Co=ge=we=a, The Half-Blood: A Depiction of the Great Montana Cattle Range is a 1927 Western romance[1] novel by Mourning Dove, also known as Hum-Ishu-Ma, or Christine Quintasket (Okanogan and Arrow Lakes).

[2] Cogewea, the eponymous protagonist, is a woman of mixed-race ancestry, both Indigenous and Euro-American, who feels caught between her two worlds.

Cogewea is torn between the world of her white father and that of her Okanagan (spelled "Okanogan" in the novel) grandmother, Stemteema.

A well-loved figure on her white brother-in-law's ranch, Cogewea is also well-educated in Okanagan folklore and values through her grandmother.

Cogewea: the eponymous main character is a young woman who has a love for nature and is a skilled horse rider.

The major theme of the novel is the conflict which Cogewea feels as a "half-breed" who is caught between the Indian and white worlds, tradition and change.

Mary has maintained a traditional way of life with the guidance of her grandmother, while Julia has married a white man and assimilated into American culture.

[8][9][10] With Cogewea, Mourning Dove attempted to infuse the western romance with the oral traditions of her Okanagan culture.

[6] Some scholars believe that the author intended to break with the tropes of the Western, as well as to demonstrate the value of Okanagan stories and cultural traditions, even in a colonized context.

[11][12] Also, Mourning Dove draws from Syilx (Okanagan) oral history to express the realities of frontier life as well as her complicated feelings towards assimilation.

Throughout the book, characters with indigenous ancestry have correct intuitions about the future, which they attribute to guidance from their ancestors.

[3] Difficulties and delays in publishing the novel were partly due to shortages in paper and printing materials during World War I.

[9] Indigenous peoples in the twentieth century were largely excluded and even blocked from publishing in Canada and the United States.

Susan K. Bernardin notes that while Mourning Dove and McWhorter had a “complex collaboration,”[19] his changes were focused on language and not plot, which was typical practice for an editor.

[10] Scholars such as Jace Weaver and Louis Owens focus on the Okanagan cultural knowledge provided in the novel, all of which must have come from Mourning Dove.

[23] After receiving McWhorter wrote to him strongly supporting Mourning Dove's authorship, the agent recanted his statements.

It was not until the late 20th century that Cogewea gained scholarly attention, following a revival of interest in women's and indigenous people's works.

In the novel, Alfred Densmore attempts to steal land and money he believes Cogewea possesses (she doesn't), and ends up abusing her when he finds out she is poor.

Jeannette Armstrong, a First Nations woman who claims to be a grand-niece of Mourning Dove, says that the author had a "masterful knowledge of what Okanagan oral story is and how it works".