Four Faces of the Moon

Four Faces of the Moon opens with the above words, set in a dark sky illuminated by a shining crescent moon. Adapted from an animated film, it is the story of a personal journey in which Amanda Strong searches for connection with her own past as well as that of her Métis culture and community. When she was 14, she was given the name “Gidagaakoons”, meaning “Spotted Fawn”, and, after being named, she has a dream. In the dream, Spotted Fawn is standing in a quiet forest, lit by a crescent moon, when suddenly, another fawn runs by, pursued by an arrow. The dream is important: “somewhere inside, I knew that I was chasing after my spirit.” She sees a mountain of buffalo skulls and learns of their importance to the Métis people. For the Métis; the buffalo were the source of food, clothing, and shelter. But, as settlement grew in the territory that became the Canadian western provinces, a fundamental struggle began. As long as the buffalo lived, so would the Métis and the culture. Destruction of the buffalo led to the destruction of a vibrant Métis culture, and so settler culture set out on that path.

Strong’s search for understanding takes place in her photo darkroom which serves as a time-travel portal. Darkrooms are illuminated by a red safety light, and, through this light, the photos of her ancestors emerge. First to appear is her grandmother, Olivine Bousquet, who “grew up fighting, confronting injustice at a young age.” Olivine grew up in St. Boniface, Manitoba, and like many children in her Métis community, she was poor, and experienced “horrible abuse at the hands of the church.” Despite her poverty, Olivine had a generous spirit, a willingness to help others, and the strength of spirit to rebel against her teachers, leaving school before Grade 8, saving herself and her descendants from “the cycle of spiritual harm.”

Chapter 2 of the book begins with a new lunar phase, a half-moon, and with it, the history of Amanda’s great-great-grandfather, Napoleon Bousquet. He “would plant with the moon in the ground that once shook with the thunder of the buffalo.” A veteran of the Métis resistance and the 1885 Battle of Batoche, Napoleon had fought alongside his godfather, Gabriel Dumont. Brave though they were, the Métis were outnumbered by the Canadian military who shelled them into defeat and then torched their homes. Despite this tragedy, Napoleon reminds Olivine and Amanda to “offer honesty and courage”.

The moon is waxing into its third quarter at the start of Chapter 3 in which Amanda follows Napoleon’s story further back in time to Saskatchewan in 1880. At that time, “the Plains buffalo once rattled the ground in large herds. Sixty-five million strong spreading out across the land transcending borders.” But, as the railways advanced, the buffalo were decimated through a program of systematic slaughter. Settlers and the government knew that the buffalo were necessary to the survival of the Métis and killing the buffalo would force the Métis into submission. Trains carried parties of men who shot the animals, collecting bounty for their kills and leaving piles of bones and skulls which were later cleared by Métis men hired for that job.

An image of a full moon illuminates the pages that begin Chapter 4, the book’s final chapter. Amanda travels further back in time to Pembina, North Dakota, in 1850. The international border, as we currently know it, did not yet exist. Here, she learns of Napoleon’s grandfather, Jean Baptiste Wilkie, a respected Métis hunter and “a peacemaker between nations”. Wilkie was a diplomat, but even he could not broker agreement between the land surveyors and his people. The railway was touted by the surveyors as a tool of connection, but, for the Métis, it created “disconnection between the land and its beings”. However, for Amanda, learning of this history, and knowing of her ancestors’ crucial role offer a powerful connection to her culture and her personal history. Grandmother Olivine re-appears, and Amanda is strengthened by her presence, and her love. The story comes full circle at the end; Amada understands that the fawn is not being chased by the arrow, but directed by it, learning to “dance and to play,” and not to fear.

Four Faces of the Moon tells the story of a woman’s search to understand her identity, history, and culture. Although the events of the story take place in the past, the book is illustrated using a blend of contemporary graphics: photographic images, computer-generated illustrations, and the modelled animated figures of the stop-motion animated film from which it is adapted. Although many people assume that the Métis spoke French, in fact, they spoke the various languages of their Indigenous families as well as developing the Michif language. Michif adopted French words into an Indigenous linguistic foundation, and now, many Métis identify as “Michif”. The story of the Métis is multi-stranded, a complex inter-weaving of nations, languages, and culture.

Following the text and graphics of the story are several pages of informative text which offer crucial background and context. For those not familiar with the history of western Canada and, especially, the tensions between settler and Métis culture, this material provides readable and accessible content describing the Métis’ origin, the conflicted history of the buffalo and the railway, the individuals who are important figures in Métis history, the establishment of the province of Manitoba in 1870, the Battle of Batoche, and the challenges faced by the Métis in the twentieth century. Without this additional material, I think that the many readers would fail to understand much of the story. Graphic novels can look simple, but there’s a complexity to this story, and, for that reason, I think that readers younger than age 14 might not engage with the story.

Four Faces of the Moon is a worthwhile acquisition for school libraries serving grades 9-12 and offers interesting perspectives on the search for Indigenous identity as well the history of western Canada during the times of settlement and railway expansion. Teachers of Indigenous studies and Canadian Studies/Canadian History might also find it a useful supplemental work.