I searched high and low for novels by indigenous authors that would be beautiful, educational and moving WITHOUT being what felt like a trauma dump. This book was almost that, but would have been even more powerful if it had been a little less preachy. I loved the generational approach, but I wish it spent time more evenly on each era and set of characters. It worked through the middle generation so quickly that I almost forgot how everything was connected by the end of the book, and there were some genuinely fascinating parts of history it referenced that I had never heard of (take over of Alcatraz??).  Its portrayal of addiction was very moving and harrowing, especially through the perspective of Orval.  Definitely not a happy ending, but not unsatisfying at all.