When was the last time you read a book and discussed it for hours? There have been a few books like that for me since I started cataloging them on the blog. A few that come to mind are Invisible Women, High Conflict, HEX, Big Magic… interesting that most of these are non-fiction. Today, I will share more about Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. I have mentioned this book a few times now in the horror wrap up for last month as well as its connection to Goodbye to the Sun, and more recently with Viper’s Daughter. Finally, I bring you the discussion that Lauren and I had over the course of 4 hours about this amazing book.
A daring post-apocalyptic thriller from a powerful rising literary voice.
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.
Content Notes include depiction of Cannibalism, Alcoholism, Suicide, Violence.
Discussion: Moon of the Crusted Snow
Our discussion was modeled by this wonderful reading guide I found. Prepared by Anna Rodrigues and Kaitlyn Watson at Ontario Tech University, it brought all the themes of the book, relevant excerpts, author interviews and historical context in one place. I look back at my notes now and I don’t think I will ever be able to do justice to the discussion we had. I will try to summarize it for you though, as best I can with the hope that if you have not read this book, you will make some time for it, especially if you are in North America.
Let’s begin with the end.
Moon of the Crusted Snow may be published in the West but it is not a common story. Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation on Georgian Bay. He imagines a time when an indigenous community in the north is cut off from the rest of the world and must turn to the ways of their ancestors and survive. Most books have a resolution and if you expect this one to as well, you will be disappointed. Lauren and I loved that this was true to real life, that life continues on. We persevere and we live with what we have.
On Community and Land
Community was the first theme that the reading guide encouraged us to discuss and we had a lot to say about it! The book starts with Evan when he kills a moose as part of his preparation for winter. His first few thoughts are to distribute it amongst his family and friends. This was very refreshing to see and in the cities, if anyone remembers the toilet paper crisis at the beginning of the pandemic, hoarding is the norm, not sharing. We also liked the concept of giving back. The way Evan was taught to hunt was to wait for the animals to present themselves rather than ambushing them. The gift of tobacco and taking only what he needs are the ways of his people. I noticed this connection with Chronicles of Ancient Darkness as well and it is only now that I realize that the indigeous way of living is a lot older than we can ever imagine.
We loved reading a book where community came first and seeing how that plays out. If we have heavy snow in our city, I don’t think we would find anyone willing to clean the roads for their community, unless it is their job. As time progressed and winter came in Moon of the Crusted Snow, Evan and people his age took the mantle of keeping the reserve roads clear and making sure that the elders had enough food and warmth. They were putting the community first.
In the city, we don’t have a relationship with the land. We live in houses or buildings but we don’t get anything from the land itself. Most of our food comes from the super markets. When the young boys of the community were sharing about their escape from the city in the south, learning about the violence and chaos there made us realise the extent to which we are disconnected from land. We could grow a few things in our gardens if we wanted to but we could never self-sustain ourselves. We just don’t have the skills.
The book offers an amazing opportunity to learn about indigenous communities. Here is an excerpt from an interview the author did about the book:
“But in just a couple of generations, a lot of people have moved away from winter preparations like hunting and gathering wood, and have become more reliant on the amenities that bring them closer to the world to the south. So when they lose many of these conveniences, it’s a sobering wake-up call to re-examine their roles and responsibilities to the land and their community as Anishinaabeg.
Part of it goes back to what I mentioned earlier about putting a different lens on post-apocalyptic experiences and why an Indigenous perspective is crucial to consider. Nations and cultures have survived since time immemorial on this land without the fragile luxuries we’re so dependent on today. If and when those things disappear, the answer to survival will be in the land, as it has always been. Also, a personal reason for driving this message home was to remind myself to reconnect with the land. I grew up on the rez with lots of land-based knowledge, but I’ve lost a lot of that since I’ve lived in cities for two decades now.”
On Dreams
One of my first interactions with indiegenous cultures was through dream catchers. So I am not surprised that dreams play an important role in Moon of the Crusted Snow. After having finished the book, Lauren and I agree that the dreams were about preparedness. While why the characters had the dreams they did would be an interesting question to answer, the fact that the dreams reminded them of knowledge long unused or glimpsing a future that is very different from their represent time all point to their minds and hearts warning them in a way about what is to come and what will be needed of them to survive.
On The Writing
Moon of the Crusted Snow is written concisely. The author said so much with so little, weaving the history of suffering and resilience within the present narrative. Reading the book, we felt very grounded. That has to do with the way the characters were portrayed. Elder Terry is a level headed gentleman who is calm and balanced. Faced with unprecedented obstacles, none of the elders let things overwhelm them. They don’t hide it. They are honest with the people.
Later in the book, a character named Justin Scott is introduced. He had followed the boys fleeing from the city and wanted to take refuge with the community. He is pure chaos. It is impossible to ignore the stark difference between this language and the way he views himself (as an “Asset” without any knowledge of the community he has invited himself into). It is not surprising that he divides the people and runs the whole show, stealing from the very community that has been good to him and letting him in. So full of himself and ready to take all the praise.
On Winter
The cover of Moon of the Crusted Snow is desolate and singular. It’s a blanket of snow that fades away into the background.
“Winter is a reminder that the world wasn’t made for humans.”
“Onaabenii Giizis,” he proudly proclaimed out loud.
Moon of the crusted snow, Page 152
Evan and other Anishinaabe read the weather. The crusted snow and its relationship to the peak of winter leaves a haunting image in the reader’s mind. We enjoyed this take on winter: it’s a blanket that covers everything. It is the harshest time to have to survive. The crisis of the society mirrors the hardest season they have to live through.
On the Connection to History
There are many historical roots in this book, and like we mentioned about the writing, they are given to us silently and as facts. There is the link to residential school: why Evan and Nicole named their children what they did and how it is an attempt to reconnect with their language and culture. Justin Scott’s exploitation of the girls in the community is a link to the modern day missing and murdered indigenous girls.
There is a lot more to be said about historical connections and current state. However, I feel that those thoughts are best formulated when you experience them yourself so I will leave those out of this review and wait for you to discover them for yourself.
On Values and Language
We have talked about community and as we wrap up this review, it makes sense to come full circle. Lauren saw Evan as a natural protector. He is a product of that community, brought up to take care of his family and others. They won’t survive without each other, and to teach those values, they personify them. The kids see their parents sharing food and checking on elders.
There are simple moments related to language throughout the book, and yet they are so powerful. Indigenous communities lost languages duie to the Sixty Scoops and many other atrocities in the past. Evan would try to remember the word for moose in his native language. This is a symbol of resilience and Lauren and I both found it heartwarming that it is now immortalized and has been distributed with this book.
For myself, I grew up speaking Hindi. I don’t speak it anymore. Moon of the Crusted Snow gave us the opportunity to reflect on what that does to a person. I sometimes feel split that way. There are words and emotions I know in Hindi which I will never be able to explain properly in English, eg “humdard”. There is so much respect in languages like Hindi. The way we talk to elders acknowledges them as elders rather than being on a first name basis as is very common in the West. That is not to say that there isn’t respect. That is to point out that the language doesn’t have words for it per se. There is only the intention.
Languages and culture go together. If you lose language you lose the entire perspective on existence, the relationships and values that come from that language.
Thank you for joining us for the discussion of Moon of the Crusted Snow. If you have read this book, please share your thoughts below and check out the reading guide. I had linked to it earlier but here it is again. If you haven’t read it yet, we highly recommend it. I read it in one evening and have honestly spent longer thinking about it, discussing it and writing about it.
Will you pick up this book?
Cover image: Photo by Dominik Dombrowski on Unsplash
[…] Canadian indigenous speculative fiction here: I don’t know anyone who didn’t love Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. It is the most viewed book discussion on my blog. Set in a remote Anishinaabe […]