MOON OF THE CRUSTED SNOW | Waubgeshig Rice
READ NOVEMBER 2020
This book was read in the original LAX LAB climate fiction book club, which was active between 2020 and 2023. đˇ
MOON OF THE CRUSTED SNOW |
Waubegeshig Rice
2018
ECW Press
âOur world isnât ending. It already ended. It ended when the Zhaagnaash* came into our original home down south on that bay and took it from us. That was our world. When the Zhaagnaash cut down all the trees and fished all the fish and forced us out of there, thatâs when our world ended.â
â Waubgeshig Rice, Moon of the Crusted Snow, 2018
*Anishinaabemowin for âwhite peopleâ
Indigenous people know what it is like to have a world end. Winter is approaching as a small Anishinaabe community in northern Ontario is cut off. No power. No communication. No end in sight. Life becomes more complicated with the arrival of unexpected visitors from the south. Tensions and panic rise in the community as the harsh winter progresses and food becomes scarce. How does community survive when disaster strikes and infrastructure collapses?
Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgehsig Rice is a dystopian tale told from an Indigenous perspective. Waubgeshig Rice is an author from Wasauksing First Nation near Parry Sound, Ontario in Canada. He is part of a growing collective of North American Indigenous authors writing science-fiction, horror, and dystopia. This book reflects on colonialism, upon resilience, and how communities respond to crisis.
âThe thick cloud cover insulated them from the stinging air of a clear, windy day. It reminded Nicole that there would be an end to this season, as there always was. At times though, she wasnât so certain. Everything was different. Things they had come to rely on had fallen apart and their community had been turned upside down. There were days when she wasnât sure if she was awake or dreaming.â
â Waubgeshig Rice, Moon of the Crusted Snow, 2018
About the author
Waubgeshig Rice â Author website
Further reading, listening, viewing
The Ojibwe Peopleâs Dictionary
ââWeâve already survived an apocalypseâ: Indigenous writers are changing sci-fiâ
Alexandra Alter, New York Times, 14 August 2020
ââI'm indigenizing zombiesâ: behind gory First Nation horror Blood Quantumâ
Charles Bramesco, The Guardian, 28 April 2020
âWhy writing a post-apocalyptic novel felt more fact than fiction for Waubgeshig Rice'
The Next Chapter, CBC Radio, 3 December 2018
âWhy Waubgeshig Rice wrote a dystopian novel about the collapse of society from an Indigenous perspectiveâ
Ryan B. Patrick, CBC, 9 October 2019
Moon of the Crusted Snow playlist by Waubgeshig Rice
â"Speculative fiction is a powerful political tool": from War of the Worlds to Terra Nullius'
Veronica Sullivan, The Guardian, 22 August 2017
'Anishinaabe writer Waubgeshig Rice hopes popular novel will be adapted for the screen'
Denis Ward, APTN, 26 May 2020
Original LAX LAB book cover illustration by Emma Arnold, 2020
