Kiss of the Fur Queen

The children enact the Passion of the Christ in the schoolyard, thrilling in the violence and adventure of the scene. As Jeremiah (pretending to be a Roman Centurion) whips Gabriel (playing Jesus), Gabriel remembers a punishment he received earlier that week. Caught singing the Cree song “Kimoosoom Chimasoo” (83), which means “Grandpa gets a hard-on, grandma runs away,” Gabriel was whipped across his naked buttocks by Brother Stumbo until he nearly bled. As Jeremiah and the other children tie Gabriel to a cross, images from the school beating interrupt Gabriel’s experience. When Brother Stumbo blows the whistle for supper, the boys rush away, leaving a crying Gabriel still tied to the fence. By the time he wiggles free and reaches the dining room, supper is over. Gabriel vows to avenge himself against his laughing brother.

Jeremiah and Gabriel are overjoyed to join their family in Eemanapiteepitat at the end of June. The family travel in a wooden canoe across Mistik Lake for the summer’s fishing season. As Abraham paddles, Gabriel shows Jeremiah a flame flickering in the distance. Mariesis asks the boys not to look at the flame since it is from Chachagathoo, an evil Cree woman whom Father Thibodeau, the predecessor of Father Bouchard, hated.