Three Day Road

Three Day Road

by

Joseph Boyden

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Three Day Road makes teaching easy.
One of the largest groups of Indigenous people in Canada. Xavier, Elijah, and Niska are Cree.
Get the entire Three Day Road LitChart as a printable PDF.
Three Day Road PDF

Cree Term Timeline in Three Day Road

The timeline below shows where the term Cree appears in Three Day Road. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Monahikewina: Trenches
Isolation vs. Community Theme Icon
Language and Storytelling Theme Icon
...the attention of the German gunners. Xavier opens his mouth to warn McCaan but only Cree words escape. McCaan is thrown back from the periscope, his eye quickly swelling shut. A... (full context)
Pasitew: Fire
Nature, War, and Survival Theme Icon
...disappear. Elijah says the river washed away the tracks. He speaks in English instead of Cree because the wemistikoshiw “tongue is better for lies.”  (full context)
Racism and Assimilation Theme Icon
...of anything on the reserve and frequently did. “What if they mistake us for Plains Cree and give us horses to ride?” Xavier asks Elijah through the darkness. “Are they going... (full context)
Ntawi Nipahiwewak: Raiding Party
Isolation vs. Community Theme Icon
Nature, War, and Survival Theme Icon
...man’s land” yesterday and never returned. “We’re going over the top,” Elijah says excitedly in Cree. “We’re going Fritz hunting in the craters.” (full context)
Kiskinohanaasowin: Learning
Racism and Assimilation Theme Icon
Nature, War, and Survival Theme Icon
...their language but pretends he doesn’t. When an officer speaks to him, Xavier answers in Cree. (full context)
Nature, War, and Survival Theme Icon
...see and wait for hours on end, looking down their scopes. “There,” Xavier says in Cree and motions toward the bobbing head of a German soldier. Elijah fires, and the soldier’s... (full context)
Kipwahakan: Captive
Racism and Assimilation Theme Icon
Nature, War, and Survival Theme Icon
...as the flashing glow of the Wawahtew.” But the Hudson’s Bay Company “instilled in the Cree a greed for furs that nearly wiped out the animals,” and the land could no... (full context)
Racism and Assimilation Theme Icon
Nature, War, and Survival Theme Icon
...Anne, away from Niska. They washed Niska’s mouth out with lye soap if she spoke Cree, and they did not give her food for days. When the nuns cut her hair,... (full context)
Kimociwinikewin: Raid
Racism and Assimilation Theme Icon
...man comes by a name like yours?” Xavier explains that he is a “James Bay Cree” and tells Fat “the story of [his] name.” He asks about Elijah’s name, Whiskeyjack, too.... (full context)
Ishinakwahitisiw: Turning
Racism and Assimilation Theme Icon
Language and Storytelling Theme Icon
Elijah looks to Xavier. “I will come with you,” he says. “Just speak in Cree and I will translate.” Elijah and Xavier report to McCaan’s dugout where he waits with... (full context)
Language and Storytelling Theme Icon
...punishment for desertion is death by firing squad. “I’ve got an idea,” Elijah says in Cree. “Just speak in our tongue and I will do the translating.” “I don’t give a... (full context)
Racism and Assimilation Theme Icon
...the wild forests back home,” Breech says. “You are a lucky bastard,” Elijah says in Cree. (full context)
Tapakwewin: Snaring
Language and Storytelling Theme Icon
Nature, War, and Survival Theme Icon
...a hose and a tank strapped to his back. “Lie down, Graves!” Elijah yells in Cree and flames explode from the end of the hose and “engulf Graves’s body.” A Canadian... (full context)