Nurture Triumphs
Snow Falls is taken hostage by Bird after the Huron leader retaliates by killing her family from the Haudenosaunee tribe. Though Snow Falls has a difficult time accepting his adoptive father and tribe as family she eventually comes to terms with the reality. She asserts, “I’ve begun to like Bird much as I would one of them, maybe even you, my father. Is that wrong? I must, then, remember what he did to you all, Father, Mother, Sister, dear Brother.” Ironically she chooses Bird and Huron tribe as her family even with the chance to go back to her original tribe and family.
Severed Finger
As she grapples with the love-hate relationship between her and Bird, Snow Falls acts out by cutting his finger. During their excursion to trade she creeps and cuts off Bird’s small finger during his sleep. As soon as he severs the finger she realizes she has cut hers too, “I raise my hand to my face, and the understanding sinks in as blood pulses out. The other finger on the stone is mine.” Though she intended to scar Bird to leave a permanent impression she ironically severs herself leaving a stump too.
Bird’s instincts
In several instances, Bird clinches onto his fierceness in making decisions such as initially intending to kill Christophe and Snow Falls. On these rare occasions, he follows his instincts by sparing their lives and saving the French missionary, and adopting the young girl. Oddly the second decision driven by instinct turns out to favor him as Snow Falls becomes the daughter she had lost. Moreover, Christophe ends up saving his adoptive daughter from an attack changing his perception of the French missionaries.
Caressing
In the narrative, torture is frequent as the native tribes utilize it to break their enemies from the other tribes. However, their expression for torture is rather understated as they term it ‘caressing’. For instance, Bird states, “Once they’ve rested sufficiently, I tell the people to take their turns caressing the prisoners. People line up to cut the men’s arms, their legs, their chests, and stomachs.” The point of the terminology is to honor the spirit that their brave enemies possess within them. Nonetheless, it is ironic taking into account the brutality of their methods of torture.
The irony of French settlement
The arrival of Jesuit missionaries was not necessarily met with open arms until the settlers had to prove their noble intentions. The settlers aimed to bring modernity and lead the natives to the path of Christianity away from their ‘savage’ ways. Their settlement however initiates far worse conditions than they found which devastates the tribes. The introduction of foreign diseases that lead to a plague and also guns that intensify the bloodshed during conflicts.
