2026
Pages: 148
Weight: 0.46
Height: 0.34 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Book One of The Nations of the Plains
What if the nations of the Plains had united-and forced the United States to recognize their sovereignty?
In the years following the American Civil War, the future of the frontier seems inevitable. Railroads push west, forts rise along the great rivers, and Washington assumes the Plains will soon fall under its control.
But the Plains are watching.
Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and southern tribes begin to move not as scattered bands, but as a coordinated people determined to defend the land that sustains them. Guided by leaders remembered by history-Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and others whose names rarely reached the halls of power-they study the tactics of the United States Army and turn them against it.
Forts fall. Telegraph lines fail. Railroads hesitate.
For the first time, the government in Washington must confront a possibility it never imagined:
The Plains cannot be conquered.
As alliances deepen and battles reshape the frontier, the leaders of the Plains attempt something few nations in history have achieved-turning resistance into sovereignty.
A Nation Without Reservation is a sweeping work of historical fiction that reimagines the American West and asks a powerful question:
What if the frontier did not belong to the United States?
What if the nations of the Plains built a country of their own?
This book imagines an alternate history in which the nations of the Plains unite and negotiate sovereignty after the conflicts of the 1870s. Many of the figures portrayed here-Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, Quanah Parker, and Ulysses S. Grant-were real leaders whose lives shaped the history of North America.While the events in this book are fictionalized, the cultures, landscapes, and conflicts of the Plains are grounded in historical record. The struggles over land, sovereignty, survival, and identity were real, and their consequences continue to shape the lives of Indigenous nations today.
The idea at the heart of this story is simple but powerful: history is not inevitable. At certain moments, the decisions of leaders, the unity of nations, or the outcome of a single battle can alter the course of generations. The victory at the Battle of the Greasy Grass-known in U.S. history as the Battle of the Little Bighorn-was one such moment.
In reality, the years that followed brought increasing pressure from the United States government, the loss of land, and the confinement of Plains peoples to reservations. In this novel, however, I explore another possibility: what might have happened if the nations of the Plains had found a way to stand together long enough to secure recognition as a sovereign confederation.
This story is not meant to replace history, but to invite readers to reconsider it-to imagine how different the world might look if Indigenous nations had been allowed to determine their own future.
The Plains were never empty land.
They were home to nations.
Also from
Maas, Alan
Also in
Native American History
Born of Lakes and Plains: Mixed-Descent Peoples and the Making of the American West
Hyde, Anne F.
Hardcover
The American Indian Mind in a Linear World: American Indian Studies and Traditional Knowledge
Fixico, Donald Lee
Paperback
An Enemy Such as This: Larry Casuse and the Fight for Native Liberation in One Family on Two Continents Over Three Centuries
Correia, David
Hardcover
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paperback
Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America
Donnelly, Kristin
Sherman, Sean
Nelson, Kate
Hardcover
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Hardcover
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
Gwynne, S. C.
Paperback
The Lost Cities of El Norte: Coronado's Quest, the Unconquered West, and the Birth of American Indian Resistance
Stark, Peter
Hardcover
The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life
Cordalis, Amy Bowers
Hardcover
Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future
Krawec, Patty
Paperback
The Undiscovered Country: Triumph, Tragedy, and the Shaping of the American West
Hutton, Paul Andrew
Hardcover
La El Arte de Ensonar (Harperlibros) = The Art of Dreaming (Harperlibros) = The Art of Dreaming
Castaneda, Carlos
Paperback
The Sacred Pipe: Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux Volume 36
Brown, Joseph Epes
Black Elk
Paperback
What the Ancestors Say: One Journalist's Intimate Investigation into Indian Boarding Schools
Nadeau, Sierra Biidaaban
Hardcover
First Nations Version: An Indigenous Bible Translation of the New Testament
Wildman, Terry M.
Paperback
Ojibwe Sky Star Map - Constellation Guidebook: An Introduction to Ojibwe Star Knowledge
Gawboy, Carl
Lee, Annette Sharon
Wilson, William Peter
Paperback
Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask: Anishinaabe Botanical Teachings
Geniusz, Mary Siisip
Paperback
Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
Pember, Mary Annette
Paperback
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States: A Graphic Interpretation
Peart-Smith, Paul
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Hardcover
Restoring the Kinship Worldview: Indigenous Voices Introduce 28 Precepts for Rebalancing Life on Planet Earth
Topa (Four Arrows), Wahinkpe
Narvaez, Darcia, PhD
Paperback
Puerto Rico: Historia de Una Nación / Puerto Rico: A National History
Meléndez-Badillo, Jorell
Paperback
Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future
Krawec, Patty
Hardcover
As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance
Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake
Paperback
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (10th Anniversary Edition)
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Hardcover
Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources
Anderson, M. Kat
Paperback
Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask: Revised and Expanded
Treuer, Anton
Paperback
Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools
Pember, Mary Annette
Hardcover
First Adirondackers: 12,000 Years of Indigenous Peoples in the Adirondack Uplands
Fadden, David Kanietakeron
Stager, Curt
Paperback
As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock
Gilio-Whitaker, Dina
Paperback
The Four Agreements Companion Book: Using the Four Agreements to Master the Dream of Your Life
Mills, Janet
Ruiz, Don Miguel
Paperback
Dakota/Lakota Star Map Constellation Guidebook: An Introduction to D(L)akota Star Knowledge
Rock, Jim
O'Rourke, Charlene
Lee, Annette Sharon
Paperback
The Serpent Mound, Adams County, Ohio (Facsimile Reprint)
Randall, Emilius Oviatt
Randall, E. O.
Paperback
Nothing More of This Land: Community, Power, and the Search for Indigenous Identity
Lee, Joseph
Paperback
Popol Vuh: The Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of
Tedlock, Dennis
Paperback
The Soul Would Have No Rainbow If the Eyes Had No Tears and Other Native American Proverbs
Zona, Guy
Paperback
The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, an American Legend
Clavin, Tom
Drury, Bob
Paperback
House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest
Childs, Craig
Paperback
The Girl Who Sang to the Buffalo: A Child, an Elder, and the Light from an Ancient Sky
Nerburn, Kent
Paperback
Heart of American Darkness: A Story of Murder and Revolution on the Early Frontier
Parkinson, Robert G.
Paperback
In Light and Shadow: A Photographic History from Indigenous America
Stacke, Sarah
Adams, Brian
Hardcover
A Story Waiting to Pierce You: Mongolia, Tibet and the Destiny of the Western World
Kingsley, Peter
Paperback
An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873
Madley, Benjamin
Paperback
The Central Fire of the Iroquois: A Five-Hundred-Year History of the Onondaga Nation
Oberg, Michael Leroy
Hardcover
Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery
Rah, Soong-Chan
Charles, Mark
Paperback
Unsettling Territory: The Resurgence of the Oneida Nation in the Face of Settler Backlash
Kiel, Douglas Metoxen
Hardcover
Native American History: Accurate & Comprehensive History, Origins, Culture, Tribes, Legends, Mythology, Wars, Stories & More of The Native Indigenous
Alive, History Brought
Paperback
Who Gets to Be Indian?: Ethnic Fraud, Disenrollment, and Other Difficult Conversations about Native American Identity
Gilio-Whitaker, Dina
Hardcover
A Guide to the Indian Tribes of the Pacific Northwest: Volume 173
Brown, John A.
Collins, Cary C.
Ruby, Robert H.
Paperback
Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present
Keene, Adrienne
Hardcover
The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Philbrick, Nathaniel
Paperback
The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History
Custalow, Linwood Little Bear
Daniel Silver Star, Angela L.
Paperback
The Maze of History: Komal Hok, O'Odham Teachings, and an Earth-Based Sense of Time
Martínez, David
Paperback
Carlisle vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football'sgreatest Battle
Anderson, Lars
Paperback
Cherokee Earth Dwellers: Stories and Teachings of the Natural World
Shade, Hastings
Teuton, Christopher B.
Paperback
All the Real Indians Died Off: And 20 Other Myths about Native Americans
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Gilio-Whitaker, Dina
Paperback
Decolonizing Wealth, Second Edition: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance
Villanueva, Edgar
Paperback
The Codex Borgia: A Full-Color Restoration of the Ancient Mexican Manuscript
Díaz, Gisele
Rodgers, Alan
Paperback
They Had Names: Tracing the History of the North American Indigenous People
Jeanson, Nathaniel
Hardcover
American Colonies: The Settling of North America (the Penguin History of the United States, Volume 1)
Taylor, Alan
Paperback
We Survived the End of the World: Lessons from Native America on Apocalypse and Hope
Charleston, Steven
Hardcover
Spirits of the Earth: A Guide to Native American Nature Symbols, Stories, and Ceremonies
Lake-Thom, Bobby
Paperback
Thunder in the Mountains: Chief Joseph, Oliver Otis Howard, and the Nez Perce War
Sharfstein, Daniel J.
Paperback
The Undiscovered Country: Triumph, Tragedy, and the Shaping of the American West
Hutton, Paul Andrew
Paperback
Trail of Tears: A Captivating Guide to the Forced Removals of Cherokee, Muscogee Creek, Seminole, Chickasaw, and Choctaw nations
History, Captivating
Hardcover
The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey Through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows
Nerburn, Kent
Paperback
The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, the Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest War in American History
Hutton, Paul Andrew
Paperback
The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West
Nelson, Megan Kate
Paperback
Where Custer Fell: Photographs of the Little Bighorn Battlefield Then and Now
Barnard, Sandy
Brust, James S.
Pohanka, Brian C.
Paperback
Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
McDiarmid, Jessica
Paperback
365 Days of Walking the Red Road: The Native American Path to Leading a Spiritual Life Every Day
Jean, Terri
Paperback
Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America
Smithers, Gregory
Paperback
Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes: Nine Indian Writers on the Legacy of the Expedition
Josephy, Alvin M.
Paperback
Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory
Saunt, Claudio
Paperback
American Antiquities, and Discoveries in the West: Being an Exhibition of the Evidence That an Ancient Population of Partiallly Civilized Nations, Dif
Priest, Josiah 1788-1851
Paperback
Chief Joseph & the Flight of the Nez Perce: The Untold Story of an American Tragedy
Nerburn, Kent
Paperback