Unit idk - Moon of the Crusted Snow

Question 1

Who is the main character in this novel?

Answer 1

Evan Whitesky

Question 2

What is Justin Scott’s arrival an allegory for?

Answer 2

It is an allegory for what happened in history with the colonizers coming to the land of the first nation’s people (colonization).

Question 3

What do you think Evan’s dream is symbolizing?

Answer 3

There will be struggle. Difficult times are ahead and there may be a lot of death.

Question 4

When is “the moon of the crusted snow” and what does it refer to?

Answer 4

February but could also apply to early March. The time at the peak of winter or later, weather is cold, snow freezes over etc.

Question 5

What are the themes in the book?

Answer 5

1. Food Security & Survival
2. Colonialism
3. Community/Leadership

OTHERS
4. Indigenous Identity and Resilience
5. Disconnect with Nature
6. Dreams as Revelations

Question 6

Where does the story take place?

Answer 6

Northern Ontario

Question 7

Who is the author of Moon of the Crusted Snow?

Answer 7

Waubgeshig Rice

Question 8

What is a “moccasin telegraph”?

Answer 8

Delivering a message in person

Question 9

What type of narration is the story written in?

Answer 9

Third Person Limited

Question 10

Who is the community chief in the novel?

Answer 10

Terry Meegis

Question 11

Who is Justin Scott?

Answer 11

White Guy who followed snowmobile tracks to get to the reserve.

Question 12

Where does the community gather to have big meetings?

Answer 12

The community complex

Question 13

What is the town nearest to the reserve?

Answer 13

Gibson

Question 14

What was Dan’s dream about?

Answer 14

it’s spring, and people are emaciated, suggesting that the community will struggle for food this winter. Evan’s fearful expression in the firelight implies that something bad will happen to Evan near a fire

Question 15

What happend in Nicole’s dream?

Answer 15

Nicole’s dream, she was trying to run across the snow with Nangohns and Maiingan, but she kept sinking deeper into it. Evan was nowhere to be found, and the kids (speaking in the elders’ voices) told Nicole that they were going to make it. The snow started burying her, but the kids pulled her out. On the surface, there was a fire with a crowd standing around it. The kids were adults, and Nangohns said “welcome home,” just as Nicole woke up.

Question 16

How is colonization a big theme in the book?

Answer 16

Colonialism is also referenced through the relative loss of culture in many of the individuals within the community. This can be seen through land theft, displacement, loss of languages, and residential schools, which can be seen to impact all members of the community depicted in “Moon of the Crusted Snow”.

Question 17

Allegory

Answer 17

a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.

Question 18

” it was supposed to be a dry community. Alcohol had been banished by the band council nearly two decades. and for decades despairing men had gotten drunk and beaten their partners and children, feeding a cycle of abuse that continued when those kids grew up. It became so normal that everyone forgot about the root of this turmoil:their forced displacement from their homelands and the violent erasure of their culture,language,and ceremonies.”

Answer 18

Theme: Trauma, Evan descibes all abuse indigenous people suffered and how they plays a huge role of their importance on culture
Setting:Evan and nicole went to their friends house for dinner
Alchol represents the method they used to cop after suffering this cycle of abuse

Question 19

Moon of the crusted snow is an allegorical novel. What is Justin Scott’s arrival an allegory to?

Answer 19

Colnization surviving by himself Justin Scott, embodies that toxic masculinity that is inherent in settler colonialism to begin with because he is very much an allegory for settling the land, overtaking it and exploiting it.

Question 20

Who is Evan?

Answer 20

Evan is the protagonist of the book,Evan has lived on the Anishinaabe reservation his whole life and is a maintenance worker and active community member.Evan hunts, he often conducts tobacco rituals after killing animals. He prefers to hunt for food, live off the land, and care for his community. His simple, cautious, and conservative lifestyle is characteristic of the traditional Anishinaabe way of life. He takes advice from elders when his community is in a crisis,built a secret tipi in the woods for his family

Question 21

Who is Nicole?

Answer 21

Nicole is Evan Whitesky’s partner. She is the primary caregiver for their two young children, Maiingan and Nangohns. Nicole and Evan have a very loving and supportive relationship, marked by mutual respect and a shared desire to reconnect with traditional Anishinaabe customs. Nicole strives to teach her children what she knows of the native language (Anishinaabemowin), and she embodies Anishinaabe community values by patiently nurturing the people around her.

Question 22

Who is Aileen?

Answer 22

Aileen Jones is the community’s eldest member and spiritual guide. She’s is very old, frail, gentle, and kind—and this makes some people overlook her worth. Aileen is well-versed in traditional customs, and she often conducts sage rituals for the community. She’s also fluent in the community’s native language (Anishinaabemowin), and she uses myths to teach people how to live off the land. Aileen has also been teaching Nicole how to practice traditional medicine, and she encourages Evan to nurture Nicole,

Question 23

Who is Justin Scott?

Answer 23

Justin Scott is the story’s antagonist. He mysteriously arrives on the reservation, heavily armed and seeking refuge, after the power goes out and civilization collapses into chaos. Scott is physically intimidating: he’s bigger and stronger than any of the Anishinaabe people. He even forces several people to steal dead bodies so that he can cannibalize them for food. At the story’s climax, the community confronts Scott about his actions, and he retaliates by shooting Evan—but Meghan ends the confrontation by shooting Scott in the back, killing him

Question 24

Who is Terry?

Answer 24

the community’s “chief”; he heads up the council, which runs the reservation. Terry is deeply empathetic and non-confrontational but somewhat emotionally weak, and he’s intimidated by Justin Scott.

Question 25

QUOTE: “Despite the hardship and tragedy that made up a significant part of this First Nation’s legacy, the Anishinaabe spirit of the community generally prevailed. There was no panic on the night of this first blizzard, although there had been confusion in the days leading up to it. Survival had always been an integral part of their culture. It was their history. The skills they needed to persevere in this northern territory, far from their original homeland farther south, were proud knowledge held close through the decades of imposed adversity. They were handed down to those in the next generation willing to learn. Each winter marked another milestone.”

Answer 25

Themes: Identity/Culture, Colonization, Survival

Literary Devices: Foreshadowing

Character Development: The community as a whole has survived and adapted to a new way of life, proven their strength

Importance: References residential schools, displacement trauma, etc. and how they have survived it (“each winter marked a milestone”) It Also shows how they don’t give up easily.

Question 26

QUOTE: “Right on. I slacked and let ours burn out.”
“What kinda Nishnaab are you?”

Answer 26

Themes: Culture/Identity, Survival

Literary Devices: Maybe symbolism with the fire = will to live

Characters: Evan and Joanne joking around with each other, indicating they aren’t consumed by panic yet

Importance: She is calling Evan out, basically saying that he has gotten too used to the easy life. Keeping the fire also references survival skills in their culture.

Question 27

QUOTE: “He noticed an easy smile on her face. She’s lived through it all, he thought. If she’s not worried then, we shouldn’t be.”

Answer 27

Themes: Colonization (saying she’s lived through it all)

Literary Devices: ??

Characters: It shows that as an elder, Aileen has lived through worse (displacement, residential schools, the sixties scoop). Shows that Evan isn’t too worried, he values her opinion a lot

Importance: Shows that there isn’t much panic at the first town meeting.

Question 28

QUOTE: “It was more than enough for his own family of four, but he planned to give a lot of the meat away. It was the community way. He would share with his parents, his siblings and their families, and his in-laws, and would save some for others who might run out before winter’s end and not be able to afford the expensive ground beef and chicken thighs that were trucked or flown in from the South.”

Answer 28

Themes: Community, Survival

Literary Devices: Foreshadowing (that food could be an issue, some might not have enough to survive)

Characters: Shows that even before the crisis, Evan was prepared to share. Shows how he is a generous person.

Importance: Intro/Add-on to Evan’s character, shows that he strongly supports community

Question 29

QUOTE: “Well, Chief Meegis, I’m a hunter, much like you are, I assume. I can help provide for your community. I’m a survivalist. I know how to live on this land without the comforts and luxuries people in the South have become too dependent on. I know all about emergency management. I can help your people adapt to this situation.”

Answer 29

Themes: Survival, Colonization

Literary Devices: Allegory

Character Development: Shows Scott’s character (cocky, arrogant, superiority complex, manipulative/deceptive)

Importance: Introduction to Scott, makes reference to how outsiders (aka white ppl) came into indigenous communities making them believe that they needed them, when in reality it was the opposite.