In Moon of the Crusted Snow the story took place in a place called Gaawaandagkoong First Nation. This community is located way up north. So when things went sour (cell service/internet went out, power went out, and there was no food delivery) they had nobody to contact to see what was going wrong.
I would not liked to have lived in this community during this time period because these people could not go anywhere because it was winter, and the snow was coming down hard leaving there be no way in or out of the community. I would feel like I was trapped. Trapped in the sense that I would have nowhere to go, the only option that was there for me was to sit there and wait, wait for the time to come where the community would run out of the stashed food.
Novel: Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
How I felt..
While reading the first couple chapters of this novel, I felt connected to the book in a way and immediately intrigued. As an example, in the first chapter when Evan was out hunting I understood why he was hunting and why he needed to put semaa (tobacco) down after his kill. To me it is interesting to read about other small reserves and compare it to my reserve.
Images that stood out to me..
Again, in chapter one they explain how it is impending winter. They talk a lot about the scenery in the first couple pages. I could imagine the field, the crisp air, the mooz standing in the field of yellowed grass in front of a sunset so clearly in my mind. This once again made me feel some kind of connection to the book.
As I read, i gained new insights or understanding on the hunting process. Before reading I had already understood but, I mean i gained more insight on how other people do it in different reserves & in different places. For example, I assume that all these people do is hunt, skin, harvest hide, make moccasins, gloves, and pouches. And that i understand because, that is how they live, how they survive. The stuff that gets delivered up there to them (like food) is always super expensive & as they say, not the same.
I have a connection to this book. I come from a small reserve just like the characters in the story. I understand what it is like, having expensive, not good, food come into the store around here. Meat at our grocery store is really expensive and our we have dry bread (those are just examples), I can’t imagine how it is up North.
Questions I have..
What reserve is this story based around? (if any..)
