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Wemistikoshiw
A legend in Anishnabe culture of an evil spirit, or manitou, that is usually depicted as a large beast. The windigo eats only human flesh, and its spirit can infect others and quickly spread to an entire community. Micah’s wife “goes windigo” in Three Day Road, as does Elijah, and they are both killed by a “windigo killer.” The clan’s hookimaw is responsible for killing members of the tribe that “go windigo” and consume human flesh, and Niska’s father, Niska, and Xavier each must kill windigos. The legend of the windigo represents an imbalance between the spiritual and physical self, but it is also a powerful cautionary tale against the dangers of isolation. Only those who leave their tribal community, either literally or metaphorically, are infected by the windigo, which underscores Boyden’s central argument of the importance of community within Indigenous culture.
Windigo Quotes in Three Day Road
The Three Day Road quotes below are all either spoken by Windigo or refer to Windigo. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Takoshininaaniwan: Arrival Quotes
Where is he? We spent the whole war together only to lose each other in the last days. A shell landed too close to me. It threw me into the air so that suddenly I was a bird. When I came down I no longer had my left leg. I've always known men aren't meant to fly
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This passage occurs as Xavier begins the three-day trip home to the bush, and it is significant because it introduces birds as a symbol in the novel. Birds are symbolic of Xavier’s connection to nature as a Native Cree, but Boyden also associates birds with freedom and further extends this metaphor to airplanes during the war. As Elijah watches the airplanes fly above his head in France, he longs to fly and therefore be free. But Elijah is terrified when he finally gets the chance to fly, and for the first time during the war, he begins to fear death. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. In
Noohtaawiy: My Father Quotes
The world is a different place in this new century, Nephew. And we are a different people. My visions still come but no one listens any longer to what they tell us, what they warn us. I knew even as a young woman that destruction bred on the horizon. In my early visions, numbers of men, higher than any of us could count, were cut down. They lived in the mud like rats and lived only to think of new ways to kill one another. No one is safe in such times, not even the Cree of Mushkegowuk. War touches everyone, and windigos spring from the earth.
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This quote occurs during one of Niska’s stories to Xavier, and it is significant because it reflects Niska’s traditional role as her clan’s hookimaw and underscores how assimilation and the encroaching wemistikoshiw have stripped Niska of the power associated with her Native identity and role. Most Indigenous people don’t live Niska’s traditional life as an awawatuk, or someone who lives according to “the old ways,” and as such, “no one listens any longer” to Niska’s visions and warnings. Many Indigenous people have given in to the forced assimilation of the wemistikoshiw, and like the white settlers, they don’t seem to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit.
Ka Nipihat Windigowa: Windigo Killer Quotes
I made Xavier smile with my story of smacking the nun with my paddle, and this gives me hope. Steering the canoe slow through the afternoon I watch him drift into sleep. It is a restless time for him, and his face looks like a scared child's when he cries out. To try and ease him a little, I start talking again. The story is not a happy one, but something in me has to tell it. There is truth in this story that Xavier needs to hear, and maybe it is best that he hears it in sleep so that the medicine in the tale can slip into him unnoticed.
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This passage occurs after Niska tells Xavier the story of rescuing him from the residential school, and it is important because it again underscores the power of storytelling in Native Cree culture. Xavier is in incredible pain and is likely dying, but the powerful story of Niska taking Xavier from the school and striking the nun with her canoe paddle brings him some comfort. This is a pleasant memory for both of them—in it they both have the upper hand over the wemistikoshiw—and it gives him some spark, some life, as his strength is slipping away. Once again, Niska’s stories Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos.
Tapakwewin: Snaring Quotes
I remember when he began to explore the places that aren't safe to explore. I remember him learning to love killing rather than simply killing to survive. Even when he went so far into that other place that I worried for him constantly, he still loved to tell me stories. He never lost his ability to talk. I think it was this ability that fooled the others around us into believing he hadn't gone mad. But I knew.
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This quote occurs as Elijah slips further and further into madness during the war, and it is significant because it reflects Elijah’s isolation, but it also underscores the power of language and stories as well. At this point, Elijah is sneaking away from his unit to kill solo in no man’s land, and he repeatedly puts himself in danger to so. It isn’t “safe” because he is close to enemy territory and in the open where he could be spotted and killed. Furthermore, if Elijah is caught deserting his unit for any reason, he will likely be executed by firing Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Vo
Weesageechak: Hero Quotes
Elijah kicks at the ground. "Listen to me, X," he says. "l should never have gotten in that aeroplane. Before that I believed nothing could hurt me over here. But I lost something up there is what it feels like. I need to get it back." Elijah reaches his hand out to a horse. It shies away. "I can see that I went too far into a dangerous place for a while. But I see that." He stops talking, then starts again. "Does that mean something?"
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This quote occurs near the end of the war, right before Xavier is forced to kill Elijah, and it is significant because, for the first and only time, Elijah appears to have some insight into his madness. It also explains Elijah’s experience in the airplane and what it means for him in the context of the war. Elijah knows now that he isn’t as free as he initially thought, but he has gone too far to turn back now. Xavier was fearless before the airplane. He believed he could kill and never be killed, and now he knows this isn’t Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam
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Windigo Term Timeline in Three Day Road
The timeline below shows where the term Windigo appears in Three Day Road. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Noohtaawiy: My Father
...night, like “groaning and shrieking,” and in the morning she found the “tracks of the windigo” outside their lodge. Soon, the baby’s cries of hunger stopped, and Micah became “desperate.” He...
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...my fault,” Micah’s wife cried. “Don’t you see?” Micah’s wife and baby were both “turning windigo,” Niska says.
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Niska’s mother and father had told her of the windigo—people who turn into “wild beasts twenty feet tall” and eat the flesh of humans—and Niska’s...
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...Niska—something Niska innately knew. “I am the second to last in a long line of windigo killers,” Niska says. “There is still one more.”
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Mamishihiwewin: Betrayal
...a hookimaw, from a strong family. Happiness is not yours to have. You are a windigo killer.” When Niska left the old woman, she couldn’t believe what she had heard. The...
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Pahkonikewin: Skinning
...their faces, and he thinks about the Frenchman, Francis. Xavier shudders. He thinks Francis is “windigo.” When Elijah and the others return, Elijah is eager to tell Xavier his story.
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Ka Nipihat Windigowa: Windigo Killer
...day the “awawatuk from the turtle clan” came to visit. “One of us has gone windigo this winter,” the awawatuk said immediately. He told Niska his nephew went into the woods...
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...camp. The man’s story was much like Micah’s, only it was the man that went windigo and ate his wife. Niska was nervous as they approached the camp. She feared the...
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Niska did not have a plan as she approached the windigo. He remained calm as she slipped the rope around his neck. All she had to...
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