Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative

Because the book is largely intended for children, Broker practices restraint in describing the European settlers’ attempted eradication of Ojibway culture. Oona’s flight from her first home to rainy country was prompted by the impending arrival of settlers. The journey was especially difficult for the Ojibway elders and children, yet they persevered. Oona’s group of eight families enjoyed their new home, but settlers found them and required them to travel to a Native Area. Once again, the elderly and young had to endure a difficult journey. These evictions drastically changed the Ojibway way of life. Oona’s community did all they could to maintain tradition, making their home away from White Earth Reservation’s main village. However, the settlers demanded that all Ojibway children enroll in the village school. The Ojibway’s leaders had to decide whether to move to the main village and adopt the settlers’ ways or surrender their children to board for most of the year. Recognizing the danger of allowing their children to be raised by white strangers, the leaders opted to move. At school, the children were taught to accept the new ways and forsake their own culture—with the white teachers going so far as to demonize Ojibway traditions. In old age, Oona despaired at Ojibway children’s ignorance and loss of interest in the old ways.

However, it was not just the US government’s boarding schools that worked to undermine Ojibway culture. The logging industry claimed ownership of the forest and continually destroyed parts of it, denying the Ojibway access to their former homelands. Confined to Native Areas, Ojibway men had to turn to the logging industry for jobs. While the men proved skillful in this industry, the destruction of trees was heartbreaking for them. Logging was also dangerous and did not garner fair pay—with Oona’s father ultimately dying from this work. The settlers’ laws favored them, and their presence deterred Native people’s engagement in self-government. Intermarriage between Ojibway and white settlers became common, with E-Quay and her husband Walter being one such partnership.

Yet, there were some, like Oona, who never relinquished tradition. They accepted many of the new ways, such as conversion to Christianity and farming methods, but also maintained Ojibway ceremonies and crafts. When a young girl named A-wa-sa-si sought such knowledge, Oona knew that the Ojibway would survive and reclaim their culture—even after years of suffering at the hands of settlers.