The More We Take

"The More We Take is a beautifully crafted exploration of the human condition, intricately weaving themes of identity, resilience, and the transformative power of place. Through Clete Bauer's compelling narrative, The More We Take delves into the rich, complex history of the American heartland and how it draws and defines people across generations and cultures." Sean Desmond, Author, The Sophomores

Yesterday, this land was stolen, today it is pillaged, tomorrow it will be barren.

So begins an unlikely resistance to save the life-giving Ogallala Aquifer, protect the fragile beauty of the High Plains, and honor the first stewards of the prairie. Three ordinary Nebraskans join forces with Lakota leaders from the past to save the Ogallala, an ancient groundwater that support life in the Midwest. Will this mystical alliance be enough to break the grip of relentless taking?

In a daring novel that moves between the bloody end of the 19th Century and extractive corporate farming today, The More We Take blends realism, fantasy and drama to tell a riveting story of American hearts and the American Heartland. Once looked upon as desert, the plains flourished when irrigation technology reached deep into the million-years-old waters of the Ogallala stretching from South Dakota to Texas but rapidly disappearing and in places already gone.

At the nexus of racism and climate change, The More We Take is an intimate story of how personal healing infuses our shared history -- and how redemption is only possible when it includes everyone.

Clete and Kathy Bauer, children of a violent home, and Irene Winter, a Lakota healer who carries the joy and sorrow of her people, are the core of an unlikely resistance that includes a hippie Jewish marijuana farmer from New Jersey, a brain-injured rodeo star, and Kathy's gifted 10-year-old daughter, C.J., whose bond with Clete helps him understand that for all we take we may give up even more.

Even as they organize people and local power to fight systems that create wealth for the few at the expense of the many, this ragtag band is outgunned by Big Agriculture. And yet, as they embrace Indigenous Wisdom, unseen doors open and they are met in real time by ancestral leaders like Red Cloud and Crazy Horse and truth-tellers like Josephine Waggoner and Zitkala-Sa. The alliance now spans generations and cultures -- and the tide begins to turn, with astonishing results.

Through intimate portraits of people in struggle together, The More We Take asks if we can love one another enough to save the planet.