Book review: History: sad but resilient

A young Iroquois girl (Snow Falls) is kidnapped by an Elder Huron Warrior (Bird) as revenge for the killing of his family. In the process, a Jesuit missionary named Christophe (Crow) also becomes a Huron prisoner. Their lives become entwined as they struggle not only for survival, but as they adapt to new ways of life and deal with world views and cultural practices in opposition to their own.

At times the story is brutal, and the perspectives, beliefs and practices so conflicting that it leaves an unmistakeable mark on the reader. As a novel, I took in the plot as such and gained insight and perspective about a shared history from someone else’s “moccasins”.

While the sadness and cruelty of history remains undisputable, the core strength and resiliency of the Nations of Indigenous peoples is punctuated. Despite the echoes of the loss, grief and anguish that persists even today, the determination of First Peoples has never been extinguished.

Unquestionably, the book is thought-provoking and will challenge the reader in many different ways. While I would have appreciated more detail on the “why” of the spiritual ways of the Huron and the Iroquois, the novel compelled me to fill in my own knowledge gaps about this historical period.

“The Orenda” by Joseph Boyden. Penguin Canada Books Inc. Hardcover. 486 pages. ISBN 978-0-670-06418-2 (bound). First published 2013.

–Reviewed by Laura Dokis