Cree Identity In Joseph Boyden's Three-Day Road

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Fighting on Two Fronts:
Elijah Weesagechak’s absence of Cree identity in Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road
Our personal identity is malleable; like a river shaped* by its surrounding earth, our identities are often shaped by the people around us, and our external environments. It can be seen in modern society, where the media feeds youth the new “it” image, sometimes impairing development of personal identity. It can also be in a more traditional sense, where many Native Canadians allow themselves to be moulded by their external environment, learning from their ancestors and living off the land. However, it appears to be the more extreme environments which tend to unveil our true identities. Personal identity is the concept of who we are; therefore, …show more content…
Elijah’s placement in the local Moosefactory residential school eradicated any significant possibility of developing his Cree identity. He was not able to connect with his Cree roots and find himself in the stories and ways of his ancestors; he did not learn to respect the land, and the hunt. While in a sniping nest, Elijah shoots the bloated stomach of a dead horse simply because he is bored. This is contradicting with indigenous traditions of treating animals, and shows how Elijah is distant from his culture – that “the Indian inside him” truly seems to have been weeded out by the residential school. This is further articulated by Xavier Bird, who says, “No Indian religion in him. The only Indian Elijah wants to be is the Indian that knows to hide and hunt” (Boyden, 137). Elijah’s absence* of Cree identity is demonstrated again when young Elijah asks Xavier why Niska calls him “nephew”. When Xavier replies that it is his name, Elijah contests this, and says that his Christian name is Xavier. According to Niska, Elijah “was simply trying to understand”, yet, this demonstrates his early confusion of identity (Boyden,
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