Status
Available
Call number
Call number
FIC DAN
Collection
Description
Life is changing for Canada's Anishnaabek Nation and for the wolf packs that share their territory. In the late 1800s, both Native people and wolves are being forced from the land. Starving and lonely, an orphaned timber wolf is befriended by a boy named Red Wolf. But under the Indian Act, Red Wolf is forced to attend a residential school far from the life he knows, and the wolf is alone once more. Courage, love and fate reunite the pair, and they embark on a perilous journey home. But with winter closing in, will Red Wolf and Crooked Ear survive? And if they do, what will they find?
Publication
Dundurn Press (2014), 256 pages
Original language
English
Language
User reviews
LibraryThing member lostinalibrary
Set in the 1880s in the province of Ontario, the novel explores the impact of the Indian Act of 1876 on the indigenous peoples of Canada. It opens as a wolf cub, left on his own when his parents are killed by ‘uprights’, is driven into an Anishnaabe camp by hunger. Happily, it is the camp of
The 1880s in Ontario Canada is a time of expansion. As loggers move into the northern parts of the province, the Anishnaabe (the People) are left with the choice of moving further north away from the whites or stay and fight. A government agent offers them a third choice: move to the Reserve where they will, according to him, receive free housing and money for food. What he does not tell them is that, once they move to the Reserve, the government has complete control of their lives including the need for approval to leave the reserve for any reason. It also means that the children can be removed and put into Residential schools in an effort to ‘kill the Indian to save the man’. Taken away from their parents often over long distances, the native pupils are denied their names, their language, their spiritual life, and their cultures and are told that they are ‘dirty savages’ who must learn to assimilate into the ‘superior’ white culture.
The cub, Crooked Ear’s story parallels Red Wolf’s. When Red Wolf is forced to go to the school, he must find a new pack to join. But food is becoming scarce with loss of habitat to logging and farming. As well, wolves are hunted relentlessly for their pelts and because they are seen as pests. But even when Crooked Ear finds a new pack, he misses the boy – they may be seen only as pests and savages to others but they were equals within their own pack.
Eventually, when Red Wolf (or George as he has been renamed) leaves the school, he discovers quickly that, having lost his own culture, he will not be accepted into white society. To the white population, he will always be a ‘dirty savage’. There are a couple of exceptions to this, whites who don’t share this bigotry, but they are few and can do little to help.
Red Wolf ends up back on the reserve, all hope and ambition driven out of him as it has been from the rest of his clan, spending his days doing nothing and his nights drinking. But there are rumours of another way, of his grandmother who has chosen to move away from the cruel reality the bands have been left with, to maintain the old ways. In the end, Red Wolf must decide which path he will follow. With one of Crooked Ear’s offspring, he heads out to find his grandmother and learn if the rumours are true.
The YA novel, Red Wolf, by author Jennifer Dance gives a very realistic, very powerful and very disturbing portrait of life for First Nations both on Reserves and especially at the Residential Schools. Because of this, I would suggest it might not be suitable for children under twelve. However, for anyone else, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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the Wolf Clan and the cub becomes the companion of a young boy, five-year-old Mishqua Ma’een’gun or Red Wolf. The 1880s in Ontario Canada is a time of expansion. As loggers move into the northern parts of the province, the Anishnaabe (the People) are left with the choice of moving further north away from the whites or stay and fight. A government agent offers them a third choice: move to the Reserve where they will, according to him, receive free housing and money for food. What he does not tell them is that, once they move to the Reserve, the government has complete control of their lives including the need for approval to leave the reserve for any reason. It also means that the children can be removed and put into Residential schools in an effort to ‘kill the Indian to save the man’. Taken away from their parents often over long distances, the native pupils are denied their names, their language, their spiritual life, and their cultures and are told that they are ‘dirty savages’ who must learn to assimilate into the ‘superior’ white culture.
The cub, Crooked Ear’s story parallels Red Wolf’s. When Red Wolf is forced to go to the school, he must find a new pack to join. But food is becoming scarce with loss of habitat to logging and farming. As well, wolves are hunted relentlessly for their pelts and because they are seen as pests. But even when Crooked Ear finds a new pack, he misses the boy – they may be seen only as pests and savages to others but they were equals within their own pack.
Eventually, when Red Wolf (or George as he has been renamed) leaves the school, he discovers quickly that, having lost his own culture, he will not be accepted into white society. To the white population, he will always be a ‘dirty savage’. There are a couple of exceptions to this, whites who don’t share this bigotry, but they are few and can do little to help.
Red Wolf ends up back on the reserve, all hope and ambition driven out of him as it has been from the rest of his clan, spending his days doing nothing and his nights drinking. But there are rumours of another way, of his grandmother who has chosen to move away from the cruel reality the bands have been left with, to maintain the old ways. In the end, Red Wolf must decide which path he will follow. With one of Crooked Ear’s offspring, he heads out to find his grandmother and learn if the rumours are true.
The YA novel, Red Wolf, by author Jennifer Dance gives a very realistic, very powerful and very disturbing portrait of life for First Nations both on Reserves and especially at the Residential Schools. Because of this, I would suggest it might not be suitable for children under twelve. However, for anyone else, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JRlibrary
This novel tells the story of a boy named Red Wolf who is forced to attend a residential school. He has a connection with a wolf called Crooked Ear, but the two stories don't intersect that much, instead they run parallel to each other. The book does a great job of painting the native experience at
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the residential school and hints at some of the abuse that might have taken place. I think it would make a great read aloud for a teacher wanting to lead a discussion about the residential experience for Natives in the late 1800s, but due to the sensitive nature of the experience, it might be best used with teacher guidance and discussion. Although I really liked the story, I'd hesitate to just hand it to someone under 12. Show Less
LibraryThing member katsmiao
This book is about a 5 year old boy and a red wolf. The boy is taken from his home and family and taken to a residential school to be raised.
The author captures the emotional toll on the family and the child at being ripped apart. The writing is not graphic and is appropriate for young readers, but
As adults we know of many more types of abuse that occurred at these schools, but the book keeps it appropriate for young readers.
I thought this was an excellent book and very well written. I read it with sadness, but feel it should be mandatory reading in schools, so that this chapter of Canadian history is not forgotten.
The author captures the emotional toll on the family and the child at being ripped apart. The writing is not graphic and is appropriate for young readers, but
Show More
the heartbreaking reality of residential schools and forced "assimilation" comes through. The book hints at abuse and describes some of the punishments the children had to endure. As adults we know of many more types of abuse that occurred at these schools, but the book keeps it appropriate for young readers.
I thought this was an excellent book and very well written. I read it with sadness, but feel it should be mandatory reading in schools, so that this chapter of Canadian history is not forgotten.
Show Less
LibraryThing member katsmiao
This book is about a 5 year old boy and a red wolf. The boy is taken from his home and family and taken to a residential school to be raised.
The author captures the emotional toll on the family and the child at being ripped apart. The writing is not graphic and is appropriate for young readers, but
As adults we know of many more types of abuse that occurred at these schools, but the book keeps it appropriate for young readers.
I thought this was an excellent book and very well written. I read it with sadness, but feel it should be mandatory reading in schools, so that this chapter of Canadian history is not forgotten.
The author captures the emotional toll on the family and the child at being ripped apart. The writing is not graphic and is appropriate for young readers, but
Show More
the heartbreaking reality of residential schools and forced "assimilation" comes through. The book hints at abuse and describes some of the punishments the children had to endure. As adults we know of many more types of abuse that occurred at these schools, but the book keeps it appropriate for young readers.
I thought this was an excellent book and very well written. I read it with sadness, but feel it should be mandatory reading in schools, so that this chapter of Canadian history is not forgotten.
Show Less
LibraryThing member katsmiao
This book is about a 5 year old boy and a red wolf. The boy is taken from his home and family and taken to a residential school to be raised.
The author captures the emotional toll on the family and the child at being ripped apart. The writing is not graphic and is appropriate for young readers, but
As adults we know of many more types of abuse that occurred at these schools, but the book keeps it appropriate for young readers.
I thought this was an excellent book and very well written. I read it with sadness, but feel it should be mandatory reading in schools, so that this chapter of Canadian history is not forgotten.
The author captures the emotional toll on the family and the child at being ripped apart. The writing is not graphic and is appropriate for young readers, but
Show More
the heartbreaking reality of residential schools and forced "assimilation" comes through. The book hints at abuse and describes some of the punishments the children had to endure. As adults we know of many more types of abuse that occurred at these schools, but the book keeps it appropriate for young readers.
I thought this was an excellent book and very well written. I read it with sadness, but feel it should be mandatory reading in schools, so that this chapter of Canadian history is not forgotten.
Show Less
ISBN
1459708105 / 9781459708105