Three Day Road As Indigenous Story: A Short Synopsis Of The Story And The Author's Background

Part-1: A short synopsis of the story and the author’s background.

Three Day Road

“Three Day Road” is basically an indigenous story that introduces two companions, Xavier Fowl and Elijah Weesegeechak. They are both Cree aboriginals from Northern Ontario and are two exceptionally gifted seekers. They were extremely skilled in hunting. Xavier was raised by his close relative Niska, who instructed him how to outlive out in the bushes. Elijah went through his early long time in a school run by the nuns where he was implied to be absorbed into white Canadian society. Xavier and Niska liberated Elijah from the school and the two boys rapidly ended up becoming best friends. Since those friends liked adventure and fun so they quenched their thirst to join the Canadian Army and also fighting in the World War 1. Both of them were so different in personality when they grew up. Like, Xavier was a quiet and very much of a conservative person who strongly believes in maintaining his identity. On the other hand, Elijah was more of an outgoing person and talkative person and he quickly identifies and adapts himself to the Canadian lifestyle, but he started to lose his identity. Moreover, Xavier strongly disagrees with war whereas Elijah enjoys war. Xavier and Elijah who were best friends started to separate off because of the change in their personalities.

At the beginning of the story, Niska, Xavier’s aunt arrives to the train station to pick up Elijah after the war because she got a letter from him to pick him up from the station. It was said that only Elijah is coming but Niska got surprised at the station when she saw Xavier hopping out of the train and the most surprising thing was the that he had a missing leg which made Niska more surprised. Niska takes back Xavier to their home on her canoe. Xavier used morphine to get rid of the physical pain of his missing leg but he couldn’t during the three day trip. During the war they had great competition. Both the friends were great at shooting especially the sniper. Xavier was recalling these events when they were paddling towards their home. When three days pass by and when they are close to their home Xavier frightened that he will die. It was very emotional. And bought to the conclusion of the novel when he experiences about the war.

About The Author: Joseph Boyden

Joseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. He was born on October 31, 1966. Boyden is of Irish and Scottish ancestry. Boyden is best known for writing about First Nations culture. He not only wrote novels but also many short stories and non-fiction books. He won many numerous national and international awards. At present, Boyden got five honorary doctorates and degrees. He studied in many universities to get his degrees. Boyden was a very good public speaker and addresses Indigenous Canadian, environmental and mental issues. Some of his notable works are: Through Black Spruce, The Orenda.

Part2: A brief reflection on the question: Is this an Indigenous story?

Yes, definitely it is an Indigenous story. Basically, indigenous people mean the aboriginal people or the native people who are the original settlers of a region. They are basically the ancient people. So before the European colonizers came to North America, ancient people lived off the land and they lived to fulfill their needs. More than 4,000 Canadian aboriginals or ancient people were enlisted into WW1. Many aboriginal soldiers had to face all barriers of the white war. It was considered to be the bloodiest conflict in Canadian history. So basically, due to these reasons the novel is kind of an indigenous one. So that’s why “THREE DAY ROAD” is an indigenous novel. The main highlight is the author, Joseph Boyden explains everything about WW1 and about the aboriginal people in Canada which basically leads to indigenous.

Part-3: A reflection on the question: Who gets to tell Indigenous stories?

According to me, the only people who have the right to decide who gets to tell Indigenous stories are the Indigenous people themselves. Even the authors of any Indigenous novels won’t get to tell the Indigenous stories. Authors who speak up on this topic wont know the real truth behind it. Actually, for readers, the best that can be done is that we can critically think how Boyden’s Indigenous matters to us. The best way to engage with Indigenous literature is to carefully listen to the stories by those who can offer them.

Part-4: Is this a story that Boyden can tell?

Author Joseph Boyden is a part native, so he will able to tell the story. And basically, he is Indigenous person. He was primarily of Irish and Scottish ancestry. From news it was said that when he was interviewed they had heard indigenous ancestry from Boyden himself. He can tell this story because it is of indigenous type.