Colorado-based Native American author planting the seeds of change with his breakout novel

David Heska Wanbli Weiden is one of the rising stars of modern authors. He has just won two consecutive Spur Awards and has been nominated for

Weiden grew up in pretty impoverished circumstances on the rough streets of Denver. While there were no libraries nearby, a bookmobile came to his elementary every Friday. He would check out four or five books every weekend. This early experience began to nurture a deep love of literature. “I loved books, and it was my escape from a fairly rough upbringing.” Says Weiden

Weiden went on to study political science and law. But, he always held onto his love of literature and always thought he could become an author someday. Weiden now teaches Native American studies at the Metropolitan State University of Denver.

About ten years ago, Weiden’s two sons were a little older, and he decided that the time was right to pursue his dream of writing. He and his family were living in Indianan at the time. So he enrolled at the Indiana Writing Center and began to figure out how to craft a scene and write dialog. Weiden loved it and wished he had begun earlier. At this time, one of his teachers told him he needed to get his Master of Fine Arts in writing. Weiden felt he already was too old, had too many degrees, and just could not move. But his teacher told him about a low residency MFA program where you only spend a couple of weeks every year on campus, and the rest of the time is spent off-campus working with a mentor.

He could swing this option and soon enrolled at the Vermont College of Fine Arts and spent three semesters there. But then, a new school opened up in Santa Fe. The Institute of American Indian Arts started a new low residency program. This program was exclusively for Native American writers. Weiden is an enrolled citizen of the RosebudSioux Tribe and wanted to finish out his MFA there.

Weiden’s first book was a scholarly book on the US Supreme Court he wrote while a professor. His second book was a children’s picture book entitled Spotted Tail.

His first novel was Winter Counts, Which was released in August of 2020.

“Winter Counts is the story of Virgil Wounded Horse, who is a hired vigilante on the Rosebud Indian reservation. He is a vigilante because of these federal laws passed by the United States that create a huge problem regarding criminal justice enforcement on tribal lands.” Widen describes the reason he wrote his book. “The major crimes act is one of several passed laws that govern law enforcement on Native American reservations. I am a tenured of Native American studies and have been teaching about federal laws and how they affect Natives.”

He adds, “I knew about these issues, but you can lecture on a subject and write scholarly articles, but I think that writing a novel that fictionalizes and dramatizes a situation can really bring it alive. Virgil Wounded Horse is a vigilante on reservation lands because of the Major Crimes Act, which holds that Native American Nations may not prosecute serious felony crimes that occur on their own lands and must defer those crimes to the FBI and US Attorneys Office. The federal government is declining to prosecute 30-40% of all felony crimes and are released to offend again. This hugely problematic on Native Reservation because you have child abusers, rapists, molesters, murders and arsonists, that are released and committing more crime.” This situation has led to the rise of vigilantes for hire, which Winter Counts is about.

The main Character Virgil Wounded Horse is one of these vigilantes who will beat someone for a price ($100 for each bone he breaks.) This book is the tale of the broken criminal justice system on reservations and the personal journey of Virgil Wounded Horse, who at first rejects his Native American identity and then comes to embrace it by the end of the book.

One of the beautiful surprises to Weiden has been the success his breakout book has already experienced. He wasn’t sure if there would be any interest in the book, which is now a bestseller, won several major awards, including two Spur awards, nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe Award, and 15 other awards this year. The book has also just been optioned for a movie. He is now working on the second book featuring Virgil Wounded Horse and also has two short stories featuring the character coming out soon.

This book is also helping to inspire real-world action on the issues that it addresses. Weiden has heard from the dean of a major law school, former US Attorneys, and legislative aides who are all working to change this unjust law. “I couldn’t be more proud of the fact that the book has sparked some real dialogue around the country, and if it in a small way contributes to maybe making a change, I’ll have accomplished what I set out to do,” Weiden says.

You can find more information about Weiden and his writing on his website: www.DavidWeiden.com

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