History Through Fiction, author Colin Mustful, and designer Christine Horner of The Book Cover Whisperer, are proud to share with the readers the cover design for Reclaiming Mni Sota: An Alternate History of the U.S. - Dakota War of 1862. This stunning, colorful design not only represents the beautiful Minnesota landscape, but it symbolizes the definition of the word Minnesota. Derived from the Dakota phrase mni sota makoce, Minnesota is translated as “land where the waters reflect the clouds.” The cover image is a wonderful illustration of that phrase. Highlighted at the bottom is a gashkibidaagan, or a bandolier bag. With colorful beaded designs, bandolier bags have been created and used by Ojibwe people for centuries. It’s included on the cover because it also represents an important part of the story found within the novel.

Set for release on October 10, 2023, Reclaiming Mni Sota is author Colin Mustful’s fifth novel and his first alternate history. Mustful, who holds an MA degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato, is a historian who first started studying the U.S. - Dakota War in 2007 while attending graduate school. After writing several essays about the U.S. - Dakota War, in 2010 Mustful began work on his first novel, Fate of the Dakota, which was first published in 2013 under the title Thy Eternal Summer. Following Thy Eternal Summer, Mustful wrote Grace at Spirit Lake, a historical novel about the Spirit Lake Massacre of 1857, and Ceding Contempt, a historical novel about the 1851 Treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota.

In 2019, Mustful published Resisting Removal, a historical novel about the Sandy Lake Tragedy of 1850. Departing from the Dakota of Minnesota, Resisting Removal centered upon the Ojibwe of Minnesota and Wisconsin while remaining on the same topic, time period, and style of writing. In order to publish Resisting Removal, a novel he completed while earning his MFA from Augsburg University, Mustful created History Through Fiction, a small literary press that publishes historical novels based on real events and people. Since its founding, History Through Fiction has published five novels from five separate authors. The press has also grown to include a podcast, editing services, online events, short stories, and writer workshops.

Reclaiming Mni Sota is a dual narrative written from the perspectives of Samuel, a white settler, who seeks his future in Minnesota, and Waabi, a Native Ojibwe, who mourns the loss of his homeland. But when progress clashes with tradition, Samuel and Waabi find themselves on opposite sides of a war years in the making. Thrown together by battle, they discover a common grief binds them. As they fight for their future, and the future of their loved ones, Minnesota is changed forever. Ultimately, Reclaiming Mni Sota confronts America's history of settler-colonialism while illuminating the personal stories and heartrending choices that men and women, white and Native, were forced to make.

To learn more about author Colin Mustful and his previous work, please visit his website at colinmustful.com. To learn more about History Through Fiction please visit our website at historythroughfiction.com, follow us on social media, or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.