He and Elijah had stayed together throughout the war, but when a shell landed too close to Xavier, he was blown into the air and lost his left leg. In "Takoshininaaniwan: Arrival," Xavier lies awake by the fire, fighting sleep because he doesn’t want to dream that he is back in the war. She lies awake in her blanket as she realizes that Xavier has only come home to die. Niska goes to sleep in the tepee, and when she wakes up in the middle of the night she sees that Xavier is no longer at the camp. He finally speaks when Niska cooks moose meat on the fire, commenting that he has not smelled the scent of roasting meat in a long time. He sleeps fitfully on the canoe and grows frustrated when he cannot help Niska build their tepee for the night, settling on making a fire while sitting instead. As Niska paddles them down the river and sets up a small camp on the bank, Xavier doesn’t say a word. However, Xavier quickly grows withdrawn as he follows Niska to the river she traveled on. Both Xavier and Niska believed the other to be dead, and upon their reunion they sink to the ground in a weeping embrace. Now she has received another letter, this one telling her that Xavier’s best friend Elijah Whiskeyjack has been wounded while rescuing another soldier and that he is returning to his home weake and injured.Īt the train station, Niska sees a one-legged man on crutches get off the train and recognizes him not as Elijah, but as her nephew. In 1918, Niska received a letter from the Canadian army saying that her only living relation, her nephew Xavier Bird, had died while serving as an infantryman in World War I. Niska, an elderly Oiji-Cree medicine woman, has traveled for a week in a canoe to reach this station, and she’s been watching the passengers for days, although she confesses that she doesn’t understand the clothing and mannerisms of the white city dwellers, the wemistikoshiw. The next section, "Ekiiwaniwahk: Returning ," opens on a grimy railroad station in 1919 Ontario. The short section ends with the two boys agreeing that they are great hunters and best friends.
After killing the animal himself with a blow to its head, Xavier skins the marten and Elijah remarks that Xavier’s “auntie” will be proud of him. The two find a living marten caught in one of their willow traps, and Xavier encourages Elijah to club the animal.
The novel begins with 12-year-old Xavier Bird leading his best friend Elijah Whiskeyjack through the snowy woods on their first hunt.
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