Three+Day+Road

Louisa Sorflaten Novel Study EN 3041/3051 Oct. 19, 2009

Novel Study Assignment: Joseph Boyden’s //Three Day Road//
Q: How many of you are familiar with Native Canadian contributions to World War I? Q: How many of you know of the WWI Ojibwe hero Francis Pegahmagabow? Q: Has anyone heard of John Shiwak? Q: How many First Nations fought for Canada during World War I?

//Three Day Road // is a novel which definitely deserves a place in any English classroom committed to creating social justice and equality. What is so clever and important about //Three Day Road// is the way in which Metis author Joseph Boyden constructs the First Nations characters of Niska, Xavier Bird, and Elijah Whiskeyjack as deeply complex characters who are central to the story, a story which is usually told from the white perspective. This complexity provides a counter-narrative to the typically one-sided, flat construction of the Aboriginal as invisible “other.”

Set within the wilderness of Northern Ontario and the battlefields of Europe during World War I, Boyden’s first novel //Three Day Road// is a non-linear World War I epic, set in 1919, told from Xavier’s and Niska’s perspectives. //Three Day Road// opens with Niska, a solitary Cree spiritual leader and Xavier’s Aunt, waiting in town for Elijah, Xavier’s best friend, to return home from war. Niska has been informed that Xavier was killed in the line of duty. Instead of Elijah, however, a wounded Xavier returns, struggling with a morphine addiction and riddled with the emotional and physical scars of war. The course of the story takes place over three days as Niska literally and metaphorically leads Xavier home, back to the wilderness of Northern Ontario. Much of their journey takes place on a river, in a canoe, with Niska paddling and offering her wounded nephew the solace of her stories. Niska’s stories are a lifeline for Xavier and give insight into the complexity, depth, and customs of Cree life. Meanwhile, through Xavier’s morphine driven flashbacks in the canoe, the reader enters into Xavier and Elijah’s journey across the Atlantic and into their existence as respected snipers, in a Canadian regiment, over the course of three years of the Great War. This story, as Boyden explains in an interview, did not start out with a circular plot. Instead, the original drafts of //Three Day Road// were structured with a logically ordered, chronological procession of events. After he had completed these drafts, however, he realized that he was “applying a Western style of storytelling to an Aboriginal story” (Boyden 391). Circular structure is central to Cree and Ojibwe ways of life and after those first drafts, Boyden realized that the key ingredient missing from his narrative was //Aboriginal// structure. The way Boyden explains it, this is a major omission, for the Cree and Ojibwe:

“Life evolves around a circle. The earth, the sun, the moon are all round, and we live our days according to their dictation. The seasons travel through spring, summer, autumn, winter, and back to spring again. The teepee and the wigwam and the shaking tent and the fire ring are circular structures. And so I decided to begin this story near the chronological end and then trace through the circle around to where I started. Niska knows that the circle can’t be broken and fights as hard as she can to keep Xavier alive so that one day he may have his own children and keep the cycle intact. I wanted Xavier to leave home, but I also wanted him to return to Niska” (391).  In the structural style of this novel Boyden’s Métis Irish, Scottish, Native and Canadian heritage merges and allows for multiple perspectives and timeframes to emerge. //Three Day Road // foregrounds and honours Native soldiers who fought in the Great War. Drawing from conventions of western and Native storytelling techniques, Boyden merges literary traditions and challenges the canonical and colonial Canadian historical record. Inspired by real life, but forgotten First Nation war heroes, such as Francis Pegahmagabow, //Three Day Road// straddles the boundaries of historical fiction, post-colonial fiction, First Nations fiction, and Canadian fiction and reinvents the historical record to include and celebrate the contributions of First Nation war heroes.

I began this presentation with a series of questions to foreground our collective ignorance around First Nations contributions to WWI. I am embarrassed to admit that before reading this novel I was completely unaware of the fact that at least 4,000 First Nations men left their homes to fight for Canada during the Great War (Vetran’s Affairs). I am shocked by my own ignorance and feel a sense of injustice. First Nations contributions to the first and second World Wars are grossly underrepresented in canonical literature, historical texts and literary fiction. Boyden challenges this omission by writing the stories of almost forgotten war heroes like Francis Pegahmagabow into characters like Xavier and Elijah. In his acknowledgements to //Three Day Road//, Boyden expresses sincere reverence for all of the “Native soldiers who fought in the Great War, and in all wars in which they so overwhelmingly volunteered” (383). This acknowledgement is spiritual and goes on to directly address Native War heroes: “Your bravery and skill do not go unnoticed. I especially want to honour Francis Pegahmagabow, sniper, scout, and later chief of Wasauksing First Nation (Parry Island). He is one of Canada’s most important heroes” (ibid). Inspired by real life events, characters and historical fact and historical omissions, //Three Day Road// thus occupies an integral space in the post-colonial reconstruction of our collective imagination.

While I am predominantly reading //Three Day Road// from a constructivist, post-colonial standpoint, it is important to stress that this novel is not entirely didactic or cautionary. Rather, it is a work of art through which the brutalities and injustices of war emerge in a very personal and emotional way. Ultimately //Three Day Road// is as engrossing as it is beautiful. But more importantly, this novel is an offering and a bridging of cultures and histories. //Three Day Road// offers Non-native readers a window into First Nations cultures and into World War I from the Native perspective. In addition to an understanding of the complexities and depth of Aboriginal society, spirituality and ways of life, //Three Day Road// exposes all of its readers, Native and non-Native alike, to the horrific epic of World War I. Ultimately, this novel stands as a beautiful and essential addendum to Canadian historical fiction.

a) In what grade level / course would you teach this text? Are there other courses for which it might also be appropriate? ·  Grade 12, University or College Preparation courses such as Studies in Literature, The Writers Craft or Canadian Literature. ·   <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Due to the mature content and graphic scenes and difficult subject matter requiring sensitive, critical reading and decoding, I initially thought I would limit this novel to mature grade 11 or 12 classes. However, after our discussion in class, and considering what students these days are exposed to in terms of violent and graphic material, keeping in mind the need to prepare students for what they will encounter in this novel, I would open the possibility of this text to a mature grade 10 class. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">

b) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">What are the main ideas/ issues/ teaching points which you would emphasize when teaching the text?

<span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Native contributions to WWI <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Residential Schools –Assimilation policies of the early 20th century in Canada <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Racism <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Colonialism <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Cultural Intolerance/Cultural dominance <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Native Culture <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Native Spirituality <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Native storytelling <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Trickster figure <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Elijah’s madness-Was Elijah playing into a stereotype white culture had constructed for all Native “savages”? Would any of us in that situation risk madness? Would we all “do what we have to do to survive” as Niska advises? <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Historical background and the development of WWI and how Elijah and Xavier were no different than other young men in their time in that they romanticized the war, saw adventure and bravado in signing up for the war. They, like all other young men, really had no idea what they were getting into. This was an era before mass media. It was also the transition into modern warfare. <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Why Boyden Cree language to structure each chapter and inserts Cree words without explaining them throughout the text <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Invisibility <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Literary Devices / First Nation Storytelling devices: <span style="color: black; font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; msolist: Ignore;">- Title: Three Day Road –to walk the three day road in Cree culture indicates some kind of journey toward a different spiritual realm – perhaps death? <span style="color: black; font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; msolist: Ignore;">- The tradition of the war novel <span style="color: black; font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; msolist: Ignore;">- Symbols <span style="color: black; font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; msolist: Ignore;">- Metaphor <span style="color: black; font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; msolist: Ignore;">- Humour <span style="color: black; font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; msolist: Ignore;">- Trickster <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Although the NFB film //Forgotten Warriors// emphasizes First Nations treatment after WWII, this documentary would be useful in highlighting some of the injustices and ironies inherent in First Nations peoples fighting for Canada abroad while suffering due to unequal treatment at home.

c) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">What are the issues/ challenges you might encounter in teaching the text? <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Racism <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Sensitive Issues –Niska’s rape <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Gruesome war scenes <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">The Cree Windigo <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Would want to be careful to have students read the text critically so that they can observe and react to the racist scenes without perpetuating stereotypes <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Students might be daunted by the structure and length <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';"> d) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">Describe one possible assignment / activity which you could use when teaching the text. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: '@Arial Unicode MS';">  This activity will help students further understand First Nations contributions to the Great War (World War I) and will foster recognition of artistic expression in Aboriginal culture by reading First Nations literature and conducting research on First Nation or Inuit art and artists.  Identify characteristics of First Nations or Inuit literature and art forms and explain how they represent that culture. Remember that each First Nation has its own culture reflected in its own art forms.  a.  Unwind the circular plot of //Three Day Road//  b.  Respond to the story structure in a journal reflection <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; msobidifontweight: bold; msolist: Ignore;">a. Go to the following URL [|**http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/circle-plot/**] <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Watch the demonstration on how to complete a circular plot diagram <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Create your own circular plot diagram of //Three Day Road// <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Read “An Interview with Joseph Boyden” p. 389-396 in the Penguin Reader’s Guide at the end of the novel. <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Considering the structure and content of the novel, as well as Boyden’s cultural background, why do you think Boyden chose a circular and interwoven plot which is told from the perspectives of two main narrators?
 * One Possible Assignment: **
 * Assignment Objective: **
 * Topic: **
 * Getting Started: ** Read Joseph Boyden’s //Three Day Road//
 * Activity: **
 * Directions: **

b. In a 2 page journal entry, consider the structure and content of the novel, as well as Boyden’s cultural background. Why do you think Boyden chose a circular and interwoven plot structure? Do you like that the story is told from the perspectives of two main narrators? What does the structure of //Three Day Road// tell you about Cree culture? Explain your answers and provide 2 quotes to support your perspective.

<span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">Works Cited

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Boyden, Joseph. //Three Day Road//. Toronto: Penguin, 2005.

Titley, Brian E. //A Narrow Vision: Duncan Campbell Scott and the Administration of Indian Affairs in Canada//. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1986. 50.

Lesson adapted by Louisa Sorflaten, Oct. 18, 2009, from “The Learning Circle –ages 14-16” (Indian and Northern Affairs 2007). [] Veteran’s Affairs. “Native Soldiers, Foreign Battlefields: The Wartime Contribution of Canada's First Peoples.” Ottawa: Communications Division, Veteran’s Affairs Canada, 1996. Accessed Online, Oct. 18, 2009. []