Far North

Gabe and Raymond know that their lives are in Johnny’s hands now and that they would not survive without the elderly Dene man. At night, Johnny beckons for Gabe and Raymond to follow him and leads them to a small cabin the woods. The cabin used to be a trapper’s cabin and provides shelter and a base for the trio. During the day, Johnny works on making snowshoes from moose hide and goes hunting for more moose while Gabe and Raymond make small rabbit snares and make firewood. One day, Johnny makes a hand drum and the rhythm he makes creates a distraction for their hunger. When the snowshoes are finished, Johnny goes out hunting for moose again. They think they will have better luck because it snowed the previous night and they saw a raven. Raymond tells Gabe that “ravens were known to lead hunter to game, knowing that they would get their share from what the hunter couldn’t use” (108). An hour after Johnny leaves, they hear a gunshot. When Johnny doesn’t return, Gabe and Raymond go looking for him without luck. When they return to the cabin, Johnny is already there and looks upset that he was not able to get a moose.

Johnny, Raymond, and Gabe continue to survive using the old trappers’ cabin as their home. They eat the rabbits that they find in their snares and berries that they find behind bark in trees. On December 21, Gabe and Raymond wish each other a happy birthday. Later that day, they find a beaver den and they figure out a way to trap the beavers in their main den. Johnny is not strong enough to carry the beavers out of the den, so Raymond must crawl into the den to get them. Raymond is successful and that night Raymond gives Johnny the first of the beaver meat. Gabe “could see the quiet pride in both their eyes, to be able to give and receive according to old tradition” (117).

On Christmas Day, Johnny goes out to hunt but does not return at night. Gabe and Raymond go out looking for him and find his frozen dead body in the snow. They “knew in an instant what this meant for [them], and at the same time could hardly begin to imagine the enormity of [their] loss” (119). The next day, Gabe takes what he can use from Johnny’s body and he and Raymond burn Johnny’s body on top of a pyre they made. After lighting the pyre on fire, Gabe remembers that he found an envelope in one of Johnny’s pockets.

Chapter 14 consists of Raymond reading the words of Johnny Raven that were written down by his Dene nurse while he was in the hospital. In Johnny’s testament, he tells of his life growing up as Dene. He regrets not learning more English because he cannot tell young people about the stories he knows. Johnny shares that the land was beautiful when he lived in the bush, even though it could be hard. His father starved to death when he was 11 years old. In 1928, white men came and changed everything for the Dene. They brought influenza, which killed Johnny’s family, and they brought the idea that their children needed to go to their schools and learn their ways. Johnny believes that his people are unhappy because they do not know the ways of the Dene. Johnny ends his testament revealing that he is scared that his culture will die and that he hopes the young people will take care of the land.