Zoom meetings seem to be the norm and our members are holding strong! Present were Betty, Carla, Colette, Jane, Janet, Linda, Michèle and Shirley. We discussed Jane's book choice Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. Mr. Rice is an Anishinaabe writer from the Wasauksing First Nation near Parry Sound, Ontario. He studied journalism at Ryerson University and worked as a journalist at CBC television and radio. He left CBC in May 2020 to concentrate on his literary career. He has written a book of short stories Midnight Sweatlodge and a first novel Legacy. He has also written scripts and journalistic articles. He recently announced that he is writing a sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow.
This story that takes place in a small Northern Anishinaabe community can be considered a thriller. As winter is beginning to settle in, some members of the community are hunting to ensure their food supply. The story begins with Evan Whitesky who has just killed a large male moose. When he gets back to his community with the moose carcass that he plans to share with family, the community begins to lose it's sources to the outside world, cable goes out, cell phone service dies and soon even landlines don't work and they lose their power source. The band council meets and decides on a plan to survive what they believe is a temporary problem. As the plot unfolds, life becomes more and more difficult and when strangers from down south arrive, a struggle for the survival of the community unfolds. Evan becomes a leader in the struggle to maintain their traditional life.
Every once in a while, we read a book that all of us enjoy tremendously and Moon of the Crusted Snow is one that was enjoyed by all of our members. It surprised some of us. We all found the book to be suspenseful, well written with a good plot, thoughtful with well developed characters even the evil characters are well developed. There is humour and tragedy in this story. One member mentioned that it reminded her of Lord of the Flies. As the community finds itself completely isolated, struggles begin in an attempt to survive.
Several of us mentioned that we learned several things about First Nations traditions, it had an educational aspect weaved into the story. Many of noted that Mr. Rice incorporated several problems facing indigenous communities such as alcoholism, suicide, drug abuse and the effects of residential schools but without them dominating the story. His writing skills are excellent.
Thank you Jane for this wonderful book selection that we all enjoyed. Jane has given us a couple of interesting links.
Waubgeshig Rice
Screen adaptation and sequel
