Culture In Waubgeshig Rice's Moon Of The Crusted Snow

The stories, traditions, and language are slowly disappearing as the elders will not be around forever and they are not being passed down through generations because the oral story tradition is not as commonly used. The novel Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice exemplifies the importance of young people in Anishinaabe communities and how they must carry on those important factors of their culture. “Aileen was the last of the generation raised speaking Anishinaabemowin, with little English at all. She was one of only a few dozen left who could speak their language fluently. She remembered the old ways and a lot of the important ceremonies. She had more knowledge than everyone else about the traditional lives of the Anishinaabeg” (Rice

Traditional practices in Anishnaabe culture include learning to hunt with family which helps to understand the land as their ancestors once did. Evan had just returned from hunting and he was thinking about what would happen if they ran out of meat for the winter and had to purchase more. “Evan ate southern meats when he had to, but he felt detached from that food”(6). Eating food you hunted and worked hard to put on the table has a different meaning and feeling attached to it. Whereas when you buy it from the store it does not take as long to collect and no work was put into gathering said meal. Evan grew up hunting with his father, he says he does not enjoy the part of taking a life but it still makes him feel proud to provide for his family and stay connected to his culture. The tradition teaches the value of retrieving your food as well as honoring the ways of your ancestors. The understanding of the land and knowing one day he will be able to teach his children valuable lessons. By teaching upcoming generations the traditions that come along with their culture, they are more likely to continue and expand on their learnings and teachings. One of the other important traditional practices is smudging this tradition helps you feel clarity and a connection to the land. Assisting Aileen to get prepared to begin smudging “Evan carefully waved the feathers across the burning sage, moving more smoke through the room. Aileen cupped her hands over the smudge and started to guide it all over her body…It represented a cleansing of the spirit, and the ceremony was believed to clear the air of negativity“ (52-53). After smudging they feel more connected to the creator. Before anything important, they always start with a smudge to cleanse the bad energy and feel their relationship to their culture as well as letting the unnecessary energy leave so the more