In Highway’s novel the Kiss of the Fur Queen, tribal history is very impactful.  The author describes a story which centers on the relationship between Cree tribal identity and modern colonial Western institutions, exemplified through government policy and residential school.

The author’s tribal history is evident throughout the novel in the vivid descriptions of the legends of births, the Fur Queen, the trickster, and the Weetigo spirit.  The recurring imagery of the kiss of the Fur Queen with focuses on the kiss  itself, the photograph, and it’s effects throughout the unvierse, through the birth of the fetus is another example of the author’s tribal history impacting the creative work.  Dance and music which are central to the brothers’ relationship and to their survival through residential school and later life is also significantly influenced by the author’s tribal history, which the boys become increasingly detached from later in the novel.

The juxtaposition between Cree and Western culture is highlighted early on in the book.  In the scene where Abraham’s son whom they have named “Ooneemeetoo” is baptized, it is evident that the Okimasis family is somewhat at odds with the Catholic priest who renames the child Gabriel.  The narrator describes the baptism as a “curious ritual” from Champion’s perspective (p. 36).  This tension becomes more evident when Mareisis and Abraham discuss whether Champion will have to go to the South to go to residential school.

The comparison of the First Nations boys’ haircutting when they arrive at residential school to “slaughter” is chilling.  “He was being skinned alive in public; the centre of his nakedness shriveled to the size and texture of a raisin, the whole world staring, pointing, laughing.”  This scene becomes increasingly significant throughout the novel and is symbolic of Champion, now Jeremiah’s loss of his heritage culture.  The priests are described in an ominous way “Father Lafleur placed a hand on Champion’s thigh and like some large, furry animal, purred at him… The scent of sacramental wine oozed off his tongue, and incense appeared to rise like fog off the surface of his cassock.”  These dark, animal-like descriptions can be seen to foreshadow the abuse that Jeremiah and his brother will face.

Highway’s novel touches on subjects related to cultural heritage and history, abuse by settlers, loss of cultural heritage, as well as issues related to homosexuality and HIV/AIDS.  Through these themes, Highway touches on many topics which have been discussed in this unit of the course.