Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Moon of the Crusted Snow, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Technology, Society, and Survival
Colonialism, Oppression, and Trauma
Selfishness vs. Selflessness
Gender, Power, and Wisdom
Summary
Analysis
Nicole boils water on the wood stove in the basement and carries the pot upstairs to the kitchen, straining under its weight. She’s using the water to launder essentials like underwear. In the living room, Nangohns and Maiingan are playing in worn clothes. Nicole heads outside to refill the pot with snow to boil for drinking water, just as Dan and Patricia used to do before the reservation went on the grid. Nicole wonders what month it is. Based on the longer days and less frigid temperatures, she guesses it’s mid-March—there’s still another month or two of snow ahead. Tyler knocks on the door, looking for Evan, who’s in the bush. Tyler has bad news: Aileen just died.
Nicole quietly begins to embody her stoic, nurturing, power as Aileen dies, establishing her as the community’s bourgeoning spiritual healer. Like Aileen, Nicole knows how to read the landscape based on her traditional Anishinaabe knowledge, and it comforts her to know that she can measure time, anticipate the seasons, and plan for the future without the trappings of modern technology. Nicole’s character reinforces the idea that women who draw on indigenous wisdom are the community’s strongest, most resilient, and most powerful assets.
Themes
