Who is Russel Susskit from Dogsong and what is their importance?

Russel Susskit is an Eskimo boy who lives with his father in a small government village in the arctic north. When the novel opens, Russel is approximately fourteen years old. The narrative gives no indication of how old Russel is when the story ends. Russel does not talk about his mother, who ran away with a white man some years before the story begins. In the beginning, Russel feels restless and angry, although he is not sure where these feelings come from. Like the other children, Russel spends the summers in a fish-camp and the winters in a small house located in a government village. Russel does not like the fact that his father smokes and he does not understand his father's fascination with Jesus. Russel does know that something is missing from his life, but he is not certain of how to go about finding the answers to his anxiety.