Basil Johnston’s Moose Meat and Wild Rice is a collection of short stories about the relationship between the Ojibway residing in the fictional Moose Meat Point and the community. Moose Meat and Wild Rice is broken into four parts, namely “The Resourcefulness of the Moose Meat Point Ojibway,” “Christianity, Religion, and Worship at Moose Meat Point,” “Getting Along Ahead Outside the Reserve,” and “With Housing, Education, And Business … Poof!” Belonging to the “Christianity, Religion, and Worship at Moose Meat Point” section is an interesting story entitled “Secular Revenge,” which tells a story of Kitug-Aunquot, an older member of Moose Meat Point. Kitug-Aunquot does not only experience problems with the priest but also struggles with the religion that is forced upon him and his community.
Johnston begins the Secular Revenge short story by providing a brief background on Kitug-Aunquot's situation. As Johnston asserts, Kitug-Aunquot is not in favor of the wave of the religion that has taken over the community. However, Kitug_Aunquot eventually succumbs and joins the church. He tries to attend the church as often as he can. However, due to his location, he sometimes fails to attend the masses. Next, the author introduces the priest. Johnston begins, “It was Friday, and there were no urgent matters to attend to; a good day to go. The morning was cold, and the crisp snow crunched under Father’s snowshoes and he plodded along” (Johnston, 2011, p. 82). By “a good day to go,” it is understood that the priest will be confronting Kitug-Aunquot because he is not committed to matters concerning the church. In the larger scale of the story, “there were no urgent matters to attend to” is an implication that the priest spends most of his time chasing the Moose Meat Point residents in an attempt to force his religion.
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The author continues, “The way was long, perhaps some four miles. These Indians, especially the old ones, had a perverse habit of erecting their homes in remote and inaccessible locations” (Johnston, 2011, p.82). It is apparent from this excerpt that the priest complains about the length of the journey. Further, the author of the story states, “Father puffed his way through bushes, and around trees, the cold making his eyes sting” (Johnston, 2011, p. 82), which is an exaggeration of the difficulties that the priest underwent in a bid to confront Kitu-Aunquot. Before the priest enters the house, the author describes, “He arrived at Kitug Aunquot’s log house at noon, relieved to see the smoke wafting blissfully from the rusty stovepipe protruded from the roof at a drunken angle” (Johnston, 2011, p. 82). Here, the word smoke is metaphorically utilized. Smoke is a metaphor for the Ojibway. Of equal importance to highlight here is the fact that alcohol is a prominent theme in Moose Meat and Wild Rice. It is for this reason that the priest utilizes the word “drunken” to describe the smoke that emanates from Kitug-Aunquot's house. In this regard, the Moose Meat Point residents are happy when left to their own devices. It is the white community that interferes with their lives, making them struggle for purposes of surviving. The author of the story continues, “He knocked commandingly upon the door” (Johnston, 2011, p. 82). Here, it is apparent that the priest knows that he has authority and command over Kitug-Aunquot.
Although “Secular Revenge” is a small section of the Moose Meat and Wild Rice, it holds a majority of the themes that predominate the entire volume. In other terms, "Secular Revenge" showcases that the white community has a negative attitude towards the Ojibway. Notably, Moose Meat and Wild Rice depict the present-day Indians and Indian-White relations. Although the stories in Moose Meat and Wild Rice are told in fiction, they are based on facts. The reason attributed to this assertion is the fact that the havoc and hilarity and prejudice and pretence characterizes the present-day Indians and Indian-White relations.
The work of the Native Canadian writer Basil Johnston describes the religion and mimetic violence existing in the contemporary world. The religion and mimetic violence are attributed to two factors, namely the colonial attempt to remake the colonized into a reflection of the dominant culture and inter-native conflict in which participants mirror one another in their struggle for a mutually coveted object ( Derry, 2009) . Colonialism and mimesis are evident throughout Moose Meat and Wild Rice, let alone throughout “Secular Revenge.” In the short story "Secular Revenge," colonialism, religion, and mimesis are evident in Kitug-Aunquot's conversion to Catholicism by the Ojibway –speaking missionary named Father Beauchamp. For a new convert, the mimetic imposition includes several obligatory fasting days. According to Kitug-Aunquot, the number of obligatory fasting days is “designed more to foster perpetual hunger and suffering rather than the growth of grace and piety” (Johnston, 2011, p. 81). Although Kitug-Aunquot attempts try his best to adhere to the requirements of Catholicism, one day the priest finds him at home on a Friday eating bologna. Indeed, the missionary explodes upon finding Kitug-Aunquot taking bologna. The priest explodes, "Don't you know that if you were to die now, you would go straight to hell and burn forever?" (Johnston, 2011, p. 83).
According to Kitug-Aunquot, bologna is just meat, but the priest maintains that it is against the requirements of Catholicism. It is for this reason that the priest accuses Kitug-Aunquot of being not only wicked but also a sinful old man. Although the priest leaves Kitug-Aunquot's house in anger, Kitug-Aunquot later agrees to help the church during a wood-cutting exercise. However, instead of carrying lumber, Kitug-Aunquot shows up with loads of sawdust. Kitug-Aunquot's delivery of load after a load of sawdust angers the priest, and upon demanding to know what is going on, one of his indignant parishioners states that if bologna is meat, it follows then that sawdust is wood.
Apparently, Kitug-Aunquot’s encounter with the priest can be regarded as a form of hybrid resistance. In light of this, when one of the priest's indignant parishioner tells him that if bologna is meat, then sawdust is wood, this elicits an amused response from the indignant parishioner's fellow Moose Meaters (Johnston, 2011, p. 83). The resistance in Moose Meat and White Rice is still evident in the western approach to governance. For instance, the European states seek exemption from the inter-national trade agreements prohibiting barriers to the importation of U.S films, television, and music which they believe that they threaten the European culture ( Paul, 2000).
In summary, Moose Meat and Wild Rice showcase that the white community has a negative attitude towards the Ojibway. Moose Meat and Wild Rice depict the present-day Indians and Indian-White relations, which are characterized by havoc and hilarity and prejudice and pretence. Such relations are attributed to indigenous people’s resistance in a bid to preserve their cultural practices. The resistance in Moose Meat and White Rice is still evident in the western approach of governance.
References
Derry, K. S. (2009). Uncomfortable Mirrors: Religion and Mimetic Violence in Contemporary Canadian Native Literature (Doctoral dissertation).
Johnston, B. (2011). Moose Meat & Wild Rice . McClelland & Stewart.
Paul, J. R. (2000). Cultural resistance to global governance. Mich. J. Int'l L. , 22 , 1.
