Moon Of The Crusted Snow Rhetorical Analysis

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Jana Aburas Paula Moore NBE3U 4/26/ How does the portrayal of Nanabush as a trickster and the depiction of survival in crisis emphasize the adaptability of Indigenous Peoples, while also highlighting the importance of culture and storytelling as a means of navigating the world? In the text Moon Of The Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice, on pages 172-173, he highlights the challenges that the Anishinaabe communities will face and demonstrates the significance of indigenous Mythology and storytelling in Indigenous culture. Through the use of Nanabush as a trickster figure and the portrayal of survival, the novel emphasizes the adaptability of Indigenous people in times of hardship, while also showcasing the importance of culture and storytelling …show more content…

In the story, Nanabush spends too much time eating berries and forgets to hunt and gather resources for the long winter. As a consequence, he was forced to adapt to his situation and use his trickery to scheme a plan in which he will deceive the geese and store them as food for the winter. While cooking a goose he gets too comfortable and decides to take a nap and instructs his diiyosh(bum) to wake him up when the goose is ready. His bum fails to wake him up which causes the goose he was cooking to burn only the legs lasting and all the other geese to vanish. This story foreshadows how the Anishinabe people in the story will have a scarce supply of food/resources and will have to adapt and be resourceful in order to ensure their survival. This connects to the recurring theme in the story, the Theme of Survival in a crisis. The book repeatedly presents the adaptability of indigenous people in crisis throughout history using examples of the residential schools in Canada and the challenges the characters in the book are currently …show more content…

Nanabush is known for using his wit and trickery to solve problems and overcome any challenge that he might face. In the text, Nanabush faces a crisis of scarcity and he uses his skills to create a plan and deceive the geese so that he can secure a supply of food before the beginning of winter. Due to his negligence winter is right around the corner and yet Nanabush still has not gathered any food for the long winter. Due to his recklessness, Nanabush is forced to scheme by tricking the geese into dancing while their eyes are closed, while the geese are dancing Nanabush went around and killed each one of them one by one, cooking one of them up and saves the rest for winter. This last-minute plan that Nanabush succeeds at demonstrates the resourcefulness of indigenous peoples in times of crisis and the importance of using creativity to overcome difficult