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Reggie Bushie
Kyle Morrisseau was one of the titular “seven fallen feathers” who disappeared in Thunder Bay Ontario, and whose body was later pulled from one of the city’s rivers. Kyle came from a long line of artists—his father, Christian, is a painter, and his grandfather Norval Morrisseau was one of the most prominent Ojibwe artists of the 20th century. Christian had initially moved to Thunder Bay with Kyle when Kyle began attending school in the city—but by his second year in school, Kyle was on his own and living in a boarding house. Kyle’s behavior began slipping, and he was arrested by the Thunder Bay Police on two occasions. He was drinking a lot and struggling in school at Dennis Franklin Cromarty—and in October of 2009, he disappeared. Ten days later, police found his body in one of the city’s rivers.
Kyle Morrisseau Quotes in Seven Fallen Feathers
The Seven Fallen Feathers quotes below are all either spoken by Kyle Morrisseau or refer to Kyle Morrisseau. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 9: Less Than Worthy Victims
Quotes
After the attack on Darryl Kakekayash, Alvin and Julian saw a clear and disturbing pattern. They could not help but wonder if First Nations kids were being targeted and murdered. It was extremely rare to hear of Indigenous kids drowning on their reserves. Most First Nations people were born and raised on the water. Equally perplexing was how quickly the Thunder Bay Police wrote off investigations into the deaths. For Jethro, Curran, Reggie, and Kyle, police had issued press releases that came to the same conclusion: foul play was not suspected. Each of the deaths was classified as accidental: death by drinking too much and then drowning. To Thunder Bay Police, no one was readily responsible for the deaths of the students.
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Chapter 10: Seven Fallen Feathers
Quotes
[Christian] called the painting Seven Fallen Feathers. Each feather represents one of the seven dead students. Morrisseau was tired of hearing them being called that, "Seven dead students." People always referred to the kids like that. "The seven dead." As if they weren't anything else in life.
They had their own spirits. They were their own people.
Morrisseau couldn’t stand hearing his son Kyle being called "one of the seven dead students" anymore, not by the news media, not by the lawyers, not by the people who meant well but found it easier to lump them all together as one.
Kyle was a fallen feather. They all were.
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Get the entire Seven Fallen Feathers LitChart as a printable PDF.
Kyle Morrisseau Quotes in Seven Fallen Feathers
The Seven Fallen Feathers quotes below are all either spoken by Kyle Morrisseau or refer to Kyle Morrisseau. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 9: Less Than Worthy Victims
Quotes
After the attack on Darryl Kakekayash, Alvin and Julian saw a clear and disturbing pattern. They could not help but wonder if First Nations kids were being targeted and murdered. It was extremely rare to hear of Indigenous kids drowning on their reserves. Most First Nations people were born and raised on the water. Equally perplexing was how quickly the Thunder Bay Police wrote off investigations into the deaths. For Jethro, Curran, Reggie, and Kyle, police had issued press releases that came to the same conclusion: foul play was not suspected. Each of the deaths was classified as accidental: death by drinking too much and then drowning. To Thunder Bay Police, no one was readily responsible for the deaths of the students.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10: Seven Fallen Feathers
Quotes
[Christian] called the painting Seven Fallen Feathers. Each feather represents one of the seven dead students. Morrisseau was tired of hearing them being called that, "Seven dead students." People always referred to the kids like that. "The seven dead." As if they weren't anything else in life.
They had their own spirits. They were their own people.
Morrisseau couldn’t stand hearing his son Kyle being called "one of the seven dead students" anymore, not by the news media, not by the lawyers, not by the people who meant well but found it easier to lump them all together as one.
Kyle was a fallen feather. They all were.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
