Moon of the Crusted Snow

Monday’s community meeting is not as well attended as Terry hoped. His cousin Walter suggests he should have offered the attendees food. Isaiah’s mother, Candace North, reassures Terry that people must be running late due to the weather. Terry goes out for a smoke break. Evan, who had earlier filled the diesel generator to heat the gym, asks Candace what’s going on; she admits that they do not know.

The room gradually fills. Evan sees his older sister, Sarah, and her young son, Ziigwan, but Cam is notably absent. Back inside, Terry scans the crowd, knowing he will have to make decisions that will not be popular with everyone. He greets the crowd in Ojibwe and in English and calls up elder Aileen Jones to open the meeting with a prayer and smudging ceremony.

Evan, who has a special relationship with Aileen, helps her to her feet and to the front of the auditorium. Evan takes an abalone shell from her medicine bundle, and Aileen takes out some sticks of sage. Aileen lights the sage in the abalone shell and hands an eagle feather fan to Evan. Aileen directs the sage smoke over her torso and body as Evan wafts it through the room with the fan.