Joseph Boyden’s Three Day Road is
set during World War One (1914-1918) where the world was becoming more and more
colonized. European countries wished to
extend their empires and it soon became a race on who could be the most
oppressive and rich country. Britain and France acquired most of North America
at this time. The Canadian town, Moose Factory, where the three protagonists
are from has influence from both French and British cultures. The European colonists demonstrated
imperialism by oppressing the Natives in several different ways. They created
an unequal balance of power, cultural genocide and ignored the contributions of
Native soldiers in World War One.
The
Europeans had a parent-child relationship with the First Nations in Canada. The
European “parent” got to make all the rules while the dependent “child” is
forced to follow. If the Natives refused their wishes serious consequences
followed. But what gives the Europeans the right to be considered the parent?
The Europeans considered themselves more superior due to their advanced
technology and greed. This lead to “the Hudson’s Bay Company instilled in the Cree
a greed for furs that nearly wiped out all the animals, and because of this the
time came when even the most experienced of the bush men and women were faced
with the decision to move to the reserve or die of hunger.” (90) The wemistikoshiw (white people) had another
secret weapon, other than greed and it was rum. This was traded for furs and
most importantly Native advice. “The Cree are a generous people. Like forest
ticks the wemistikoshiw grabbed onto
us, growing fatter by the season, until the day came when suddenly it was us
who answered to them.” (48)
During
colonialism Native culture was wiped out. The Europeans literally tried to
erase their traditions, way of life and language by sending them to residential
schools. The nuns who ran the schools were determined to convert little Indian
children to their language and religion. “The younger children were beaten with
switches and forced to eat food from the ground like dogs.” (92) If the nuns
caught any children speaking their Native tongue they would force lye soap into
their mouth and not give them anything to eat for days. The children were pried
away from their families and were never allowed to visit their parents “so that
the nuns could work their spells without any interruption.” (91)
Two
of the Native protagonists Elijah and Xavier became Canadian soldiers in World
War One where their contributions were ignored strictly due to their race. Even
on their train ride to training camp they were forced to sit in a different
rail cart than the wemistikoshiw. Once
they were finally working in the trenches and recognized as snipers some of
their finest kills weren’t believed. When Elijah tried to report a kill to
Lieutenant Breech he said that Elijah’s claim was exaggerated and asked “how
many canoe lengths” (196) Elijah was from his target. Elijah was rarely
complemented once by stating that “he exhibits the best traits of an officer”
(190) but his Lieutenant immediately shot down this idea. The Native soldiers
are often referred to as “useless bush Indians” (109) and they never get their
kills recognized by officers. Another Native soldier named Peggy is rumored
throughout the novel of having close to one hundred kills but no officer will
believe him.
Colonialism
is an evident and real-life problem within Three Day Road. Native
culture has diminished due to European oppression. This novel highlights the
unfortunately cruel reality of Canadian history and their residential schools.
Soldiers who fought for Canada weren’t honoured for their work because of their
culture. Joseph Boyden does an incredible job of uncovering Canada’s “dark”
history of Aboriginal oppression.
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