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Nipiwin: Dying
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Three Day Road, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Isolation vs. Community
Racism and Assimilation
Language and Storytelling
Nature, War, and Survival
Summary
Analysis
It is nearly night as Niska heats the stones and carries them into the matatosowin. She helps Xavier to the river and takes off his wemistikoshiw clothes. Niska washes him in the cool water and leads him to the matatosowin. She “acknowledges the four directions and then the earth, the sun, the sky, and the moon” and thanks Gitchi Manitou for Xavier’s return.
Niska strips Xavier of his wemistikoshiw clothes and washes him in the river before dragging him into the sweat lodge. She has to cleanse him of his wemistikoshiw influence and identity for the ceremony to work.
Themes
Niska helps Xavier out of the matatosowin to cool before going in again. She pours water on the rocks to make it hotter and sees visions of “fury and killing.” She feels “pain,” but it is the “fear” that affects her most. Niska again helps Xavier out to cool and then drags him in for a “third round.” This time, Niska feels only Xavier’s pain, and it is so intense she thinks she can’t stand it. Xavier falls to the ground, “moaning and crying,” and Niska fears he isn’t strong enough.
Niska takes Xavier’s pain and fear onto herself. She can see the war as she does so, and she can feel the intense, ever-present fear Xavier felt during the war. By taking Xavier’s pain and fear, Niska is further purifying Xavier’s body and soul from wemistikoshiw influence and pain, bringing him closer to his Native identity and culture.
Themes
“Forgive me,” Xavier cries. “I had no choice.” He cries and speaks over and over about “killing his friend,” and Niska understands. Xavier grows calm and Niska listens as he “accepts forgiveness.” He continues speaking. “But I cannot forgive everything you did there,” he says. “It is not my place to do so.” Niska feels Elijah’s “presence” and bends down to embrace it. Xavier whispers, “goodbye,” and they are alone.
This is the moment in which Xavier finally takes responsibility for Elijah’s death and asks for forgiveness. The spirit of Elijah appears in the matatosowin (he was summoned by Niska) and he directly relieves Xavier of his crippling guilt. Xavier had to return to his Native culture and identity to reach this point, which underscore’s Boyden’s central argument of the power in embracing one’s Native identity.
Themes
Niska again carries Xavier out of the matatosowin to cool. “Just one more round, Nephew,” she says. “it will not feel as painful or as hot.” They climb back in and the visions hit Niska immediately. She sees two small boys, “happy” and “naked” in the sunlight. Their hair is long down their back and is “braided with red cloth.” Niska knows “this isn’t the past” but the future, and she knows who the boys are, too.
Boyden implies that Xavier is on “the three-day road” and is potentially dying, but Niska’s vision suggests that Xavier may live after all. Niska knows that these children are Xavier’s and they, too, are being raised in the traditional Cree way. Xavier not only embraces his culture; he teaches his children to embrace it as well.
Themes
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When Niska and Xavier crawl out of the matatosowin it is dark. Niska doesn’t bother to make camp. She brings blankets from the canoe and covers Xavier by the fire. Xavier “breathes calmly” as an Arctic owl “sweeps close by” and a lynx in the distance keeps “watch with her yellow eyes.” Niska settles in next to Xavier in front of the fire. “By tomorrow,” Niska thinks, “we’ll be home.”
Boyden ends on a note of optimism. Xavier is calm, and a bird is close by. Even a lynx, Niska’s spirit animal, keeps watch in the distance, ensuring their safety and happiness through their ongoing spiritual connection with nature. Niska hasn’t recognized her surroundings in nearly a day, yet she seems convinced now that they will make it home.
Themes
