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Both Sam Winter Moon and Henry Meloux are important guides, mentors, and supporters for Cork throughout the book, but at different times and in different ways. How do you think the men help guide Cork, especially spiritually and emotionally? Do you think they influence Cork’s behaviour and his relationships with the people around him?
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In this story, Sam Winter Moon and Henry Meloux are arguably the most important men in Cork’s life. Both provide his connection to his Anishanaabe heritage and its spirituality. Their emotional guidance is crucial to Cork. Even though Sam Winter Moon is dead, killed in the shootout over fishing rights, his memory and his bequest to Cork of Sam’s Place and the bearskin from their hunt 30 years earlier sustain Cork. Sam’s Place gives Cork a purpose, a source of livelihood and a place to live. The bearskin is a tangible reminder of Sam’s friendship with Cork and his father, Sam’s commitment to Cork and his companionship on Cork’s journey through grief. Henry gently ribs Cork about being sexually involved with a woman and later tells him, “The whites were wrong to kick you out as sheriff.” Although it is Jo who ultimately ends their brush with death at the hands of Sandy Parrant, it is Henry who gives them a chance and gives Cork the courage to confront Parrant. For all his flaws, Cork is a fundamentally decent man, honest, sensitive and respectful of others, qualities modeled by Sam Winter Moon and Henry Meloux.
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I enjoyed your description of their relationships. I cherished this part of the story. A young man without a father who is embraced by a caring male that connects him to his family, culture, and teaches him important values and principles that we all need to hear. The waste and devastation as he loses him, which is then salvaged by yet another good man. Cork as you’ve aptly described him rises to manhood to carry on these treasured traits, and he will undoubtedly shape others through his own beliefs and actions. Amongst the violence and detestation, it is a redeeming feature. When all seems lost, hope arises from what has been nurtured and sadly left behind. It serves us a gentle reminder of what is important in life.
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What an eloquent summary. Thanks so much for capturing how important these relationships were for Cork, and by extension are for others.
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Sam helps Cork with his grief over his father’s death. The hunt with the bear is obviously a profound moment for Cork as he keeps the bearskin as a treasured keepsake and almost speaks reverently about Sam and the bear when he recounts it to his daughter. I think Sam became a father figure for Cork so it makes it all the more painful that Cork feels responsible for Sam’s death and closes himself off afterwards, as if forgetting Sam’s gift (lesson). Henry teaches Cork how to confront the Windigo. He’s like his spiritual guide to Cork, helping him not only in the investigation (by nudging him towards clues) but also in how he tells Cork how he can battle the Windigo. Both men also physically save his life and they teach him how to be a good man and a warrior. I think we see the beginnings of Cork handing down this wisdom in the scene when he confronts Paul about taking a man’s life.
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I have often thought about how Cork’s personal loss and grief for Sam must have added so much to his response to the events of the shootout and his sense of responsibility and inadequacy. I had not really connected the wisdom Cork learned from Sam and Henry to his response to Paul but I can absolutely see it now. That Cork can see beyond himself to guide Paul is a hopeful sign.
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Both men not only rescue Cork when he is in danger (Sam from the bear, Henry from Sandy), but they also rescue his soul in profound and subtle ways. They take the time to share their beliefs, Anishinaabe way of life, and their hunting skills with him. They both are strong and compassionate men. And I think their strength and guidance help heal Cork’s heart – Sam when Cork is a boy, and Henry, when he is isolated from his family and others he cares about. I also think their teachings help him persevere in dangerous situations – they’ve given him courage. Both men talk to him about the Windigo and warn him about it. The Windigo’s evil force drives many of the villains in the book and I noted Cork brings it up with Russell and Sandy when he confronts them. I think Cork gets courage and strength from the men and I think it drives him to protect his family.
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Thanks! There are so many layers of their guidance and support for Cork. I think you have captured more than I had seen.
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Sam takes Cork on a bear hunt, but Cork only accepted the invitation out of politeness. Cork was afraid that “it was just another good-intentioned effort to make him forget his grief.” Cork was “afraid that to let go of the grieving would be to let go of his father forever.” As they looked at the “indentation the animal’s great paws had made in the ground, Cork felt excited about something for the first time in a year.” Without even knowing it, Cork was beginning the healing process. The rituals before hunting the bear bring to Cork an “appreciation of the ritual of the hunt that joined hunter and hunted together with the land that was the mother of both man and bear. He enjoyed the challenge of tracking, using his own knowledge of the animal and the woods instead of hunting with dogs the way white men did.” All of these skills prepare Cork for his future in law enforcement. Cork goes to Henry whenever he is in need of emotional and spiritual help, especially after the death of Sam Winter Moon. In a sense, he steps into Henry’s shoes when he badgers Paul about killing Harlan and wanting to kill Sandy until Paul expresses remorse to keep Paul from becoming a Windigo with a heart of ice.
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