Yellow Bird

Oil, Murder, and a Woman's Search for Justice in Indian Country

By: Sierra Crane Murdoch

Narrated by: Sierra Crane Murdoch

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • The gripping true story of a murder on an Indian reservation, and the unforgettable Arikara woman who becomes obsessed with solving it—an urgent work of literary journalism.

“I don’t know a more complicated, original protagonist in literature than Lissa Yellow Bird, or a more dogged reporter in American journalism than Sierra Crane Murdoch.”—William Finnegan, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Barbarian Days

In development as a Paramount+ original series

WINNER OF THE OREGON BOOK AWARD • NOMINATED FOR THE EDGAR® AWARD • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • NPR • Publishers Weekly

When Lissa Yellow Bird was released from prison in 2009, she found her home, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, transformed by the Bakken oil boom. In her absence, the landscape had been altered beyond recognition, her tribal government swayed by corporate interests, and her community burdened by a surge in violence and addiction. Three years later, when Lissa learned that a young white oil worker, Kristopher “KC” Clarke, had disappeared from his reservation worksite, she became particularly concerned. No one knew where Clarke had gone, and few people were actively looking for him.

Yellow Bird traces Lissa’s steps as she obsessively hunts for clues to Clarke’s disappearance. She navigates two worlds—that of her own tribe, changed by its newfound wealth, and that of the non-Native oilmen, down on their luck, who have come to find work on the heels of the economic recession. Her pursuit of Clarke is also a pursuit of redemption, as Lissa atones for her own crimes and reckons with generations of trauma. Yellow Bird is an exquisitely written, masterfully reported story about a search for justice and a remarkable portrait of a complex woman who is smart, funny, eloquent, compassionate, and—when it serves her cause—manipulative. Drawing on eight years of immersive investigation, Sierra Crane Murdoch has produced a profound examination of the legacy of systematic violence inflicted on a tribal nation and a tale of extraordinary healing.

©2020 Sierra Crane Murdoch (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

Sierra Crane Murdoch has written a deft, compelling account of an oil field murder and the remarkable woman who made it her business to solve it. I can’t stop thinking and talking about this book.”—Rachel Monroe, author of Savage Appetites

“This book is a detective story, and a good one, that tells what happens when rootless greed collides with rooted culture. But it’s also a classic slice of American history, and a tale of resilience in the face of remarkable trauma. Sierra Crane Murdoch is a patient, careful, and brilliant chronicler of this moment in time, a new voice who will add much to our literature in the years ahead.”—Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

“In Yellow Bird, oilfield meets reservation, and readers meet a true-to-life Native sleuth unlike any in literature. Sierra Crane Murdoch takes a modest, ignored sort of American life and renders it large, with a murder mystery driving the action. It’s an empathetic, attentive account by a talented writer and listener.”—Ted Conover, author of Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing and Rolling Nowhere

Interesting story, dull narration

I was interested in learning more about Lissa Yellow Bird after hearing a story about her on NPR. I think this is the kind of book that would have been better to read. There are a lot of historical details that are good to refer back to as the story progresses. The author should have spent the money to hire an audiobook narrator. Between the vocal fry, lack of emotion, and monotone voice I had a hard time listening to this book for more than 30 minutes at a time

Aimed high, falls short

I applaud the author for the scale of her endeavor. The attempt to weave together, in a novelistic way, the stories of fracking in the Bakken and the ramifications of the newfound oil wealth, a conspiracy of murders to conceal misconduct, and the quest of a native woman to bring the culprits to justice while dealing with her addictions, is indeed an ambitious one.

Ultimately, it is a book worthy of reading/listening to. However, to be fair, each of those topics are handled more deftly in other books. The fact that the primary person in the book is, frankly, unsympathetic is a factor, but not a fatal one. It's an honest depiction of a motivated woman, an interesting character, who is nonetheless significantly flawed and seemingly not truly self-aware of her shortcomings. She should, and I wished she had, come off more compelling than she does. Of more concern is the aspirational writing of the author, seeking to be painterly with her prose, whether it be the arid landscape of the reservation or the squalor of the addict's latest home. If it were just that, it could be accepted, but it stretches out a story which easily could be cut by a third and maintain the plot. (Not to mention that a listening at 1.0x is excruciatingly slow, imo, I even found 1.5x to be a bit sluggish). And a final point (which is addressed in the afterword), there is a kind of righteous indignation expressed for stories of exploitation of native cultures, which one finds only can come from a non-native. The author, to her credit, acknowledges her privilege, however it doesn't quite mitigate the diminishment caused in the storytelling.

Superb performance by author

Excellent work by author and the history and details are amazingly accurate for such a compelling and complexed case and untouchable soul as Lissa.

Insightful, well-researched documentary

I learned a lot about how the natural resource Boom phenomenon and how it affects indigenous people. This is kind of a microcosm for America, past and present. Lissa Yellow Bird is amazing-smart, persistent, generous in sharing her story in this book.

Excellent Book

The book was absolutely fabulous- not only a good read or listen but a captivating true story. I love getting to know people on such a deep level that you understand them. This author does an amazing job!

Incredible study and storytelling

I was blown away at the careful empathetic writing that beautifully weaves together seemingly separate threads of a crime, a family, a woman and a community. Unlike many true crime books, the crime is the backdrop of a bigger, more important story of a history and people.
I’ve become so interested in learning more about Native American history and modern life after reading this book.

Interesting and important to tell but...

I felt too many off stories. Easily could have been two great stories. Great research a d relationship building.

really important book

helps the uninformed gain an understanding of the multigenerational damage done to native tribes

Remarkable portrait

Remarkable portrait of a Native American woman and chronicle of a murder investigation against the backdrop of the awful fracking boom and its effects on her Nation. At times the detail seems excessive but by the end you feel you’ve experienced something.

Insightful

I knew very little about the Native American and the oil boom. This book was informative and disturbing. I feel like I just scratched the surface of the indigenous people and their history. I appreciate the raw honesty in the book. I went to college in Oklahoma in the late 60’s. There was one Native American in the dorm my first year. She didn’t return after leaving in the middle of the second semester. I saw the Indians selling food in the grocery parking lots. I was told they bought these items with food stamps and sold for cash to purchase liquor. As a young student I really didn’t give much thought to the stories but now 50 years later I wonder what their truth was and still is.