The Brand: A Tale of the Flathead Reservation

A young woman from the East travels to the Flathead Reservation and becomes immersed in ranch and mission life there. The narrative follows her relationships with locals, including an Indian agent and ranch hands, and proceeds through episodes of riding, accidents, a frantic herd, a tragic death, a proposal and a wedding. Key moments reveal tensions of identity and belonging, including an Indigenous woman’s startling confession, and the marking of a ranch brand as a sign of claim and community change. Through episodic scenes the work depicts frontier routines, moral choices, and a woman’s adaptation to Western landscape and society.