Blog #3 How the Characters Evolve!

There are three main characters in this book and a lot of side characters that are still important, but Joseph Boyden does a great job making the main characters have interesting stories which are engaging as a reader. Xavier is an Ojibwa Native who starts his life off in residential schooling after being abandoned by his mother Rabbit where nuns tried to convert him to Christianity, and teach him the way white people live their lives.

Source: listverse.com

Xavier is saved from residential schools while he is still young  by his aunt Niska who couldn't bare to know that he was in the residential school. He gladly came with his aunt, and from there he learned quick from his aunts teachings in the woods, and of his Aboriginal culture. Xavier was getting lonely though with just his aunt around, and that's when Elijah came into their lives rescued from the school by Niska. Elijah has no other family that he knew besides the nuns taking care of him, so Xavier and Niska became his family. Elijah spent a significant more amount of time in residential schools them Xavier though, and was brought up by nuns so his English was fluent. Xavier taught everything he knew to Elijah about hunting and Native culture, and quickly they became more than friends instead brothers. When they were grown up they caught wind of a war, and this is where they started their adventure of fighting in the war together. Xavier became solitary and reserved, because he couldn't speak very good English and only killed when necessary unlike Elijah. Elijah in the war became a man who embraced his surroundings, and under the influences of morphine a crazy killing machine who needed kills to satisfy his blood lust. When the time came where Elijah's insanity has caused him to collect scalps and commit cannibalism, Xavier finds himself going to be one of Elijah's blood lust kills Xavier did what he must and strangled the life out him with his gun which is when Xavier realizes that he is also a Windigo killer.

Source: creepypasta.wikia.com

Niska his aunty is the daughter of a Windigo killer, and its customary when the father dies to take on this role, so it makes sense that Xavier was as well it runs in their blood. A Windigo is a tale of legend in Aboriginal culture. A Windigo is created if a person eats another human they become crazy tall creatures almost like Sasquatch, but they transform into this thing that needs to be killed or it will eat, kill, and terrorize many people. This is Niska and her families job to rid the world of Windigo's if it so crossed paths in their lives. Her younger self was betrayed many years ago by a white man, and since then she had taken it upon herself to learn all about her Aboriginal culture, and became a wonderful medicine woman taking care of other tribes and her nephew Xavier.

Turns out someone has done a YouTube video on the Windigo in this book its well done: