Kiss of the Fur Queen

Last updated
Kiss of the Fur Queen
Kiss of the Fur Queen.jpg
Author Tomson Highway
Translator
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Genrenovel
Published
ISBN 9780385256520

Kiss of the Fur Queen is a novel by Tomson Highway, [1] first published by Doubleday Canada in September 1998. [2]

Contents

The novel's main characters are Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis, two young Cree brothers from Eemanipiteepitat in northern Manitoba who are taken from their family and sent to a residential school. [2] Their language is forbidden, their names are changed to Jeremiah and Gabriel, and the boys are sexually abused by priests. However, a wily trickster figure, the Fur Queen, watches over the boys as they fulfill their destiny to become artists. [2]

The novel, a fictionalized account of the real-life childhood of Tomson Highway and his brother René, [2] was a nominee for the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award and the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1998.

Francophone Ontarian poet and academic Robert Dickson translated the novel into French, [3] under the title Champion et Ooneemeetoo, which was published by Prise de parole in 2004. The German edition Der Kuss der Pelzkönigin. Ein indianischer Lebensweg was translated by Thomas Bauer and published in 2001 by Frederking & Thaler (Munich).

Plot summary

Kiss of the Fur Queen begins with the champion dog-sled racer Abraham Okimasis and the story of his two sons, Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis from Eemanipiteepitat, Manitoba. Both brothers are taken from their families and sent to a residential school where they are unable to speak their language, forced to cut their hair, and renamed to Jeremiah and Gabriel. In their residential school experience, both brothers are physically and sexually abused at the hands of the priests which leads to Jeremiah's celibacy and Gabriel's inability to form successful relationships. The residential school is also the time that Gabriel meets the Fur Queen or better known as the trickster who watches over them throughout their lives.

When he returns from residential school, Jeremiah moves to Winnipeg to pursue his interests in music which acts as a coping strategy for his earlier abuse. He immerses himself fully in his musical pursuits which results in his further isolation and feelings of loneliness due to his lack of meaningful relationships and family connections. Gabriel decides to join his brother in Winnipeg to continue his passion for dance. He embraces his homosexuality at a time when it was not safe to do so publicly, and self-medicates with drugs and alcohol. He turns to prostitution and endures vivid flashbacks of the abuse he suffered at the hands of the priests. Both brothers have troubles reconciling their two identities and this leads them to reject their Native identity and embrace the dominant culture.

Themes

There are many themes at play in this novel. There is the theme of the trickster, an element found throughout native storytelling and fiction. In this case the trickster appears in the lives of both Abraham, who is the father of the boys, and Gabriel and Jeremiah. The trickster appears in times of great importance for the characters and is a playful figure, in contrast to the stern vengeful god that the boys are introduced to in school. Another theme found in this novel is the devastating effects of colonization on Indigenous people. Gabriel and Jeremiah are sent to residential school where they are forced to speak English, and their own Cree culture and language is demonized. Both boys are traumatized by their experiences at residential school and face issues regarding identity growing up. Reconciliation is also a strong theme found in this work. Both Gabriel and Jeremiah have to find their own way to heal from their traumatic experiences at residential school.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomson Highway</span> Canadian playwright and novelist

Tomson Highway is an Indigenous Canadian playwright, novelist, and children's author. He is best known for his plays The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, both of which won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play and the Floyd S. Chalmers Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Canada</span> Overview of the role of the Catholic Church in Canada

The Canadian Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Canada, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, and has a decentralised structure, meaning each diocesan bishop is autonomous but under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. As of 2021, it has the largest number of adherents to a Christian denomination and a religion in Canada, with 29.4% of Canadians being adherents according to the census in 2021. There are 73 dioceses and about 7,000 priests in Canada. On a normal Sunday, between 15 and 25 percent of Canada's Catholics attend Mass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corktown, Toronto</span> Neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Corktown is an older residential neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The neighbourhood is south of Shuter Street, north of the Gardiner Expressway, east of Parliament Street, and west of Don River to the east. Corktown contains many vacated industrial buildings, some now used for movie production, and others repurposed for studios and shops. The West Don Lands development is in the south-east corner of this area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate</span> Catholic missionary order

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. The congregation was given recognition by Pope Leo XII on February 17, 1826. As of January 2020, the congregation was composed of 3,631 priests and lay brothers usually living in community. Their traditional salutation is Laudetur Iesus Christus, to which the response is Et Maria Immaculata. Members use the post-nominal letters, "OMI".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Métis</span> 19th century community of the Métis people of Canada

A 19th century community of the Métis people of Canada, the Anglo-Métis, more commonly known as Countryborn, were children of fur traders; they typically had Scots, or English fathers and Indigenous mothers, often Cree, Anishinaabekwe, Nakoda, amongst others. They were also known as "English halfbreeds." Some Anglo-Metis still identify by this name. Their first languages were generally those of their mothers: Cree, Saulteaux, Assiniboine, etc. and English. Some of their fathers spoke Gaelic or Scots, leading to the development of the creole language known as "Bungee". Some scholars have started spelling Métis as "Metis" to acknowledge the presence and contributions of the Anglo-Métis and the complex history of the Métis people overall.

The George Gordon First Nation is a First Nations band government located near the village of Punnichy, Saskatchewan, in Canada. The nation has an enrolled population of 3,752 people, 1,191 of whom live on the band's reserves. Chief Byron Bitternose leads the First Nation. Their territory is located on the Gordon 86 reserve, as arranged by Treaty 4.

Helen Betty Osborne, or Betty Osborne, was a Cree Aboriginal woman from Norway House reserve who was kidnapped and murdered while walking down Third Street in The Pas, Manitoba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norway House</span> Population centre in Manitoba, Canada

Norway House is a population centre of over 5,000 people, some 30 km (19 mi) north of Lake Winnipeg, on the bank of the eastern channel of Nelson River, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. The population centre shares the name Norway House with the northern community of Norway House and Norway House 17, a First Nation reserve of the Norway House Cree Nation. Thus, Norway House has both a Chief and a Mayor.

Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing is a play by Canadian writer Tomson Highway (Cree), which premiered in 1989 at Theatre Passe-Muraille in Toronto.

The Rez Sisters is a two-act play by Canadian writer Tomson Highway (Cree), first performed on November 26, 1986, by Act IV Theatre Company and Native Earth Performing Arts.

Wisakedjak is the Crane Manitou found in northern Algonquian and Dene storytelling, similar to the trickster Nanabozho in Ojibwa aadizookaanan, Inktonme in Assiniboine lore, and Coyote or Raven from many different tribes. His name is found in a number of different forms in the related languages and cultures he appears in, including Weesack-kachack, Wisagatcak, Wis-kay-tchach, Wissaketchak, Woesack-ootchacht, Vasaagihdzak, and Weesageechak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duck Lake, Saskatchewan</span> Town in Saskatchewan, Canada

Duck Lake is a town in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan, Canada. Its location is 88 km (55 mi) north of Saskatoon and 44 km (27 mi) south of Prince Albert on highway 11, in the rural municipality of Duck Lake. Immediately to the north of Duck Lake is the south block of the Nisbet Provincial Forest.

Billy Merasty is an Aboriginal Canadian actor and writer of Cree descent.

Cross Lake First Nation is a band of Cree First Nations people in Canada governed under the Indian Act. Its members occupy several reserves within the town of Cross Lake situated on the east shore of Cross Lake in the province of Manitoba. In October 2008, its recorded registered membership was 6,969, of which 4,953 people of this First Nation lived on their reserve. Cross Lake is the principal community of the Pimicikamak indigenous people that made treaty with the British Crown in 1875. Its indigenous language is Woods Cree. Cross Lake was the site of a residential school operated under Canada's assimilation policy. In 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized for the damage caused by this policy.

<i>Lost in the Barrens</i> 1956 childrens novel by Farley Mowat

Lost in the Barrens is a 1956 children's novel by Farley Mowat. Later editions used the title Two Against the North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory Scofield</span> Canadian Métis poet, beadwork artist, dramatist and non-fiction writer

Gregory Scofield is a Canadian Métis poet, beadwork artist, dramatist and non-fiction writer. He is a graduate of the Gabriel Dumont Institute Native Human Justice Program. His written and performance art draws on Cree story-telling traditions. He has published two instruction books on doing Métis flower-beadwork for the Gabriel Dumont Institute.

<i>Indian Horse</i> 2012 novel by Canadian writer Richard Wagamese

Indian Horse is a novel by Canadian writer Richard Wagamese, published by Douglas & McIntyre in 2012. The novel centres on Saul Indian Horse, a First Nations boy from Ontario who survives the residential school system and becomes a talented ice hockey player, only for his past traumas to resurface in his adulthood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School</span>

Qu'Appelle Indian Residential School (Q.I.R.S.) or Qu'Appelle Industrial School was a Canadian residential school in the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan. As one of the early residential schools in western Canada, it was operated from 1884 to 1969 by the Roman Catholic Church for First Nations children and was run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Grey Nuns. As of November 8, 2021 Star Blanket Cree Nation started searching for unmarked graves using ground-penetrating radar.

Indigenous peoples of Canada are culturally diverse. Each group has its own literature, language and culture. The term "Indigenous literature" therefore can be misleading. As writer Jeannette Armstrong states in one interview, "I would stay away from the idea of "Native" literature, there is no such thing. There is Mohawk literature, there is Okanagan literature, but there is no generic Native in Canada".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop Horden Memorial School</span>

Bishop Horden Hall, also known as Bishop Horden Memorial School, Moose Factory Residential School, and Horden Hall, was a residential school that operated from 1906 until 1976 on Moose Factory Island, at the southern end of James Bay, at the bottom of Hudson Bay, in northern Ontario.

References