Seven Fallen Feathers
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Prologue Chapter 1: Notes from a Blind Man Chapter 2: Why Chanie Ran Chapter 3: When the Wolf Comes Chapter 4: Hurting from the Before Chapter 5: The Hollowness of Not Knowing Chapter 6: We Speak for the Dead to Protect the Living Chapter 7: Brothers Chapter 8: River, Give Me My Son Back Chapter 9: Less Than Worthy Victims Chapter 10: Seven Fallen Feathers Epilogue
Themes
All Themes Colonialism, Cultural Genocide, and Racism Generational Trauma and Circular Suffering Indigenous Youth, Education Reform, and Support Networks Tradition, Prophecy, Spirituality, and Hope
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Tanya Talaga Jethro Anderson Curran Strang Paul Panacheese Robyn Harper Reggie Bushie Kyle Morrisseau Jordan Wabasse Norma Kejick Alvin Fiddler Chanie Wenjack Nanabijou Stan Beardy Maryanne Panacheese Cheyenne Linklater Cindy Blackstock Ricki Strang Tammy Keeash Skye Kakegamic Rhoda King Darryl Kakekayash Shannen Koostachin Norval Morrisseau Christian Morrisseau Ivan Masakeyash Julian Falconer Frank Iacobucci Sam Achneepineskum Nathan
Terms
All Terms First Nations Ojibwe Indian Act Residential Schools Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Northern Nishnawbe Education Council (NNEC) Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) Robinson-Superior Treaty Runner First Nations Child and Family Caring Society Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Native Syndicate Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT)
Symbols
All Symbols Rivers and Bodies of Water
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Seven Fallen Feathers

by

Tanya Talaga
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Cheyenne Linklater Character Analysis

Cheyenne Linklater was Robyn Harper’s boarding parent and an on-call member of the NNEC in Thunder Bay, Ontario. On the night of Robyn’s death, Cheyenne was on-duty, driving around Thunder Bay in an NNEC van to keep a lookout for any wayward students who needed a ride home. There is security camera footage of Cheyenne and fellow NNEC member David Fox driving Robyn and Skye Kakegamic home from the bus terminal where Skye brought a drunken Robyn—but Cheyenne later insisted that she hadn’t picked the girls up and had only returned home at 4 a.m. after the conclusion of her shift. Tanya Talaga implies that had Cheyenne and David done more for the lethally intoxicated Robyn—and had the Thunder Bay police not made themselves so untrustworthy in the eyes of Thunder Bay’s Indigenous community—Robyn might have lived.

Cheyenne Linklater Quotes in Seven Fallen Feathers

The Seven Fallen Feathers quotes below are all either spoken by Cheyenne Linklater or refer to Cheyenne Linklater. 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:
Colonialism, Cultural Genocide, and Racism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6: We Speak for the Dead to Protect the Living Quotes

At the inquest, […] the lawyer for six of the seven families bluntly stated Robyn's death was no accident—he called it a homicide. […] Homicide, in a coroner's inquest, does not require proof of intention—it is simply the killing of a human being due to the act or omission of another. […] [The lawyer] stated categorically: "We hold NNEC responsible for what happened to Robyn. There is no question the NNEC is trying its best, and there's not a lot of money, but they did have services they held out to be capable and competent and they were neither.""

Related Characters: Tanya Talaga (speaker), Robyn Harper, Cheyenne Linklater, Skye Kakegamic, David Fox
Indigenous Youth, Education Reform, and Support Networks Theme Icon
Page Number: 198-199
Explanation and Analysis:
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Seven Fallen Feathers PDF

Cheyenne Linklater Quotes in Seven Fallen Feathers

The Seven Fallen Feathers quotes below are all either spoken by Cheyenne Linklater or refer to Cheyenne Linklater. 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:
Colonialism, Cultural Genocide, and Racism Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6: We Speak for the Dead to Protect the Living Quotes

At the inquest, […] the lawyer for six of the seven families bluntly stated Robyn's death was no accident—he called it a homicide. […] Homicide, in a coroner's inquest, does not require proof of intention—it is simply the killing of a human being due to the act or omission of another. […] [The lawyer] stated categorically: "We hold NNEC responsible for what happened to Robyn. There is no question the NNEC is trying its best, and there's not a lot of money, but they did have services they held out to be capable and competent and they were neither.""

Related Characters: Tanya Talaga (speaker), Robyn Harper, Cheyenne Linklater, Skye Kakegamic, David Fox
Indigenous Youth, Education Reform, and Support Networks Theme Icon
Page Number: 198-199
Explanation and Analysis:
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