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A review by alyson7
Kiss of the Fur Queen by Tomson Highway
3.0
The novel begins with two Cree brothers living in a small community in Northern Manitoba. The brothers are happy and healthy, and even at a young age, they demonstrate a lot of artistic potential. One day, the eldest brother, Champion Okimasis, is swept away from his home and parents and carried off to a residential school hundreds of miles away. At this school, Champion is renamed Jeremiah. He is taught English in hopes of eradicating his native tongue. A few years later, Jeremiah’s brother Gabriel (original name Ooneemeetoo), is subjected to sexual assault from a priest at the school.
Years later, Jeremiah and Gabriel find themselves living in the city trying to make their way as artists. At this point I found it rather interesting that Highway decided not to focus a great deal more on life at the residential school. This suggests that for Highway, the aftereffects of attending the residential school and being immersed in a society which seeks to eradicate Indigenous culture is much more devastating. It becomes clear that although the brothers have received an education which has allowed them to pursue their artistic interests, they become isolated individuals as a result. If they go home, they cannot fully adapt into their family life and culture. If they stay in the city, their Indigenous heritage turns them into outcasts. They appear to inhabit both worlds at once without fully being able to root themselves firmly in either world.
This book is extremely valuable for a non-Indigenous Canadian or even American person if they wish to begin to understand Indigenous issues. The effects of residential schools may appear to be a facet of the past (the last one closed down approximately 21 years ago in 1996 in Canada), but the trauma is very much alive today. Although there is a slight blending of Indigenous myth that I certainly had no experience with, Highway writes in a particular way which is conscious of his audience. You do not need to be an expert in Indigenous culture to understand this novel, and any Cree words used in the novel are conveniently translated in a glossary at the back of the book.
Years later, Jeremiah and Gabriel find themselves living in the city trying to make their way as artists. At this point I found it rather interesting that Highway decided not to focus a great deal more on life at the residential school. This suggests that for Highway, the aftereffects of attending the residential school and being immersed in a society which seeks to eradicate Indigenous culture is much more devastating. It becomes clear that although the brothers have received an education which has allowed them to pursue their artistic interests, they become isolated individuals as a result. If they go home, they cannot fully adapt into their family life and culture. If they stay in the city, their Indigenous heritage turns them into outcasts. They appear to inhabit both worlds at once without fully being able to root themselves firmly in either world.
This book is extremely valuable for a non-Indigenous Canadian or even American person if they wish to begin to understand Indigenous issues. The effects of residential schools may appear to be a facet of the past (the last one closed down approximately 21 years ago in 1996 in Canada), but the trauma is very much alive today. Although there is a slight blending of Indigenous myth that I certainly had no experience with, Highway writes in a particular way which is conscious of his audience. You do not need to be an expert in Indigenous culture to understand this novel, and any Cree words used in the novel are conveniently translated in a glossary at the back of the book.