In 1961, Pulitzer Prize winning novelist and author of the best selling Civil War novel Andersonville, MacKinlay Kantor, wrote a series of articles for Look Magazine entitled "If the South Had Won the Civil War." The articles were later incorporated into a book.
In his book, Kantor speculates how the history of what is now The United States of America might have played out had the Civil War ended as his title suggested. As is the case with any attempt at revisionist history, reviewers both agreed and disagreed with Kantor's speculations.
Wili is very loosely based on historical events. It is a novelette and it is revisionist. It speculates as to how Native American culture might have developed had different attitudes prevailed during the latter half of the nineteenth century.