A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voiceWith winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, … the south. Soon after, others follow.
The community leadearship loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision.
Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.
more
A glimpse into the realistic Canadian Indian life in the north when civilized services are lost, and they have to depend on themselves and live again with nature.
Moon of the Crusted Snow, authored by Waubgeshig Rice, popped on my radar by way of the Bookriot article titled: Welcome To Indigenous Horror: 4 Indigenous Books To Try, written by Amanda Diehl. This was the only title on this list I have been able to get my hands on so far (borrowed from my library) but I remain hopeful, and diligent in my searching. I also would like to read the other works by this author. My honest review is below, freely given.
I rated this novel 4.5 stars.
The way the world ends could be endlessly written about, ranging from the fantastical to the horrific, mired in scientific explanation or religious signs; presented with hopeful to despondent emotion. I had not yet read a story of the modern world ending from the viewpoint of of a people already so isolated due to marginalization and separation onto reservations, but I was looking forward to it.
If your communication with everyone off the rez (reservation) is spotty at best during the colder weather, then when it happens with finality, you wouldn’t know right away; that gets under my skin, creeps me out. I know they were already preparing, stocking up for winter, but they still thought everything was a-okay with the people that stock their diesel, restock their grocer’s store. There was a whole safety net they thought was under them that had been ripped away.
How they dealt with everything that followed, as a small community, fascinated me. These were not random survivors thrown together hashing out their differences, fighting bitterness over perceived slights; these were family, lifetime friends, whose dedication to pulling their weight for the community (or not) was bare for all to see, more complicated to deal with, I’m sure. And having to decide what to do with outsiders asking for shelter, and all the good and bad that can come from that, I thought was another strong pull on the tension that had been building steadily from the first chapter.
If I ever get to the point where listening to audio books are possible for me (not while the kids have school from home!), I would love to hear the Anishinaabe written within the book spoken. There are English words I’ve only read that I know I butcher trying to say; I can only imagine at this point how lovely the words shared with us in this novel really sound.
Blurb:
With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.
The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavor to restore order while grappling with a grave decision.
Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.
Review by L. G. Cullens June 6, 2020
Alas, given variances in subjective perspectives there are more than a few that may find this eloquently simple story slow and dull. In my view though, it’s not intended to be distracting entertainment, but rather an interesting story encapsulating contrasting cultural proclivities. Something that more need see the value in if we truly care about our children’s futures.
I don’t see modern civilization crashing overnight as it does in the beginning of this story, but such was necessary in getting on with the intended story. To the story’s credit it does, succinctly within context, relate how a majority of humans have been on a destructive path far too long.
Foregoing details that could give a false impression, I will say it’s a hopeful story if enough see the value inherent in its telling.
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” ~ Albert Einstein
I always feel such guilt over the First Peoples who get Nothing. This story serves us white bastards right.
This book isn’t just about the apocalypse, it’s about so much more than that. It’s about the difficult history modern day Native and white peoples share. The struggles of Native people up to this day, because of that tragic past and what was taken from them. But it’s also a story about their resilience. By the end, I was convinced that the Anishinaabe would do much better than the white man in the new, post-apocalyptic world the author created.
SPOILERS!
– Rice shows the long-lasting and devastating effect of Native people losing their lands, history, culture, language and ceremonies, at the hands of white people. I don’t think that is something a white person can ever truly understand. I personally feel very guilty about the role my ancestors played in that history, and I often feel that the hardship and suffering of First Nations people is somewhat ignored. I think more white people should read books like this. That’s the whole purpose of stories–to allow you spend time in someone else’s life and as a result, understand them. The struggles faced by First Nations people is something white people need to pay attention to. This book called attention to these issues in a very subtle way.
– On a related note, I thought the most interesting conversation in the entire book was between the main character and a community elder, in which she declares that apocalypse is nothing new to their people. It was shocking to read, but of course it’s true. Their world ended when Europeans arrived. It really hit me to consider it in this way.
– I may be wrong, but I interpreted the post power-outage rationing of food as a commentary on how First Nations people have come to rely on resources established by white people (in particular, electricity) and that it has diminished the community’s capacity to live traditionally. Rice mentions many times that many of his people can’t hunt and trap and must rely on handouts. The end of the world seems to force the Anishinaabe to return to their traditional ways of living, which aren’t completely lost. The main character even assures, toward the end, that even those who seem to have forgotten remember, deep down. Obviously, the community suffers greatly, but I get the feeling that they will do better in this new world than the white people.
– Finally, the danger in a book like this is to become too preachy or political, to make one side look better than the other. Rice avoided this, because he depicted his story with balance. The white man was both villain and ally, and the Anishinaabe characters were honorable, but some were weak. The way some Anishinaabe characters allied with the white interlopers was interesting, making this a very layered and complex story. It wasn’t just about the reaction of First Nations people to this apocalypse, but how they continue to be effected by all the other times their world ended, and the role of white people in that tragic history.
– I think the descent into cannibalism was an interesting twist at the end. Yes, perhaps it’s an inevitable result of living in an apocalypse, being desperate for food in the middle of winter. But I think it was also symbolic, of the white man destroying Native peoples, as it’s a white interloper who starts raiding the morgue–occupied just by Anishinaabe dead–for food. It’s grim and disturbing, but heightens the theme of the entire book.
This unique take on post-apocalyptic tropes takes place in a First Nations reservation. It’s character-oriented but still filled with menace and tension.