Paul Panacheese Character Analysis

Paul Panacheese was one of the titular “seven fallen feathers” whom author Tanya Talaga writes about in the book. Paul died suddenly in 2006, collapsing on the floor of his mother Maryanne’s kitchen after spending the night out with some friends. Many members of Paul’s family, including his mother’s sister Sarah, passed through the abusive and dangerous residential schooling program in Canada—and so when Paul went away to school in Thunder Bay, Ontario and began struggling to keep up, Maryanne moved to the city to protect and support him. Paul’s sudden death—for which the coroner was unable to find any discernable cause—still left Maryanne and the rest of the Panacheese family reeling with grief. Shortly after Paul’s death, the coroner’s office disposed of all materials that could have been used to identify a cause of death—and so for Maryanne and the rest of Paul’s family, there is, tragically, no answer as to why his life was cut short.